The Odd Meaning Behind The New Harambe Statue And 10,000 Bananas In Front Of Wall Street’s Charging Bull
It's sort of a weird call to action.
Youtube You may have seen some images floating around online of a massive gorilla statue in Bowling Green Park as well as a pile of bananas underneath the Bowling Green Bull.
You were not dreaming, there really is a gorilla statue on Wall Street.
A bronze statue of Harambe, yes that Harambe, was installed facing the Bowling Green Bull and a pile of 10,000 bananas was placed underneath the bull.
Why is there a Harambe statue on Wall Street?
So, what does a gorilla that died over 5 years ago have to do with the Charging Bull Statue? Well, according to the founders of Sapien.Network who organized the display, wealth disparity.
The display is intended to illustrate that the magnates on Wall Street have entirely lost touch with ordinary people.
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According to Sapien.Network founders, the 10,000 bananas piled under the Bowling Green Bull are meant to show that Wall Street has gone “bananas” and that they are in possession of everything while regular people have nothing.
The display’s organizers claim that they are not against capitalism or calling for the destruction or removal of current economic systems.
According to the Sapien.Network’s mission statement, “Sapien is building a social network that prioritizes humans and what makes us special as a species. Our social platform is built on privacy, independent communities, and quality connections between our fellow humans.”
The Sapien.Network founders are asking that our economic system be adjusted.
Sapien.Network’s message is one of unity and collective forward progress.
“Striketober” is in full swing and workers all across the country have taken to their unions and gone on strike. As negotiations between workers and their employers fail, production is grinding to a halt while companies scramble to replace their usual workforce with temporary workers.
While viral displays like a 7-foot-tall bronze statue of Harambe being installed across from the Charging Bull may seem silly or contrived, it reflects very real feelings that working Americans have all across the country.
It is unlikely that this is the last display like this that we will see as workers and employers continue to find themselves unable to reach common ground and the wealth disparity between ordinary people and the ultra-rich continues to widen.
Harambe became a widespread meme after his death.
In case you need a refresher, Harambe was the gorilla that was shot and killed by emergency personnel at the Cincinnati Zoo back in 2016.
After a 3-year-old crawled through the bars and fell into the Gorilla exhibit, Harambe the Gorilla approached, grabbed and began to drag the child around the exhibit. After several minutes, zoo personnel deemed the situation to be life-threatening enough to shoot Harambe.
Following Harambe’s death and the initial news coverage, a national debate started and quickly achieved viral meme status.
Memorials and memes overran the internet for months after the incident.
Since then, Harambe has gone the way of all viral trends and largely fallen out of the collective public consciousness. Despite this, the name Harambe is undoubtedly instantly recognizable and that’s likely the reason why his likeness was used in this display.
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Dan O'Reilly is a writer who covers news, politics and social justice. Follow him on Twitter.