The new Harriet Tubman monument, titled ‘Shadow of a Face’ by architect Nina Cooke John, is in Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday, March 9, 2023.

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The new Harriet Tubman monument, titled ‘Shadow of a Face’ by architect Nina Cooke John, is in Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday, March 9, 2023.

Ted Shaffrey/AP

A brand new monument honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman was unveiled in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday, changing a long-standing statue of Christopher Columbus.

The monument — named “Shadow of a Face”— was unveiled Thursday in Newark’s newly renamed Harriet Tubman Square, paying homage to each Tubman’s and town’s function within the Underground Railroad together with the Black Liberation Movement’s historical past within the space, Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka mentioned in a news release.

The title of the monument was impressed by Robert Hayden’s 1962 poem entitled “Runaway Runagate,” which references Tubman.

“In a time when so many cities are choosing to topple statues that limit the scope of their people’s story, we have chosen to erect a monument that spurs us into our future story of exemplary strength and solidity,” Baraka mentioned in an announcement.

“We have created a focal point in the heart of our city that expresses our participation in an ongoing living history of a people who have grappled through many conflicts to steadily lead our nation in its progress toward racial equality,” he added.

The 25-foot-tall monument features a mosaic of tiles and a round studying wall inscribed with tales of Tubman’s life and the historical past of Newark’s Black liberation motion. The portrait wall options a picture of Tubman at its base whereas the mosaic options ceramic tiles commissioned by Newark residents, in line with the information launch.

Nina Cooke John, a New Jersey native and the monument’s designer, mentioned the monument celebrates each the legacy of Tubman and the lives of present Newark residents — because it connects their tales to Tubman’s.

Architect Nina Cooke John stands with the Harriet Tubman monument she designed titled “Shadow of a Face,” in Newark, N.J., Thursday, March 9, 2023.

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Architect Nina Cooke John stands with the Harriet Tubman monument she designed titled “Shadow of a Face,” in Newark, N.J., Thursday, March 9, 2023.

Ted Shaffrey/AP

“Her heroism is recognized, and space is claimed for her story in this historic park, while her humanity is made accessible so that we can all be empowered by her deeds both great and small,” Cooke John mentioned in a information launch.

Born Araminta Ross, Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland round 1822. She later married John Tubman, a free Black man, round 1844 and adjusted her title from Araminta to Harriet. Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and helped greater than 300 others to freedom.

The Christopher Columbus statue that Tubman’s monument replaces was removed in June 2020 in the course of the summer season’s racial reckoning following the homicide of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The City of Newark took down the Columbus statue to keep away from folks taking it upon themselves throughout protests, Baraka mentioned in a June 2020 tweet.

The racial protests prompted for the removal or renaming of several controversial monuments and statues throughout the nation.