by adminThe new statue highlights the Black history of Newark, New Jersey, and incorporates a soundtrack created by Audible and Queen Latifah.
Almost 200 years after Harriet Tubman’s birthday to the date, Newark officials unveiled a new monument honoring the abolitionist and replacing a long-standing statue of explorer Christopher Columbus.
It’s part of an effort by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to highlight the Black history of a predominantly African-American city through the transformation of its public spaces. The monument takes the place of a Christopher Columbus statue that was removed by city in 2020, after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor spurred protests and calls for racial equity nationwide. In 2022, the city renamed Washington Park — where the monument is located — Harriet Tubman Square.
Baraka and other officials assembled in the newly christened park on March 9 for a ribbon-cutting for “Shadow of a Face,” the monument designed by New Jersey-based architect Nina Cooke John.
The structure is composed of wood and metal, and its circular base is a “learning wall” that features text about Newark’s role in Black liberation and freedom. Local historians commissioned by the city and led by Rutgers University professor James Amemasor provided research material for the project.
One of the memorial’s novel elements is an audio component curated by audiobook and podcast company Audible, which has been based in Newark since 2007. The audio installation comprises almost six hours of recorded narration by entertainer Queen Latifah about the city and its place on the Underground Railroad, the network of routes and safe houses where escaped slaves took refuge.
“We saw this as an opportunity to bring audio into the monument and produce something that’s actually reflective of Harriet Tubman’s legacy, but also the role that Newark played in Black freedom and liberation,” says Aisha Glover, Audible’s vice president of urban innovation.
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