Bust of Black hero of Lewis & Clark trip goes up in Portland
Source: AP
By ANDREW SELSKY
Last year, protesters against racial injustice toppled numerous statues around the country. Now, one of the first works of art to emerge in their place depicts an unsung hero of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
A huge bust of York, a Black man who was enslaved by William Clark and who was the first African-American to cross the continent and reach the Pacific Ocean, is sitting atop a pedestal amid a lushly forested park in Portland, Oregon. It was placed there in the dead of night last weekend by persons unknown.
People have flocked to the bust, which seems to be at least four feet tall, in Mount Tabor Park. The artist’s depiction of York shows him seemingly deep in thought or even sad, his eyes cast downward. York hadn’t been painted contemporaneously so how his face really looked is unknown.
Officials in the city, which has been an epicenter of Black Lives Matter protests since the killing of George Floyd, love what the head of the parks department called “guerrilla art.”
A bust of York, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is seen on Mount Tabor in southeast Portland, Ore., on Sunday Feb. 21, 2021. The statue appeared the day before. (Mark Graves/The Oregonian via AP)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/york-black-hero-statue-goes-up-portland-57b21a285ccd0ff79bda63009ee0258a
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