Spreading "Rumors of War"

“When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system” (Martin Luther King, Jr., “Loving Your Enemies”).

Thinking of Dr. King today, I see some of his dream realized in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia. Evil systems are taking a hit, in Richmond and around the country. Look and listen with me.

I was born in Stuart Circle Hospital, named after the striking sculpture of the Confederate general at the circle’s center. Over the years from the backseat of the family station wagon, I anticipated the galloping horse as we got closer, turning to look back at the rider’s plumed hat and cape. My last image always lingered on the spurs on his left boot, barely secured in the stirrup.

Fortunately, mine is not the only imagination captured by this sculpture. Meet Kehinde Wiley’s 2019 celebratory re-imagination of a new whinnying horse and purposeful rider.

On December 15, 2019, I stood with a friend on Richmond’s recently-renamed Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Arthur Ashe—the Richmond boy who couldn’t play on the segregated public tennis courts and went on to become a world champion and human rights activist—his very own boulevard! Across from us, in the front courtyard of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, stood Kehinde Wiley’s majestic, inspiring, dramatic, and provocative sculpture entitled “Rumors of War.” Black glinting in the brightest sunshine, 27 feet tall and 25 wide, what a sight. We crossed Arthur Ashe Boulevard to meet this horse and rider, unconsciously picking up our pace, drawn forward by the pulsing energy of new life.

The snorting horse carried a powerful, assured black man—dreadlocks and ripped jeans, hoodie and Nike high tops—his left shoe barely contained in the stirrup. Why “Rumors of War?” Wiley refers to a biblical passage from Matthew 24:6 as Jesus pronounces: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.” Speaking at the December 10 dedication days earlier, Wiley explains: “There is something moving in the culture. There’s something changing in these winds. I think we’re all fed up with a lot of things. I think artists have a unique responsibility to use that energy for something else. I’m tired of the destruction. I’m tired of the strife. I think we can do better.” We can do better.

Throughout my childhood, my family and friends made the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts a regular destination, and I was first fascinated by the Egyptian mummy. Today’s children will look at “Rumors of War” and see the young and lively face of change. They will ask about this sculpture, wondering who it is, where the horse and rider have been and where they are going. “I want this to be about black men and their place in society,” Wiley claimed. “A society that can say yes to black men.” What would that statue have meant to a young Arthur Ashe? What does it say to every onlooker today? It screams yes to inclusion and no to unearned white privilege. It forces conversation. Richmond’s many Confederate monuments pack a message. What does the black horse and rider convey in every bronze cell? People of color belong—their history and culture matter. Their lives deserve artistic representation, and Kehinde’s passionate creative efforts are explored in this article in “Times Square Arts.” (“Rumors of War” graced Times Square in the fall of 2019 before coming home to Richmond.) Wiley’s art evokes and encourages change—you can’t look away from the rider nor slow his steed. I could still be standing there, circling the sculpture from every angle, wanting to go with them on their journey.

What “evil systems” does the man in “dreads” seek to defeat? Injustice based on skin color that permeates education, health, public policy business, political representation, both policing and sentencing in law enforcement, voting rights…. I pretended he’d ridden from Georgia where he’d joined in Stacey Abrams’s “Fair Fight” against suppression of the black vote that cost her the governorship. Yes indeed, there will be wars against unconstitutional election policies and procedures—canceled voter registrations, targeted precinct closings. broken equipment, nonstop hurdles. Far from being alarmed, join the Fair Fight, Abrams invites. She spearheads a national effort.

I looked around as we walked along Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Next door to the Virginia Museum stands the building housing the United Daughters of the American Confederacy. Though I saw no signs to keep off the grass, this organization had hired officers to make sure that no feet attending the statue’s dedication would traipse on its property. The horse was pointed in that direction, so it was easy to envision four hoofed feet gliding gracefully over the grass.

“Rumors of War,” cast in bronze and coated in a grafitti-resistant material, will have guards 24/7. I like to think that the winds of change will lift the horse and rider out of harm’s way, propelling them and all of us forward into new understanding and good will. Giddy up.

Things to do on Martin Luther King Day: Spread these rumors of overdue wars. Re-imagine the world. Be unafraid of change. Yes, “See to it that you are not alarmed.”

And if inclusion and the embrace of diversity frighten anyone, Dr. King gets the last word on his day. “Is your heart right? If your heart isn’t right, fix it up today” (The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.")

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