(Repost) Why Is Liberty A Lady? U.S.A. Independence Day Report Starring Lady Liberty

“That’s what this effort is all about. It’s about creating a world where women shine.” —FLOTUS on #LetGirlsLearn: http://t.co/8n1tGpQJME — The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 23, 2015

Life=Women+Money & #Hollywood Aint Nuthin But Some Words And Pictures. Guess the PIMP thing 2 do is VISUALIZE it tho! pic.twitter.com/wWiqzn2jHN — PimpHop.com (@PimpHop) March 17, 2015

(Editors Note – Saturday July 4, 2015)
Article republished on July 7, 2010 by Rylan Branch

5 Years Later = The Saga Continues.
Stay Tuned And Have A Great Day Of Independence!

(End Note) 

(Editors Note – July 7, 2010)

Originally Published on: Jul 4, 2009 @ 14:44
On With The Show!

(End Note)

Greetings Earthlings .
As usual, my brief vacation was refreshing, and the proper indicators always seem to sound off when the time comes for me to return to my post.

Yesterday, I happened to tune in to an evening news show, and there was a segment that indicated that the Statue Of Liberty would be reopening all areas to the general public for the first time since September 11, 2001 following the events of that day which in part occurred directly across the harbor at the World Trade Center Towers.

I decided to write about an interesting scenario which is just in time for Independence Day 2009 which is the connection between  Liberty and The Lady .

Its best to start with a few historical basics, so first and foremost, the statue is actually a gift from the nation of France, given to the United States in 1886 as a commemoration of the centennial of the first official Independence Day in the year 1776. The statue , officially named
La liber clairant le monde (Liberty Enlightening the World)
was created by F. Auguste Bartholdi in collaboration with the chief engineers of the Eiffel company was first constructed in France and put on display for American Representatives, and then disassembled and shipped to America to be reassembled on a small island in the New York harbor. There is actually a replica statue located in Paris France which was dedicated in 1889 and stands in sight of the Eiffel Tower at
Jardin du Luxembourg.

What is also interesting to note is that the actual process of accepting the gift and funding the project for its erection on the island now known as Ellis Island was met with stiff opposition, and was said to only have come into a state of completion through the fund raising and publicizing efforts of Joseph Pulitzer.

The individual who galvanized the public into raising the money required to complete the pedestal was Joseph Pulitzer, owner-editor of The (New York) World. In March 1885, Pulitzer renewed the newspaper crusade he had begun on behalf of the “pedestal fund” in 1883. He re-emphasized the national and egalitarian nature of the project, railed at the wealthy of New York for their lack of generosity, and appealed to the “working masses” to make up the deficiency in the fund.⁵ The participation of the French public was also held up as an example.

This in my opinion sheds light on the actual value of the famed
Pulitzer Prize, which leads us to investigate even further into the mysteries of why Liberty is a Lady.

The classical appearance (Roman stola, sandals, facial expression) derives from Libertas, ancient Rome’s goddess of freedom from slavery, oppression, and tyranny. Her raised right foot is on the move. This symbol of Liberty and Freedom is not standing still or at attention in the harbor, it is moving forward, as her left foot tramples broken shackles at her feet, in symbolism of the United States’ wish to be free from oppression and tyranny.[11] Since the 1940s, it has been claimed that the seven spikes on the epitomize the Seven Seas and seven continents.[12] Her torch signifies enlightenment. The tablet in her hand represents knowledge and shows the date of the United States Declaration of Independence, in roman numerals, July IV, MDCCLXXVI. The general appearance of the statue’s head approximates the Greek Sun-god Apollo or the Roman Sun-god Helios as preserved on an ancient marble tablet (today in the Archaeological Museum of Corinth, Corinth, Greece) – Apollo was represented as a solar deity, dressed in a similar robe and having on its head a “radiate crown” with the seven spiked rays of the Helios-Apollo’s sun rays, like the Statue’s nimbus or halo. The ancient Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was a statue of Helios with a radiate crown. The Colossus is referred to in the 1883 sonnet The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. Lazarus’ poem was later engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty in 1903.

There is plenty of folklore and intrigue regarding this statue which is scheduled for reopening on this day, 04 July 2009 and plenty of historical data to be researched. I will simply state that there seems to be something about an image of an attractive woman at any reception point for travelers who are on or have completed a journey in search of better opportunities for growth, expansion, and enlightenment. We here at your friendly Neighborhood PimpHop.com actually second the emotion and have created such a destination, and added some similar imagery using the available technology to effectively bring it to you in a more life like presentation.

Let the record also reflect as an African American with ancestors who may not have actually traveled across the Atlantic by choice or under correct pretenses, that if what was required to attain liberty was represented by the form of a statue of a lady upon my arrival, then my quest to attain that which was required to achieve the goal of liberty would then be that much more pertinent and valuable of an acquisition.

With that said, its the same ole story.
On With The Show!

Happy Independence Day!

A different perspective to consider.