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January 2, 2023 3:06 PM Subscribe
White contractors wouldn’t remove Confederate statues. So a Black man did it. He didn’t seek the job. He had never paid much attention to Civil War history. City and state officials said they turned to Team Henry Enterprises after a long list of bigger contractors — all White-owned — said they wanted no part of taking down Confederate statues.
For a Black man to step in carried enormous risk. Henry concealed the name of his company for a time and long shunned media interviews. He has endured death threats, seen employees walk away and been told by others in the industry that his future is ruined. He started wearing a bulletproof vest on job sites and got a permit to carry a concealed firearm for protection.
The drama interrupted Henry’s careful efforts to build his business. But after removing 24 monuments in Virginia and North Carolina, Henry, 45, has grown more comfortable with his role in enabling a historic reckoning with social injustice across the South. The threats haven’t let up; Henry has simply learned to live with them.
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For a Black man to step in carried enormous risk. Henry concealed the name of his company for a time and long shunned media interviews. He has endured death threats, seen employees walk away and been told by others in the industry that his future is ruined. He started wearing a bulletproof vest on job sites and got a permit to carry a concealed firearm for protection.
The drama interrupted Henry’s careful efforts to build his business. But after removing 24 monuments in Virginia and North Carolina, Henry, 45, has grown more comfortable with his role in enabling a historic reckoning with social injustice across the South. The threats haven’t let up; Henry has simply learned to live with them.
web archive
"In 1890, the year the state erected an enormous statue of Robert E. Lee on what would become Monument Avenue, Mitchell wrote about the resilience of the Black person in society.
“The Negro … put up the Lee monument,” Mitchell wrote, “and should the time come, will be there to take it down.”
posted by clavdivs at 3:17 PM on January 2, 2023 [41 favorites]
“The Negro … put up the Lee monument,” Mitchell wrote, “and should the time come, will be there to take it down.”
posted by clavdivs at 3:17 PM on January 2, 2023 [41 favorites]
“My son was like, well Dad, look, you’re going to always be my hero so it doesn’t really matter,” Henry said. “But this would be really cool.”I read some passages in a very dusty room.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:21 PM on January 2, 2023 [37 favorites]
We should put up a statue of Henry.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:53 PM on January 2, 2023 [20 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:53 PM on January 2, 2023 [20 favorites]
The Legend of Devon Henry's Hammer
posted by ryoshu at 4:15 PM on January 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by ryoshu at 4:15 PM on January 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
Thank you so much for sharing this. Mr. Henry's bravery is uplifting, and I share Faint of Butt's sentiments that Mr. Henry is deserving of a statue, or whatever is more appropriate for 21st-century accolades.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 5:28 PM on January 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 5:28 PM on January 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
I had to go back and double check the date on that.
January 2, 2023
posted by porpoise at 5:57 PM on January 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
January 2, 2023
posted by porpoise at 5:57 PM on January 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
I know all true process is made in fits and starts. So congrats on electing people decent enough to do the right thing.
posted by zenon at 6:35 PM on January 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by zenon at 6:35 PM on January 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Legend of Devon Henry's Hammer
I was thinking about the story you may have incidentally referenced to reading this thread. What a sweet parallel. I was read that story multiple times in Elementary school.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:02 PM on January 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was thinking about the story you may have incidentally referenced to reading this thread. What a sweet parallel. I was read that story multiple times in Elementary school.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:02 PM on January 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Great story.
It turns out that there's a legitimate use for NFTs.
"As he thought about the significance of the Confederate statues, Henry decided he wanted to find a way to turn the destruction into something positive. That led to a venture in which artists of color created digital images of statues being dismantled that can be sold as NFTs, with all proceeds going to charities. “We want to kind of change the narrative a little bit about the removal and what they mean,” Henry said."
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:57 AM on January 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
It turns out that there's a legitimate use for NFTs.
"As he thought about the significance of the Confederate statues, Henry decided he wanted to find a way to turn the destruction into something positive. That led to a venture in which artists of color created digital images of statues being dismantled that can be sold as NFTs, with all proceeds going to charities. “We want to kind of change the narrative a little bit about the removal and what they mean,” Henry said."
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:57 AM on January 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
Norfolk State's alumni and development departments better make this man a star!!!
posted by lextex at 9:49 AM on January 3, 2023
posted by lextex at 9:49 AM on January 3, 2023
> Northam, a Democrat, decided it was time to act. Protesters and police were clashing every night. He wanted to move fast.
You can say a lot of things about Northam, not all of them complimentary. But when people tried to cash the check that Abraham Lincoln signed, he tried to pay.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 10:13 AM on January 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
You can say a lot of things about Northam, not all of them complimentary. But when people tried to cash the check that Abraham Lincoln signed, he tried to pay.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 10:13 AM on January 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
I completely agree about Northam. The blackface thing was horrible, and his "apology" was not good either, since he never fully admitted he did it. But, in my mind, he did make up for a lot of that by being so forceful about bringing the monuments down. It was an apology in actions, rather than words, and that usually means more anyway.
posted by Furnace of Doubt at 7:42 AM on January 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Furnace of Doubt at 7:42 AM on January 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
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