Jen Reid

Jen Reid (born 2 November 1970) is a British Black Lives Matter activist from Bristol. After the statue of Edward Colston was pushed into Bristol Harbour, Reid stood on the empty plinth and made a Black Power salute. This pose was then recreated in the sculpture A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020.

7 June 2020

On 7 June 2020, at a Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol following the murder of George Floyd, a statue of Edward Colston was toppled and pushed into the nearby Bristol Harbour.^[1] Seventeenth-century merchant Edward Colston had become a figure of controversy in Bristol due to his involvement in the slave trade.^[2]^[3] Reid stood upon the now empty plinth and raised her fist in a Black Power salute. Her husband took a photograph and posted it on Instagram, and it was quickly transmitted worldwide.^[4]^[5] She later told ITV News "It was a spontaneous action".^[4]

Frances Lincoln Publishers announced in 2021 that they would be releasing a picture book made by Reid and US author Angela Joy which is based upon the June 2020 events.^[6] A BBC Radio 4 series called Descendants profiled Reid in its first episode in May 2021.^[7] A mural featuring a portrait of Reid was painted by London artist Mr Cenz in Stokes Croft.^[8]

A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020

Having seen the photograph of Jen Reid on social media, artist Marc Quinn contacted her and they agreed to make a sculpture of her recreating the raised fist pose to put upon the still empty plinth.^[9] Following a 3D scan of Reid made at Quinn's London studio A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 was created in black resin and placed upon the plinth on the morning of 15 July 2020.^[9]^[10] Reid told BBC News "This sculpture is about making a stand for my mother, for my daughter, for black people like me".^[5] The statue was removed the following day by Bristol City Council.

Personal and professional life

Reid was born on 2 November 1970.^[3] She claims that one of her grandmothers was an enslaved African.^[7]

Reid launched a fashion brand called Big Stush in 2022.^[11]^[12] Reid is one of the authors of A Hero Like Me, an illustrated children's book inspired by the events of 7 June 2020 which was published in 2023.^[13]