“The Man in Black,” Johnny Cash, is now immortalized in stone at Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol, standing as the very first professional musician to grace the hallowed halls alongside historical American politicians and civil rights pioneers.
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The statue of late singer-songwriter Johnny Cash was unveiled during a ceremony on September 24 in Washington, DC., as his home state of Arkansas replaced two images representing the state in Emancipation Hall for over 100 years. Earlier this year, Arkansas added a statue of civil rights activist and newspaper publisher Daisy Bates, who documented the battle to end segregation in her state.
Johnny's daughter, Rosanne Cash, spoke during the ceremony and said her father would have been honored by the memorial. “This man was a living redemption story,” Cash said. “He encountered darkness and met it with love.”
Leaders from both sides of the aisle also attended the unveiling, with House Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledging, “Some may ask: Why should a musician have a statue here in the halls of the great American republic? The answer is pretty simple. It’s because America is about more than laws and politics.”
In 2019 the Arkansas state legislature voted to replace two statues of little-known 18th and 19th century figures with Bates and Cash.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was also in attendance with other lawmakers from her state and spoke of her own musical family that believed, “After God and country, came Johnny Cash,” a “hymn-singing Christian” who had his struggles -- but was ultimately a true icon. “When so much in today’s world is fake, Johnny Cash was very real,” Sanders added.
Fans can visit the statue located within the National Mall opposite the Library of Congress.