A 12-foot bronze statue of a woman looms over the people of New York amidst the spectacles in Times Square. A Black woman. A sculpture that appears to be anything but statuesque. She stands tall in average clothes, a plain t-shirt, and pants that look like gray khakis with flat shoes. Her brows are bushy and unkempt, her hair in medium-sized braids that hardly touch her shoulders; she’s resting her hands on her hips while popping her leg out smack dab in the center of Times Square. Vulgar and Ghetto, and all she does is stand still. Loud, and she can’t even open her mouth. Taking up space, and she can’t even move. For what reason is this woman here? What did she do? What purpose does she serve?
The statue was sculpted and installed in Times Square on April 29th, 2025, by a British man named Thomas J. Price, a talented artist who creates statues just like the woman on Broadway and 46th. Price decided to name the project, ‘Grounded in the Stars,’ and according to a Times Square article written about Price’s piece, the intention behind creating this and his upcoming project, ‘Man Series’ is, “to instigate meaningful connections and bind intimate emotional states that allow for deeper reflection around the human condition and greater cultural diversity.”
While the comments online show an “emotional state,” they don’t seem very binding. I am sure, although I cannot speak for Price, that seeing ‘Grounded in the Stars’ reflecting the “emotional states” of other people must feel like a backhanded accomplishment. As a Black woman myself, I ponder why this statue that is meant to “instigate meaningful connections” is so looked down upon in the Black Community.
A Black TikToker by the user of @iamjustagirl2, who, ironically, has a non-profit organization called ‘I’m just a girl’ meant to have mainly Black women and girls “love one another and support one another” said, “Fat, Black, and ugly in Times Square is wild, like they really think we’re a joke.” She continued later on in this video: “Like that big behind, twelve-foot, overweight Black woman in the middle of Times Square? That is what they choose to represent us?”
If you think this is bad, she doubles down, saying, “There’s nothing attractive about this statue. There’s nothing appeasing—it’s like this monster. This monster of a Black woman who’s dominating. It gives this aggressive, overpowering, masculine, Black woman,” the user finishes.
Now, while most of the comments under this now removed video tore her apart (and for good reason), commentators saying things such as, “Girl, you’re weird”, “That’s so rude! Wtf…”, “is she okay ?!?!”, “projectionnnnn,” I still feel dread that this is just one of many videos hating on this statue.
For example, another TikToker @sheraseven1theorginal, makes comments like how the statue is “very unglamourous” and “very blah.” Shera said, “Nobody wants to find that attractive. If that’s the stereotype being given, that’s the stereotype being reflected, it’s going to also start showing up in different places. I think it’s a genius idea to show people who they are so that they can understand how people view them, so they can make the changes that are necessary in order to dismantle the bad stereotype of certain women.”
This video has also since been deleted shortly after posting. The difference between @iamjustagirl2’s video and this one is the responses to Shera’s comments. Most of the people under the section seem to agree, with one that stands out to me saying, “That statue reminds me to go to the gym every day.” All of the users who made these types of comments had a Black person as their profile picture.
A video uploaded by a user named @agirlnamed__nikki, shows a video of a Black man being interviewed about his perspective on the statue.
His reponse is, “why is it that image? It could’ve been a little petite soft girl with glasses on with scrubs on. Why it could have been her?” when the man is asked by the interviewer what about the statue bothers him, he says it’s the way America likes to portray black people and in his experience, “america projects certain images,” hence his question, “why this one?”
The reactions to a statue that is so basic baffled me. I understand that people are confused as to why the statue is so bland, but it is clear that the intention behind the piece has gone over the heads of so many Black people who should be able to understand.
All the videos and comments mentioned earlier say the same thing while wording it differently, which is, “I have internalized racism and I’m also a misogynist.” Saying that she’s “unglamorous” when she’s supposed to be realistic takes away from the purpose of Price’s piece, which is meant to represent the average Black woman. Saying she’s masculine, a monster, fat, or ugly, is indirectly projecting what you feel onto other Black women with similar features.
Thinking that the statue needed to be a “petite soft girl” to represent a whole group of women implies this fetishization of what you think a woman should be. Women can be soft and petite while looking like the woman standing tall in Times Square. The “certain image America is projecting” is the image of a real woman with a healthy body and everyday clothes. Society has become so disgusted with black women being comfortable and healthy. The expectations pushed onto us are not only deplorable but also impossible to attain. Not every woman can be as skinny and petite as society wants them to be, and the colonization that has made the American beauty standard makes it very difficult for black women to fit into that standard. The notion that the statue is ugly for being in her natural and comfortable state reinforces any colonial day rhetoric that has been implemented into the heads of many people, and that rhetoric is the idea of black women having to suffer to be seen as worthy, whether this worthiness looks like slathering perms in heads or having to excel at jobs to get ahead.
The Time Magazine published an article in 2020 where Price says in regards to this project, “ If you’re a Black person being represented in sculpture, you don’t have to be an athlete, or strike a pose, or fulfill an expectation.” Black people, especially women, should be appreciated for their essence without having to prove their worth. Worth should not be rooted in what you do or who people see you as, but should be rooted in the love we as Black people have for one another.
