Vandals’ hateful act will not destroy our commitment to unity and artistic expression | Opinion
Najja Moon’s public art sculpture “Your Momma’s Voice in the Back of Your Head,” originally in Collins Park in Miami Beach, was vandalized with cruel racial and homophobic slurs in late December. A few weeks later, it was vandalized again, and viciously destroyed. The vandals are not known.
As a gay man, father of four children and chairman of the board at The Bass, I must speak out against the malicious and intentional destruction of this artwork. There is no room for hate in South Florida. There is no room for vandalization and destruction of public art in our community. At The Bass we unequivocally stand for safeguarding artistic expression.
Moon’s sculpture celebrated the universal theme of motherhood by playing recorded personal anecdotes from mothers of varied ages, backgrounds and heritages. The sculpture reflected the diversity of our community through its colorful sunlit iridescent panels. The work memorialized the praise, encouragement and criticisms mothers, regardless of where they’re from, what they look like or what they believe, use to inspire and motivate their children.
With this work, Moon bridges our cultural differences by honoring motherhood, elevating the universal, yet deeply personal, parenting experience into a beautiful public monument.
I was devastated, and furious, to learn that this public artwork had been destroyed. I am proud of Moon for confronting this hurtful experience with grace and courage, and proud of The Bass for supporting the artist and defending the right to artistic freedom of expression. How is it possible in 2022 that we to continue to encounter such hateful homophobia and racism in Miami Beach?
Najja’s work was part of The Bass’ New Monuments program, an annual open call to Miami-based artists to create a temporary new monument in Collins Park. The five-year program is intended to expand the national debate surrounding monuments, providing a safe public platform for artists to challenge and reconsider whom monuments honor, the purpose and relevance of contemporary monuments and to question the validity of their continued existence. “Your Momma’s Voice in the Back of Your Head” was the inaugural winner of this program, sponsored by the Knight Foundation.
In such a diverse community, it was easy to think,“Well, those things don’t happen here.” They do.
The hate and violence highlight the critical need of continuing to confront racism, homophobia, misogyny and xenophobia as it appears in our language, acts, hearts and communities. We must remain vigilant and committed to confrontation, education and reflection in an effort to eliminate the hateful and discriminatory beliefs that continue to infect our vibrant community.
The vandals and the haters will not win. The New Monuments program will continue in spite of malicious acts, encouraging our community to engage in honest conversations.
From 4-6 p.m. Friday, March 11, we will join Najja Moon, neighbors, and art and social-justice advocates at The Bass for a closing gathering to honor the work and say a resounding No to hate. The Bass and South Florida must, and will, stand strong in solidarity against discrimination and prejudice of all kinds.
George Lindemann is an investor, art collector and philanthropist. He is president of the board of trustees for The Bass Museum.
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 12:10 PM.