Anton de Kom

Anti-colonial writer and human rights activist Anton de Kom (1898-1945) was a son of a former slave from Surinam. In the 30's he lived in Surinam, a colony of the Netherlands. He protested against it and was sent to jail. February 7, 1933, became 'Black Tuesday' when a large crowd gathered in Paramaribo to demand his release. Police opened fire and resulting in 30 wounded and 2 deaths. De Kom was sent back to the Netherlands, and wrote the historical novel "We Slaves Of Surinam" in 1934 (it became a bestseller in 2020), he lived in Amsterdam on Reestraat 6 (nowadays a restaurant) and during World War II he became a resistance fighter. He was captured and died of tuberculosis in a German camp in 1945. He was rewarded posthumus with the Dutch Cross of Resistance. In Surinam he is seen as a hero.

Anton de Kom statue (2006) by Jikke van Loon, is located on Anton de Kom Square in Amsterdam South-East (Bijlmer). The artist cut the statue out of a gele kabbes tree (Fava Armogosa) from the Surinamese inland that was shipped to the Netherlands. The statue caused controversy, because he's naked and was created by a white artist.

The Martin Luther King statue stood next to Anton de Kom unharmed for almost half a year, but then disappeared. Stolen? After an intensive research, it appeared to be in a depot, and it came back. His legs were broken but he was still standing. In 2021 the statue was given to the young generation at ROC Amsterdam, who will keep the dream alive.