Each state selects two statues to place within the Capitol, and the Cash statue is the second new figure Arkansas has sent to replace two existing images that had represented the state for more than a century. Earlier this year, a statue depicting civil rights leader Daisy Bates was unveiled. Bates mentored the nine Black children who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The state’s legislature voted in 2019 to replace the prior statues, which depicted little-known figures from the 18th and 19th centuries, with Bates and Cash.
Known as “The Man in Black,” Cash was a vivid storyteller whose deep voice immortalized songs like “I Walk The Line,” “Ring of Fire,” “Jackson,” and “A Boy Named Sue.” The statue, created by Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kresse, depicts the singer with a guitar slung across his back and a Bible in his hand.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries highlighted the importance of artistic creativity to the country’s growth, noting that Cash’s “substance” and “swagger” inspired generations of artists across various genres. He quoted musicians like Bob Dylan and Snoop Dogg to emphasize Cash’s monumental influence. “He called Johnny Cash a real American gangster. That’s a compliment from Snoop Doggy Dogg,” Jeffries said to audience laughter. “What a life, what a legend, what a legacy.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders led a group of Arkansas lawmakers at the ceremony. Growing up in a musical family, she recalled how “after God and country, came Johnny Cash.” Sanders noted how Cash’s struggles with addiction did not detract from his deep religious faith and iconic performances, even for prisoners. She described him as a “hymn-singing Christian” who experienced life’s difficult times.
“When so much in today’s world is fake, Johnny Cash was very real,” Sanders stated.
Cash’s daughter, Rosanne Cash, reflected on how her father would have viewed the statue as the pinnacle honor of his life. She spoke of his difficult upbringing, which instilled in him a strong work ethic and a deep admiration for America as a land of dreams and refuge. “This man was a living redemption story,” she said. “He encountered darkness and met it with love.”
Born in Kingsland, a tiny town about 60 miles south of Little Rock, Johnny Cash died in 2003 at the age of 71. His achievements include selling 90 million records worldwide, spanning country, rock, blues, folk, and gospel. He is one of the few artists inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Cash’s statue is the newest addition to the Capitol since a statue of the Rev. Billy Graham from North Carolina was unveiled in May.
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 01:17:00
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