A bronze statue to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King in Boston is being panned online for being ambiguous in appearance.
The statue dubbed “The Embrace,” imagined as a monument to the love of Coretta Scott King, was unveiled in Boston on Friday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
It is designed by Brooklyn-based artist Hank Willis Thomas.
The statue was commissioned by entrepreneur Paul English — who co-founded travel site Kayak and the Boston Venture Studio — “as a result of calls for a memorial to Dr. King spanning several decades,” the mayor’s office said in 2021.
“The Embrace” is intended to reference a famous photo of King and his wife, Coretta, hugging after King won the Nobel Peace Prize. King met his wife, Coretta, in Boston when they were both students.
Mixed reactions have trailed the sculpture so far. Some praised the sculpture’s “beauty and power” while others called it a “waste of money” or even sexually suggestive.
The sculpture has also led to the discussion of historicity and how to honor the civil rights leader’s legacy.
The sculpture, “differs from the singular, heroic form of many memorials to Dr. King and others, instead emphasizing the power of collective action, the role of women as leaders, and the forging of new bonds of solidarity out of mutual empathy and vulnerability,” the mayor’s office said.
Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah criticized the sculpture in a Twitter thread:
The sculpture weighs 19 tons and is constructed from over 600 pieces of bronze. It is in the Boston Common in the 1965 Freedom Plaza, which celebrates other civil rights leaders in the City. It’s about 20 feet tall
