Things really have already changed since Barack Obama became President-elect. For example, way back in pre-Change October, James Yamada’s sculpture “Our Starry Night” graced the Doris C. Freedman Plaza in New York City’s Central Park:

But that was then. And this is now! Passing by the Doris C. Freedman Plaza today, I spotted this sculpture, “El Che” (pictured below in another city), by the German artist Christian Jankowski:

Why is the most vibrant capitalist hub in the world playing host to a statue of a murderous communist thug? Bailout mania? The Castroesque extension of Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s reign? The base of the sculpture is inscribed with a Che quote that my ignorance of Spanish prohibited me from deciphering. But I’m pretty sure it wasn’t an apology for committing acts of terror and helping to derail a country for nearly half a century.

UPDATE: Apparently, the sculpture is not intended to depict Che Guevara, but rather a street performer dressed as Che Guevara. Which I’m sure makes all the difference in the world to the families of Che’s victims.

del.icio.us

Google

Facebook

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 11:21 AM and is filed under Contentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.