Representing the State of Virginia,

United States Capitol

3’x 3′ x 11′

I chose to capture the pivotal moment at the close of Barbara Johns’s impassioned speech—just before she led nearly 500 fellow students from Moton High School into downtown Farmville to protest the injustice of their segregated, “separate but equal” school.

This statue not only honors an extraordinary young woman whose courage helped spark a turning point in American history, it also stands as a symbol of the nation’s highest democratic ideals—what America could be, should be, and strives to become.