Jen Reid

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Jen Reid (born 2 November 1970) is a British Black Lives Matter activist from Bristol. After the statue of Edward Colston was pushed into Bristol Harbour, Reid stood on the empty plinth and made a Black Power salute. This pose was then recreated in the sculpture A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 .

Contents

7 June 2020

On 7 June 2020, at a Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol following the murder of George Floyd, a statue of Edward Colston was toppled and pushed into the nearby Bristol Harbour. [1] Seventeenth-century merchant Edward Colston had become a figure of controversy in Bristol due to his involvement in the slave trade. [2] [3] Reid stood upon the now empty plinth and raised her fist in a Black Power salute. Her husband took a photograph and posted it on Instagram, and it was quickly transmitted worldwide. [4] [5] She later told ITV News "It was a spontaneous action". [4]

Frances Lincoln Publishers announced in 2021 that they would be releasing a picture book made by Reid and US author Angela Joy which is based upon the June 2020 events. [6] A BBC Radio 4 series called Descendants profiled Reid in its first episode in May 2021. [7] A mural featuring a portrait of Reid was painted by London artist Mr Cenz in Stokes Croft. [8]

A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020

Having seen the photograph of Jen Reid on social media, artist Marc Quinn contacted her and they agreed to make a sculpture of her recreating the raised fist pose to put upon the still empty plinth. [9] Following a 3D scan of Reid made at Quinn's London studio A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 was created in black resin and placed upon the plinth on the morning of 15 July 2020. [9] [10] Reid told BBC News "This sculpture is about making a stand for my mother, for my daughter, for black people like me". [5] The statue was removed the following day by Bristol City Council.

Personal and professional life

Reid was born on 2 November 1970. [3] She claims that one of her grandmothers was an enslaved African. [7]

Reid launched a fashion brand called Big Stush in 2022. [11] [12] Reid is one of the authors of A Hero Like Me, an illustrated children's book inspired by the events of 7 June 2020 which was published in 2023. [13]

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A Surge of Power 2020 is a 2020 black resin sculpture, sculpted by Marc Quinn and modelled on Jen Reid; both Quinn and Reid are credited as artists. It depicts Reid, a black female protester, raising her arm in a Black Power salute. It was erected surreptitiously in the city centre of Bristol, England, in the early morning of 15 July 2020. It was placed on the empty plinth from which a 19th-century statue of Edward Colston, who had been involved in the Atlantic slave trade, had been toppled, defaced and pushed into the city's harbour by George Floyd protesters the previous month. The statue was removed by Bristol City Council the day after it was installed.

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References

  1. Block, India (16 July 2020). "Marc Quinn replaces statue of slaver Edward Colston with Black Lives Matter protester". Dezeen. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  2. "Colston Hall music venue renamed Bristol Beacon". BBC News. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 Mukena, Rema (10 November 2020). "'No regrets' – the Black woman whose statue replaced Colston's". Bristol Live. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 "'My life has changed' – Jen Reid a year on from Colston toppling". ITV News. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Jen Reid: Black Lives Matter statue to go from Colston plinth". BBC News. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  6. Bayley, Sian (7 June 2021). "Frances Lincoln signs picture book from Colston statue activist Reid". The Bookseller. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Bristol Black Lives Matter protester Jen Reid stars in Radio 4 series". BBC News. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  8. "Jen Reid: Mural of Black Lives Matter Bristol protester". BBC News. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  9. 1 2 Emelife, Aindrea (15 July 2020). "'Hope flows through her': artist Marc Quinn on replacing Colston with a Black Lives Matter statue". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  10. "Jen Reid: 'I felt a surge of power. Colston is gone. Now there's a new girl in town'". the Guardian. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  11. Streeting, Louisa (24 November 2022). "Jen Reid on Colston two years on and her new fashion brand". BristolLive. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  12. "BIG STUSH LTD people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  13. Reid, Jen; Joy, Angela (6 June 2023). A Hero Like Me. Frances Lincoln Children's Books. ISBN   978-0-7112-7041-1.