The Original Statue of Liberty Was Black

Very few people know the origins of the massive statue that stands in New York Harbor greeting travels from across the globe. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to signify the end of slavery. There is evidence that supports claims she originally resembled a black slave with broken shackles on hands and feet. 

The artists Edouard Laboulaye and Auguste Bartholdi intended the statue to be a monument that would commemorate America’s commitment to liberty and equality established by the Declaration of Independence. You can view the original designs on display in the Museum of the City of New York. 

When the American government saw the designs they refused to have an African-American be a National Monument and sent them back. They preferred to have a monument that was European and made no references to slavery. Auguste Bartholdi redesigned the statue to resemble the face of his mother Charlotte Beysser Bartholdi. The only remnant of the original design is the chain (from the shackle) showing from under Lady Liberty’s dress. 

There’s also a rumor that the redesigned statues official title is Liberty Enlightening the World. Her construction was funded by the Masons and she is holding the Masonic Torch of Enlightenment, also known as the Flaming Torch of Reason. The same woman is used in the logo for Columbia Pictures.

There’s a large plaque bearing masonic symbols on the base of the statue.

Just sharing a couple of fun (rumored) facts about the Statue of Liberty you probably didn’t know.

French Hip-Hop

Being a real Hip-hop connoisseur living in Europe, I'm privileged enough to hear music from all the countries bordering Holland. This includes France, Germany, Spain, U.K, Belgium and a few smaller places. In France they have a huge Hip-Hop culture and like the Germans they rhyme in their native tongue instead of English. One of my favorite groups from France is the Saian Supa Crew. They are a three group collective of MC's, singers and producers who make witty, funny, conscious  Hip-Hop with a strong Caribbean flair. Their name comes from the incredibly popular Dragon Ball Z series (which I will discuss more in another post). 

The individual groups are Explicit Samouraï, OFX, Simple Spirit. While most groups try to emulate the US artists they see on TV this group has been making music consistently for the last ten years doing their own style. Their topics discuss everything from drug problems, ("Que dit-on?") to racism ("La preuve par 3"), relationships ("A demi-nue"), suicide ("La dernière séance") and the justification of violence by religion ("Au nom de quoi"). Since they disabled the embedding code on most of their clips I was only able to post the collabo track with Ghostface and Rza below. If you want to know more about the group or purchase some music go to http://www.myspace.com/saiansupa.