This week the first ever public monument in England representing a black woman was erected in Lambeth, as part of Black History Month.
(I briefly mentioned this sculpture last month, as part of a post on the lack of statues of women.)
The Bronze Woman statue is inspired by this poem, by Cécile Nobrega, president and founder of the Bronze Woman Foundation. This project began in 1995, and the statue has just been unveiled – in Stockwell Memorial Gardens, which is in Lambeth, in South London.
The poem ‘Bronze Woman’ was written to honour the women of the Caribbean Community. It is a moving recognition of the significance of Caribbean women who despite their limited economic and political power have, on reflection set a shining example across the vertical and horizontal divisions of international society as major contributors to human development.
The Bronze Woman Website also includes a lot of information about the history of the project, the sculptors, suggested reading, who funded the project (that includes TfL and the EU).
