La Vaughn Belle & Jeannette Ehlers, I Am Queen Mary (NY version). This replica is a scaled-down iteration of the original 23-foot monument which was installed in front of Copenhagen’s West India Warehouse in 2018, commemorating the 101st anniversary of Denmark’s sale of the Virgin Islands to the United States.
The figure is an allegorical representation of Queen Mary Thomas, one of four women who led the 1878 ‘Fireburn’ revolt against the continuing exploitation of Black workers in St. Croix after slavery had long ended. Queen Mary’s regal presence invites a conversation about representations of Black resistance in places where colonial histories have been made invisible.
https://www.iamqueenmary.com/
