Black History fact #16: The Statue of Liberty

What's going on, everybody. Welcome to another episode of a day with crime, black history fact edition. Of course I am your man, David. Let's jump in. 

 Brace yourself because the fact that I'm bringing you today is a very controversial one.

It is one that is not taught in schools. So a lot of people has never heard this before. And because when this comes up, it becomes a protest because it's so well hidden. Matter of fact, today [00:01:00] is on the statue of Liberty. And if you Sandy yourself, what does she have to do? A black history? My answer to that is going to be more than, you know. 

The statue of Liberty was created to celebrate the end of slavery. She has to chains to prove it. Although this has been hidden for more than a hundred and twenty-five years, believe me a lot of African-Americans know this about the statute. Did you know, she did not have that pedestal when she was first offered by the French, what were they trying to hide?

Slave chains, Frederick a gusty Bartoletti was the sculptor who made the statute of Liberty are told Dee left, broken chains at the feet of lady Liberty, to remind us of the freedom from oppression and servitude. These chains are unseen by visitors as they sit a top of the pedestal, however, they can be seen from an area.

So let's talk a little bit more about this [00:02:00] controversial fact. Over the years, I have done a lot of study into my culture and my. And because of that, I ran across this and I did a lot of digging into it because of the fact that when you bring up anything controversial about the United States of America, especially things that maybe they have done wrong, or they've tried to hide, it becomes a whole issue.

People will be quick to call you a lie. People will be quick to say it ain't true, even if it is something that you can prove. So I started following this one, historian who gives lectures all over the world. Her name is Dr. Joy D grew. If you ever heard, one of her speeches is phenomenal. She talks a lot about slavery.

And she actually wants more of a white audience to come in because she wants them to learn. She wants everyone to learn, [00:03:00] but especially some of the white people don't know their own history to learn exactly what was going on. So let me tell you a little bit about the statue of Liberty. Some of this stuff you may have heard, but you may have dismissed it because you was told that it wasn't true.

I'm here to tell you today, my friends, that it is. Okay. So if you go to the national park services website, because this is what everybody uses for the capitalism, is this true or not? It doesn't mention it. If you go to the Wikipedia for the statue of Liberty, it doesn't mention it. Although the national park service knows the true story.

Behind the statue of Liberty. It does not include it. As I stated in his website or any of his pamphlets, that's given the tourist, however, number of the, how you try to hide it, [00:04:00] they can be seen. And I'm going to give you photos to prove that if you're on my Facebook and I'll give you links to see the photos, if you're not.

So I found an article that actually sums it up. So, let me read some of that to you. I'll leave the whole article in the show notes because it is quite long. So let me read just the important parts of that to you because the people who wrote this article, which is the LA progressive, they got hit over the head too.

When they dropped this, they had people that I was writing them saying, this isn't true. This ain't true. This ain't true. And they start digging and people start digging, and then they found out the NASA person who wasn't even mentioning this. So they said, well, let's set out to tell the story. So what are you about to hear my friends?

It's true. And it has been buried for more than 125 years. The statue of Liberty that today sits on Liberty island in New York. Harbor is known to have been the brainchild of notary freshmen and abolitionists, Eduardo de Lobo year, a man. So [00:05:00] dedicated to the eradication of slavery that he co-founded the French anti-slavery society.

The idea for establishing a monument specifically to honor the emancipation of slaves in America was discussed between Lebow year and Frederick Augusta. a French sculpture in 1865. The year the us abolished slavery. In addition to its abolition work liberal year was also a us constitution expert.

Although we can not know this. One can only imagine that the 1865 signing of the 13th amendment to the U S constitution would be very important to an abolitionist and likely feud, Lupo years desire to have the monument built. We do know that he shared the idea with Frederick at an event they both attended again in 1865.

And that Frederick who later became the designer of the. Worked closely with [00:06:00] to make vision a reality. The connection between the statue of Liberty and the abolition of slavery is one that has been denied for 125 years, almost from the start of the project, the American finance years warning, no mention of slavery.

And for 125 years, they got there. Although year, and had envisioned a statue holding broken chains and shackles the early financial years that funded the project did not want change on the monument. It was the American backers who were most opposed to the notion that the statute should in any way, acknowledge slavery.

Because the French who were paying for the statue were facing difficult economic times Lobel year. And Bertoldi relied on Americans to pay for and build the pedestal where the statue was staying. This wasn't a central part of the money. Without American financial [00:07:00] backing, the project could not be completed, but the American financial years were adamant that Lupu year lose the chains and shackles.

One can only surmise that some of the backers may have made their fortunes directly or indirectly through slavery in her book and lightening the world, the creation of the statute. Yasmin Sabina con explained that although Lulu year came upon the idea and communicated it to in 1865, the political climate in France at the time, and a lack of funding made it impossible to raise enough money to get the project off the ground for several years.

Indeed it took the sculptor years to raise the. And according to con, but told these original depiction of lady Liberty had her holding broken chains in her left hand where the more broken chains and broken shackles at her feet, the chains were symbolic of the end of slavery in the United States today [00:08:00] in lectures.

And on speaking tours noted professor Dr. Joy, the GRU frequently talks about the chains that were part of their original renderings of the statute. The GRU explains that intended the statute to represent the Moxie and to symbolize the end of all types of oppression. However, according to a degree, the American decision-makers of the.

We both for including the chains and shackles and insisted that he removed them Bartone was adamant that they remain, although he eventually compromised because he didn't want to risk losing the financial support that was making the project possible. Finally, he removed the change from lady Liberty's hand, replacing them with a book, but what most people don't know even today is that bill told the left, the broken shackles and chains that were at her.

The symbols of state's sponsor bondage who miss a tale and they help Holocracy of American exceptionalism remain there on the statue of Liberty as a [00:09:00] permanent reminder of the slaves that contributed to the building of the United States. Because the height of the pedestal, where the statute stands, makes it impossible to see the chains and shackles from the ground.

Most people visiting Liberty island remain unaware of the shackles and chains. This is where the us parks service plays a pivotal role. Clearly the chains were obvious when the statute was delivered and installed at 125 years ago, but that knowledge quickly faded from. Aided by the fact that the height of the pedestal made the chains and cycles impossible to see, unless one were viewing the statute from a helicopter, the wishes of the original funders were fulfilled.

No one need know the true meaning of the statute of. For most of the years, since the statutes installation at Liberty island, its true meaning has been kept in the dark. Even the U S agency tasked with the [00:10:00] responsibility of caring for and educating the public about the statue, had a hand and keeping the true meaning hidden.

That is the truth folks. I'll just give you one more piece that's in this article because it comes from yelling and sharing. And I told her, get her statement. She stated as an American, who was a descendant of. I find it all. The more shameful that this country continues to have countless monuments honoring men known to have been slaveholders, but nothing honoring the millions whose blood, sweat, and tears built this country.

From that perspective, the story of the statue of Liberty and how it came to be a part of our national landscape. It's as important as the story of Paul Revere's midnight ride. And she'd be as widely known the national park service took an important step towards that end, when it changed his position and people like Dr.

Joy, the GRU and others lately had a hand in making that happen to all who [00:11:00] made that happen. I say, thank you. Sharing Kyle. Now, as you heard from Sharon. And national park service has since taken a different stance on it is because of people like Dr. Jordy GRU, people like myself who wants to spread the word and every other notable African-American that wants a truth.

Be known. It's telling you that. Now, before anybody comes back and say, well, you just even spread and said that they, that the French people wanted them to go ahead and build a pedestal. Yes, that's true. So when I said, what was she hiding when they built the pedestal? The way they did is because America had control of building the pedestal.

They didn't want the change to be seen. So that's why the pedestal is built so high that you don't see. You probably see the tippy toes of her feet, I think, but you never, you don't see the chains, but if you go in a helicopter, if you fly directly above the statue of Liberty, and if you look straight down, [00:12:00] you see the chains that was left on her feet on purpose, you see the chains of pathology wanted to be left there to remind everybody why they gave us a statute.

You wasn't told that in school you was told the statue of Liberty was put there to welcome all people from Ellis island and, you know, symbol of love and peace. That might be true. But the main reason was because it was to celebrate the ending of slavery and believing my friends. This is probably not the only building or anything that America has that they're hiding that when Obama got elected prejudice, My statement was, I said, this was the house that the black people built that a black man was never supposed to lay his head under neath the roof of when Kamala Harris got [00:13:00] elected.

I said, again, the house that she sleeps in, which is the quarters built by African-Americans, but in African-Americans head was never supposed to lay under that. We shattered that first and Obama made president. And then when Camilla Harris made vice president, and now we need to shadow this story of the statue of Liberty, if you've ever been to the statue of Liberty, if you ever visited.

You've never heard this story. They give you nice pamphlets and they give you nice information of the statue of Liberty. And they tell you the same old tale that has been getting told in schools for the last 125 years, even to African-American children who don't study this or have parents that do or know about it.

That's what we believe too, because that's exactly what we have.

So whether you guys want to believe that or not, I'm gonna give you some photos. It's all in photos, no [00:14:00] doctor photos, true photos, aerial shots of the feet of the statue of Liberty from somebody flying high above. There's a photo of what the statue of Liberty was supposed to look like and what we have now.

She was not originally green. She was like bronze. And she had still had, you know, her lip harder there, but the other hand had no book. It was had chains, holding broken chains to show the breaking of slavery. But when you have people that's in charge of the country that made money in their livelihoods.

Awful slaves. They don't want to be reminded of that. And that's what black history really is. That's what American history period really is. It's a reckoning, it's a time that you were supposed to remember what the world was like. And like I heard somebody on TV the other day for everybody to really embrace history for us to really make this world a better place.

Everybody has to embrace their [00:15:00] history and you have to embrace the. And the right. So if you white and you was wrong and you have answers or slave holders and all of that, that's something you've got to own. Just like African-Americans has got to own whatever our history digs up because our history is not a hundred percent all spotless either, but nobody wants to own that, especially on the side where there were slaves.

So as controversial as this one is. I felt that it would be a great disservice to let February run out the one month of the year that they give African-Americans to widely celebrate black history. The one mother of the year that nobody seems to have a problem. What does teaching this in schools? Even if it is watered down the one month of the year, that commercials run.

So when I have your ear for that one month of the year, It would [00:16:00] be a great disservice for me not to tell you the true facts behind the statue of Liberty. Now, I hope what you do with this information. As you go out there and you study it for yourself, look it up for yourself, dig it up for yourself. I'm gonna start helping you by giving you this article right here.

And some photos right down in my show notes so that you guys can go and check it out for yourself. And then the next thing that we can do to make this history. His practice, preaching that. Tell it to your children's, sit your kids down, let them read it. Let them hear this episode. Let them know the truth behind why the statue of Liberty stands, where she stands.

We can't afford to let any of our kids, no matter what color they are not know the true history. This is one reason I have a problem. What they call council culture. Yes. As painful as all those statues that everything got tore down over 20. I was kind of against that because when I have to go and tell my kid about history, that there was a [00:17:00] slave block that said here, their question's going to be well, how come I can't see it.

If you say it sat here, where did it go? As painful as it is. We need those things to stand because it is a part of history and it is a part of history that we have to tell. And we only have the statues and the pictures and the songs and whatever else goes with that to tell our children, this is what was wrong with the world.

Here is how we tried to make it right. And here is where you as the next generation, the next presidents, the next vice presidents, the next senators of this great. Here is where you will be able to turn it around and make the final difference.

 All right, guys that does with this. And I thank you for tuning in to yet another black history fact here. Join me tomorrow, I have another one for you. 

As always need to get ahold of us, feel free to drop a line. [00:18:00] At a day with crime@gmail.com. Also, don't forget to visit the website, www.adaywithcrime.com. It is your one stop shop for everything that is a day with crime. Alright guys, as always be safe all there and be good to yourself. and each other. And I'm going to catch you guys on the next one.