New Martin Luther King Monument Gets Mixed Reviews, Phallic Comparisons

Last week, a monument honoring late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr and his wife, Coretta Scott King, was unveiled at the Boston Common in Massachusetts. Named The Embrace, the sculpture was created by artist Hank Willis Thomas for the design studio MASS Design group. 

The ambitious 20-foot tall, 40-foot wide project, which is made up of over 600 separate bronze parts, took over five years to put together, and is based on a photograph of the couple hugging after King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. 

Boston shows off its new MLK monument 😩 pic.twitter.com/Hax2uBOSOg

— solé (@layxsnv) January 15, 2023

Featuring the duo’s arms hugging each other, the landmark—which cost a reported US$10 million—is encircled by plaques honoring other local civil rights leaders in the region. However, not everyone’s too impressed with the final outcome of the work. 

Seneca Scott, a cousin of Coretta Scott King, penned an article in Compact magazine describing the statue as looking like “a pair of hands hugging a beefy penis” rather than a touching moment shared by the famed couple. 

Let's look at that MLK monument again (sorry), because it's actually a great (negative) example of how to design a hand. Take a look at it along with what's clearly a major reference: pic.twitter.com/uja9b8ScIg

— Kendric Tonn (@kendrictonn) January 16, 2023

“10 million dollars were wasted to create a masturbatory metal homage to my legendary family members—one of the all-time greatest American families,” Scott wrote, pointing out that the expensive monument in itself did little to benefit struggling families across the country. 

On the other hand (pun unintended), granddaughter Yolanda Renee King said she was able to see the “love and strength and unity” in the monument, and how it paid tribute to “a beautiful marriage and partnership” that helped change the world. 

The new MLK monument in Boston. The question is, what in the world is this? pic.twitter.com/GMCHKO7yfN

— LANDO (@LandoSoReal) January 16, 2023

Arndrea Waters King, Martin Luther King III’s wife, felt the way the hands were depicted as clasping and holding onto each other was “a remarkable statement of mutual love and solidarity.” 

[via The Art Newspaper and Compact, cover image via The United States Marine Corp / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)]