View Hank Willis Thomas' monumental sculpture 'All Power to All People (bronze)' at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
The sculpture combines two symbols of Black identity and empowerment: the Afro pick and the Black Power salute. The ‘Black fist’ first appeared on Afro combs in the 1970s to reference the defiant salute that was used widely during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Many Black men and women began to wear the picks in their Afros to express cultural pride and identity.
The artist uses scale to elevate and draw attention to the Afro comb, which is normally a small, everyday object. By enlarging the pick to a monumental size, he asks us to think about it in relation to its wider political and cultural significance. The sculpture also highlights the lack of commemorative statues featuring the lives of Black people, or that address equality and belonging. Thomas invites us to reflect on the efforts of those before us and the work that still needs to be done in the fight for social justice.
"The origin of the Afro pick dates back to the time of ancient Egyptians as an article of status and cultural belonging... As an accessory of a hairstyle, it represented counterculture and civil rights during one of the most important eras of American history. It exists today as many things to different people; it is worn as adornment, a political emblem, and signature of collective identity." - Hank Willis Thomas
