Standing 25 feet tall and weighing in at 7,000lbs, All Power to All People is a provocative artwork combining the Afro pick and the Black Power salute, both icons of Black identity and empowerment. When Hank conceived of a monumental Afro pick with a raised fist, he wanted to make an object that spoke specifically to African Americans, illustrative of the artist's longstanding investigation into public art's role in shaping collective discourse and societal values.

Around the 20th century, Afro combs started to take on a definite cultural and political meaning. The “black fist” was added to the bottom of many Afro combs and is a reference to the Black Power salute that was made popular during the 1960’s civil rights movement. In addition to using the pick as a styling tool, many Black men and women wore the picks in their Afros as a way to express their cultural pride. The Afro pick exists today as many things to different people: it is representative not only of an era but a sound and a counter-culture. It is a uniting motif worn as adornment, a political emblem, and a signature of collective identity. Hank recalls the scale of Pop artist Claes Oldenburg’s monumental everyday objects, such as the Clothespin and Paint Torch, while marking the lack of commemorative statues that address equal justice and belonging.

Presented by Kindred Arts, Monumental Tour is a touring exhibition empowering social change through the arts. As Kindred tours these monumental symbols of empowerment across America, we are inviting municipalities and gatekeepers of space to fundamentally rethink how we might program outdoor public spaces to reflect and honor a diversity of human identities and experiences.