Public Statement from Hasan Davis on the Vandalism of the York Statue in Louisville, KY
- hasan7459
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Friends,
Last week, the nation got another glimpse of something I’ve experienced for years: The story of York still unsettles people.
The recent vandalism of Ed Hamilton’s powerful statue of York, standing watch over the Louisville Belvedere, wasn’t just an act of damage to bronze and artistry. It was a reminder of how fragile memory can be—especially when it comes to the lives and legacies of Black Americans who gave everything but were promised nothing. And like the attack on the prominent bust of York that appeared in Portland Oregon’s Mount Tabor Park a few years ago, this was a strike at memory. At legacy. At truth.
For over 25 years, I’ve worked in schools, juvenile facilities, museums, and public spaces across this nation, sharing stories that too many of our history books skip. For that quarter-century, I’ve stepped into York’s story as a Living History interpreter. I’ve carried his voice, his grief, his humor, and his dignity into rooms where he’d never been allowed when he was alive. I’ve stood in his shoes before thousands of students, educators, and community members, trying to give voice to someone who history tried to silence. And even now, 220 years later, some would rather this memory remain still, hidden, wounded.
But, as America prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary, we will not let that happen.
York was the only Black man on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He proved himself, A soldier, A hunter, A diplomat, A brother in the storm. Forced into service he endured, contributed, and sacrificed to prove he was more than up to the task. He crossed mountains and rivers for a country that denied his basic humanity. And like so many, when the great journey ended and the mission complete, he was denied the very freedom he helped mythologize for an entire nation.
But still, he stands.
That’s what makes this statue important. It’s not just about bronze and stone. It’s about the record. It’s about refusing to let another Black life be written out of the story. York’s presence challenges us to remember that this nation has always been built on the backs, and with the brilliance, of people who were never given proper credit. From Indigenous peoples whose care and presence of these lands for millennia has been bulldozed, and immigrants who fueled and fed the industrial revolution, to the Africans human trafficked to built and maintained the entire infrastructure of a new nation, our stories can no longer be sanitized.
This act of vandalism couldn’t silence York’s story. But serves as a call to amplify it louder than ever, a demand we teach it more boldly, tell it more fully, and ask ourselves why honoring Black history still feels threatening to some.
So, while someone may have carved into the statue’s arm, they didn’t wound York. They simply revealed just how difficult we have made it to erase historical memory, and how much work we still must do to properly celebrate it.
York stood resilient, with dignity, in service, gazing into the face of injustice. Today, he stands as a symbol of what it means to persist, even when history has tried to forget you. This act of vandalism doesn’t silence York’s legacy. It reminds us how necessary it is. This is not a moment for outrage alone… It’s a moment for resolve. An opportunity to amplify York’s name, his story, and what he represents.
We will not back down from telling these truths. And we will not let York be erased, again. York deserves that much. And honestly, we do too.
In purpose and hope,
Hasan Davis, J.D.
Hope Dealer | Educator | Living History Interpreter
