A Philadelphia poet’s words will accompany Harriet Tubman’s City Hall statue
"Our light is in taking the small steps," said creative writing teacher Andre Saunders, who felt humbled and honored at being selected.
Hip-hop artist, poet, and author Andre Saunders’ words extolling Harriet Tubman’s legacy will now live in perpetuity on the base of a forthcoming City Hall statue of Tubman. When he was informed, he was both honored and humbled.
His words: “Carry your light into the dark, for on the other side of fear is freedom” was chosen from a pool of 166 entries. That in itself is cause for honor.
And he was humbled because he will now forever be connected with the legacy of Tubman — an enslaved woman who risked her life countless times leading hundreds of enslaved people to freedom. His words will be attached to her legacy as an American patriot and social justice leader.
“This is bigger than myself,” said Saunders, who lives in Mount Airy and teaches creative writing classes to Philadelphia school children. “It matters not only to me, but to my family and friends. I’m excited that my work will be featured in something so monumental.”
Creative Philadelphia, the city’s office of arts and culture, announced this week that Saunders’ quote was the winner of a citywide contest for the once-in-a-lifetime literary chance.
“I wanted to paint a picture of optimism,” said Saunders, whose interactive memoir, Honest Becoming Me, was published by Palmetto Press in 2025. “People think we have to change the world by doing some amazing and big grand thing, but our light is in taking the small steps.”
“Imagine how Ms. Tubman felt the first time she brought enslaved people to freedom,” Saunders continued. “She probably didn’t think it was a big deal. In her mind it may have been a small gesture, a scary gesture. But it netted big results: nation changing, history making results.”
After some controversy surrounding picking the initial artist without an open call, Philadelphia officials chose sculptor Alvin Pettit, through a subsequent open call, in 2023. He was tasked to fashion a 14-foot bronze statue of Tubman to be erected on the apron of City Hall.
The sculpture, entitled A Higher Power: The Call of a Freedom Fire, depicts Tubman as a Civil War scout, soldier, and protector; as opposed to an enslaved woman on the run.
In addition to leading hundreds of enslaved people to freedom, Tubman was a Civil War spy who led 150 Black Union soldiers on the Combahee Ferry Raid in South Carolina.
Saunders’ quote, city officials confirmed, will be in conversation with two of Tubman’s own quotes: “And I prayed to God to make me strong and able to fight.” and, “For no man should take me alive: I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted.”
The inclusion of the words of a Philadelphia resident was done at the urging of Pettit, a northern New Jersey-based artist whose statue of civil rights leader Mary Jane McLeod Bethune stands in Jersey City’s Bethune Park.
The city agreed.
Creative Philadelphia launched an initiative to find a quote for the statue in February. Called “In Harriet’s Footsteps," the initiative gave Philadelphians until March 1 to submit an original quote answering the prompt: “What does it mean to walk in Harriet Tubman’s footsteps today?”
Saunders was among five finalists. The finalists’ quotes were shared without the author’s names and Philadelphians voted through a public input survey through April. Of the 2,238 votes cast, Saunders’ quote received 714, or 31.9% of the vote, making it the winning selection.
“The city’s public art collection belongs to all of us,” Val Gay, chief cultural officer and executive director of Creative Philadelphia, said in a news release. “We want Philadelphians to see themselves in Philadelphia’s public art and feel proud to have contributed with their voice to its creation.”
Saunders, whose work was previously featured in a Creative Philadelphia public arts initiative "Healing Verse of Germantown: The Streets are Talking," said when he knew he was a good fit because of his love for words.
He wrote a few ideas down, but didn’t really become inspired until a friend handed him the book, Illuminations: Visions for Change, Growth, and Self Acceptance by Stephen C. Paul.
“It asked me questions about life,” Saunders said. “So I began to answer them and those answers helped me form my quote.”
Saunders was confident about his entry, but was still pleasantly surprised when he got the call earlier this month.
A Higher Power: The Call of a Freedom Fire is scheduled to be unveiled later this year. Saunders’ quote will be attributed to “A Philadelphia Citizen” on the statue but the poet will be credited on an accompanying metal plaque along with Pettit.
“This is just so historic,” Saunders said. “I’m getting a real chance to be a part of history.”
