Join us for the Dedication to the CT Freedom Trail of William Lanson Plaza.Â
Speakers and Music - Reception hosted by Yale University
Sponsored by The Amistad Committee, Inc. with State of Connecticut Freedom Trail Committee, Office of the Mayor, City of New Haven, City Plan Commission,
Dept. of Arts, Culture and Tourism, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.
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ALL PHYSICAL DISTANCING REGULATION WILL BE ENFORCED. MASKS ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL IN PERSON ATTENDEES.
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Virtual attendance can be accessed via the City of New Haven and the Gilder Lehrman Center.Â
William Lanson, a runaway slave: leader in the struggle for the right of free Blacks to vote; one of the founders of the Temple Street Church (now Dixwell United Church of Christ); harbored runaway slaves; owned Wooster Square. Lanson succeeded at most everything he aspired to accomplish by pushing open and bravely walking through doors that were closed to him and other formerly enslaved and freemen/women in 19th century America. He did it by turning empty, mostly un- desirable land into vibrant neighborhoods filled with housing for marginalized, invisible people. He did it employing Black people in the construction of New Haven’s early in- frastructure. And he also spoke out on behalf of those whose voices were ignored. Later in life, the white power structure determined that William Lanson’s time was up. He had become way too powerful for a Black man. When that happened, the system felled him like the deeply rooted tree that he had become.
Dana King is a classical figurative sculptor who creates public monuments of Black Bodies in Bronze. She studies the strength and resilience of African descendants and create pieces made of clay with her hands that are then cast in bronze.
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King prefers sculptures because they inhabit space and space is power. She believes sculpture provides an opportunity to shape culturally significant memories that determine how African descendants are publicly held and remembered.
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Research is fundamental to her work. When digging for threads to weave together stories of the past, there are historically generalized and racist ideologies that demand a wholesale upheaval of the normative misrepresentation of Black peoples’ emotional and physical sacrifices. African descendants deserve public monuments of truth that radiate their powerful and undying resilience created from a Black aesthetic point of view.
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King’s sculptures link generations by revealing common threads: shared values, experiences, and aspirations. She knows they help those alive today compare and contrast their world with that of social pioneers, both enslaved and free, whose courage and commitment to excellence helped create modern society. Dana King creates memories, hoping you see yourself and those you love in her work.