Being black in American history has never been easy. And yet, black lives and experiences make up the fabric of this nation, often in unseen and deeply heroic ways. While progress toward freedom and equity is happening everyday and in every way, the struggle for meaningful change continues. Man Kind seeks to celebrate and promote this momentum by giving voice to authentic black stories from around the country.

Through a collaborative process of sculpture building, we will use artistic ritual as a way to unite people of all races, while also showcasing a diverse selection of African American narratives. Man Kind does not seek to tell these stories—but rather, to provide a sanctuary where black voices can be heard and felt in equal measure.

When it comes to the issue of race, there is a lot of work to be done in this country. It is high time Black Americans felt the love and appreciation of their own nation. While the journey to real freedom is long, the truth is no one can claim it until we all do.

ManKind offers a step forward in this long journey, and an opportunity to promote visibility around the black experience that has been concealed and neglected for far too long. With this recognition comes action, as America slowly wakes from its nightmarish history of slavery, oppression, and physical violence.

The African diaspora comes with a legacy of physical and spiritual pain. Within this lived experience dwells an energy of great collective suffering. Man Kind is a conduit to transmute this painbody into healing through artistic expression. America and its citizens can never be healed until we all are healed.

ManKind is a sculpture by Marco Cochrane, working in collaboration with a male African American model who wants to remain anonymous and Zulu Heru, a sculptor and friend of Marco. The pose was chosen by the model. The statue was first developed as a life size sculpture, which was then enlarged to 18 foot version, that will be enlarged again to a 50-foot sculpture made of carbon fiber, to be completed in time for installation at Burning Man 2024

Inside the 50-foot sculpture, there are two main structures—the inner weight-bearing framework and the outer “skin,” both of which are made in completely different ways.

The internal piece is crafted out of carbon fiber hand layup and built in 8-foot sections. The skin consists of about 200 separate panels across the body, which are made of printed carbon fiber.

Promises to be a collaborative, dynamic and deep process, in keeping with the black stories it will carry. From start to finish, shepherding the Man across the country, through many different communities, will involve people of all races and backgrounds. The black stories and voices, however, will come directly from those individuals with a lived ancestry of African American life.

The process begins by choosing 12 cities across the nation to host Man Kind's transcontinental tour. These cities will be chosen by the board. The tour will be managed by Marsha Reid of kindred arts, at kindredarts.org. The first city to welcome Man Kind will be Oakland, California. This group will choose 10 to 12 local black artists to create works, of any form of art, reflecting their own unique stories. These artists will be given a grant of at least $100,000 and the time to work to create something amazing. These works will be exhibited when “Man Kind” comes to town, prompting a community celebration.

The organically shaped internal weight bearing structure will be made in the Bay Area by a diverse group of highly trained professionals.

The 200 panels comprising sculpture skin will be printed in the Bay Area.

After the 200 panels are produced, they will be sent to a location in the Bay Area to be fitted onto the inner structure. This compilation process will allow the lightweight sculpture to be assembled by people participating in Man Kind’s national tour. The Man will then make his first stop at Burning Man 2024, where he will be fully embraced by the Black Rock City community.

Once The Man returns home to the Bay Area, the next phase of the tour will begin. The 200 panels will be mailed to 200 people in Oakland. These 200 people will be chosen by the local team to create a story of healing and celebration. The Oakland location, where various artists will be chosen by their communities to tell their story of connection and healing. Music, dance, writing, spoken word, paintings, murals, welding—all types of artistic expression are welcome under the marquee of “My Story.” Once work around The Man has been completed in Oakland, the sculpture will move on to its next city, possibly Compton, California.

Will require the help and hearts of many people, in several different communities. At the location of each individual build, the head is installed first. We will start with the feet, place the inner structure on the base and then the people with the feet panels will place them on the inner structure to form the feet. This process will be repeated and the pieces stacked by a crane run by Zulu (the model for the face) until the sculpture is complete.

This process will be a beautiful collaboration (like a dance) of people moving to the sculpture and stepping back as others step forward to place their pieces - a rhythm of building up, a ritual of lifting up in contradiction of the active tearing down that has been the constant in this country for people of color.

Once the sculpture is done, the day belongs to black people, and the following day as well to reflect and enjoy. (I have been told this is needed.)

Then the rest of the week is going to be about healing and celebration.

At the end of the week, the sculpture is disassembled in reverse, and the skin panels are mailed to the next of the 12 locations. As the sculpture travels, the story grows and changes as people experience working with The Man. Each event will be different, but the feeling of the sculpture will remain the same, setting a base note for the tour.

When the sculpture tour is complete, and all of the previous 13 builds are finished, The plan is Man Kind will land at the National Museum of African American History & Culture in the nation’s capital, Washington DC. There, it will undergo its final installment.

In Washington DC will begin with an opening ceremony, followed by a week of speakers and artists from the black communities who have been commissioned to do works relating to the theme “My Story.”

These commissions will range from corporate to individual, to be expressed alongside whatever celebrity appearances can be confirmed for this final celebration. Hopefully, The Man will remain in this home for a while.

This will happen in each city. I had not thought of the works as traveling with The Man but that might make sense. This would allow the show to get bigger as it moves across the country. The National Museum of African American History and Culture has announced that its theme beginning Black History Month will be “African Americans and The Arts”. We think The Man will be a great complement to their vision and mission as well.

Is to facilitate the sharing of experience and opportunities for black communities across the nation. As such, there is considerable symbolism attached to The Man Kind project. Carbon fiber was specifically chosen for its black color, a fitting material for a project that ruminates on the nature of race.

My voice - when I look at black men I wonder how they live here, what special strength must they have to deal with the added stresses that they live with every day,

Carbon fiber is also 10 times stronger and stiffer than steel, a metaphor for that extra something they have.

This symbolism is also expressed in the practical building of the sculpture. Hexagons are used in place of triangles, mostly because the stresses are completely different. While hexagons have bending force throughout the structure, triangles have tension and compression. However, the holes in Man Kind’s foundation are also a rumination on how black people in America have been continually undermined since the beginning.

The 200 people with the skin panels will represent a story of healing in the black community, as well as our shared human one. Living while black can be traumatic for anyone who recognizes the magnitude of what came before—and what continues to happen in this country.