I Am Queen Mary

I Am Queen Mary is a statue in Copenhagen, Denmark of Mary Thomas, a leader of the 1878 "Fireburn" labor revolt in St. Croix, a former Danish colony now part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The statue, created by artists Jeannette Ehlers and La Vaughn Belle, was unveiled in March 2018 outside Vestindisk Pakhus (West Indian Warehouse), in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the sale and transfer of the Danish West Indies. It is the first public monument in Denmark to honor a Black woman and represent Denmark's colonial past. The statue suffered significant damage during a storm on December 27, 2020, leaving it irreparable. Since then, only the plinth remains, and the artists are trying to fund a permanent bronze version of the statue. At approximately 23 ft (7.0 m) tall, the statue depicts Thomas seated on a throne, staring ahead, with bare feet, a head wrap, a torch in her left hand, and a sugarcane cutting tool in her right hand. The torch and sugarcane cutting tool symbolize resistance strategies used in the St. Croix labor riot by enslaved and former slaves in Danish Colonies. The sugar cane cutting tools were knife-like objects given to enslaved people on St. Croix sugarcane plantations to cut off sugarcane stalks at the root. The statue's throne design references a 1967 photograph of Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party. I Am Queen Mary is a public artwork that represents Denmark's historical involvement in transatlantic slavery and the resistance by enslaved individuals. The statue provides a visual representation of historical narratives that have been historically marginalized, creating a space for reflection on colonial history and Black resistance.

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