Blank Slate Monument
The Blank Slate Monument (officially called Blank Slate: Hope for a New America) is a monument by Ghanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo.
The work has been described as “a visual representation of the evolution of the Black experience and struggle in America, as well as a tribute to African American history”
Symbolism of the Monument
The Pedestal
Pedestal – To put someone or something on a Pedestal is to place them above. It is to behave as if one person is more important than another.
The artist characterizes the fact that African Americans are struggling to mount a base to be on the same level as the rest of American Heroes.
The Memory Jug
An American folk-art form that memorializes the dead. It is made up of a drinking jug or vessel riddled with historic and personal items.
It has deep African roots and is a means of paying homage to a lot of groups whose sculptures cannot be added to the collection. Their various symbols are embossed on the memory jug.
The Slave Ancestor
His body is closest to the ground and both his hands and feet are bound. His bound hands support the struggling black union martyr and his face supports the feet of the soldier as well.
He has no rights at all, thus his face is practically in the ground, yet he struggles to help those above him whom he cannot even see with his eyes.
Viewers may be moved by his facial expression and his face on the bare ground be it concrete, grass or dirt. He will be in loins cloth and bound in chains.
The Lynched Union Soldier Martyr
An unknown Union army soldier with a noose around his neck; He struggles to keep an American flag up even as he supports the activist mother. He also carries a memory jug.
The Struggling Mother Activist
Responsible for mending broken men and giving hope to children challenged with hopelessness.
The mother is not only responsible for birthing the next generation, but she also has to support the unknown martyr whilst still raising a baby.
She represents contemporary struggles in the freedom tradition.
The Baby
Representing the future generation, her face pressed against the mother’s back will mimic the way the enslaved ancestor’s face is pressed against the ground.
Justifying the reason why her mother is protesting.
The Placards
Perhaps the most important symbol, the placard represents and becomes the voice of the ordinary people.
It is the medium which allows the ordinary person to voice their views on all issues concerning black history, confederate monuments and the sculpture itself.
Description
2021