Triumph of the Human Spirit

Triumph of the Human Spirit, created from 1992 to 2000, is dedicated to all the unknown and unnamed Africans brought to this country, including the 427 Africans excavated near the rediscovered New York City African Burial Ground. Its concept draws on the Bamana people of Mali, West Africa, with a vertical form representing the male and female antelopes of the Chi Wara headdresses. The Chi Wara rests on a horizontal plane symbolizing Native American canoes, the slaving vessels that transported African men, women and children, and the passenger ships that brought immigrants to this country, while the granite bearing the inscription represents the land. Rising above the plaza, the work serves as a memorial to ancestors and to the legacy of endurance against the odds, and it also honors the memory of Mary Clark Pace. The original lock shown below was worn by Steve Pace during his enslavement, and its key symbolizes his freedom; both were passed on to Lorenzo Pace by Julius Pace in 1991. The Chi Wara headdresses depicted on the side panel are mythical male and female antelopes that the Bamana believe taught people to farm and thus to survive. The female antelope is distinguished by the young fawn on her back, and symbolically the male represents the sun, the female the earth, and the fawn humankind. In dance performances, male and female Chi Wara taught, praised and encouraged good farming, and their dancing together symbolizes cooperation between men and women to produce a successful harvest.

New York, New York · United States