The National Monument Audit by Monument Lab revealed that there are just two “monuments” dedicated to African Americans out of nearly 130 monuments documented.

• Joe Louis Fist
• Martin Luther King Jr. scuplture

You could add the new MLK statue at Hart Plaza and the underground railroad feature at the riverfront by Hart Plaza, but still that’s only four. The Martin Luther King Jr. statue was just installed last year and was a left over statue from the Smithsonian. It feels rather absurd that a city that grew to be majority Black or African American has so few monuments dedicated to the people who have made the city what it is today.

Learn more about public art in Detroit where there has been more African American influence on the visual landscape of the city in the Concrete Canvas exhibition at the Detroit Historical Museum.