Space to breathe: George Floyd, BLM Plaza and the monumentalization of divided American urban landscapes

Abstract

, BLM plaza and the monumentalization of divided American Urban landscapes The men who talk most about the valor of Lee and of the blood of the brave Confederate dead are those who never smelt powder or engaged in battle. Most of them were at a table, either on top or under it when then war was going on … (John Mitchell, Nineteenth Century Richmond City Black Councilman, quoted in Griego, 2015) I can't breathe. (George Floyd, quoted in Oppel Jr. & Barker, 2020, July 8) Hope is invented every day. (James Baldwin quoted in Adelse, 1970, p. 46)

Building Cultural Heritage Reference Collections from Social Media through Pooling Strategies: The Case of 2020’s Tensions Over Race and Heritage

“…This event gave rise to a series of protests in which various cultural elements commemorating important figures in history were attacked under the motivation that the figures represented were racists and genocides. This connection between heritage and racism has been widely studied previously, as well as its connection with the events that occurred in 2020, from different disciplinary perspectives, such as philosophy [3,9,44], history and anthropology [15,20], sociological [48] or archaeological and heritage studies [29]. It is also possible to find analysis of the phenomenon within the so-called heritage in social conflict or social fractures in heritage, as detailed by anthropological studies in the area [8,45].…”

“…As we previously shown, this topic is probably one of the current phenomena related to patrimonial entities that receive the most interest in public opinion and media and researchers in different disciplines (see [3,9,20,44,48] among others). It has also been shown the critical role of social networks in influencing public opinion (and electoral processes in progress in USA), as a call for action instrument (both to attack cultural heritage entities and to manifest against attacks) and in the organisation of related platforms and collectives.…”

The 2019–2020 Chilean anti-neoliberal uprising: A catalyst for decolonial de-monumentalization

“…Urban fallism, an insightful concept coined by Frank and Ristic (2020), refers to this phenomenon and its socio-spatial effects as regards monuments that represent political symbols, which become obsolete, neglected, or challenged in a revolt or during violent regime change. Iconic examples include the demolition of the statue of Saddam Hussein by US troops in 2003, following the invasion of Iraq; the removal of Soviet and Russian statues during the political crisis in Ukraine in 2014 (Oliver, 2018); the more recent attacks on and subsequent removal of the statues of Leopold II in Belgium (Debucquois, 2021); the controversy about and destruction of several statues to Confederates in the United States, who supported and fought for the continuity of slavery in that country (Hite and Badilla Rajevic, 2019), a controversy that grew exponentially after the murder of George Floyd and the anti-racist protests it triggered around the world (Samayeen et al, 2020); and very recently, in the context of the 2021 Colombian protests, the toppling of at least four huge statues dedicated to figures from the conquest and colonization period, such as the monument dedicated to Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in Bogotá’s downtown, the statue to Sebastián de Balcázar in the city of Popayán, and the Columbus’ statue in Barranquilla. In other words, protesters’ interventions of or attacks on monuments challenge their very essence: to endure in time and space.…”

Remediating Family Photography: Savita’s Image and the Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment

“…As the photographic historian Willis (2010) notes, these images play an important part in humanising the statistics and keeping both the issue and the victims' memory alive. The role of pop-up shrines and their importance for communities within the context of the Black Lives Matter campaign (Jones and Stone, 2020;Samayeen et al, 2020) is acknowledged by Patterson (2021), whose observations surrounding the George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis echo how Savita's photographic image was used as the focal point for her shrine. Providing a site for contemplation and community activism, Patterson notes that the location of Floyd's death has become the locus for activism and acts of community care.…”