Protesters who have toppled Junipero Serra statues face charges for the first time. While Serra, an 18th-century Franciscan priest and Catholic saint, is credited with spreading the Catholic faith in what is now California, critics say he was part of an imperial conquest that enslaved
Statues of Junipero Serra, the 18th-century Franciscan missionary who symbolizes to many an imperial conquest that enslaved Native Americans, were toppled in multiple California cities earlier this year. Now, many Indigenous leaders, artists, and activists across the state are contemplating what comes next.
A life-sized statue of Baptist evangelist Billy Graham will be installed in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall collection sometime next year, replacing a statue of a white supremacist that both the state of North Carolina and the U.S. House want removed.
As Californians once again reckon with their statues of Junipero Serra, the 18th-century Franciscan priest who founded what would become 21 missions along the California coast, Native people and Indigenous scholars say it’s time for their voices to be heard and their existence to be