-
David Driskell created the art piece at the end of the 1950s after the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till. Driskell's painting was rooted with religious iconography, paying homage to the crucifixion of Christ and the Pieta. -
Charles Henry Alston's art piece depicted undistinguished human forms as they walked every day in protest of segregated buses. Alston's painting celebrated the everyday adults and children who built the backbone of the civil rights era. -
Lewis's semi-abstract painting depicts swirls of red and blue surrounded by small white figures. The white presence is an allusion to white hoods of the Ku Klux Klan. The imagery is representative of the American flag as many white supremacists' purposes is patriotism. -
Jacob Lawrence depicts the fear and outrage many people felt during the desegregation of schools in the U.S. during the civil rights era. The painting shows three armed guards escorting a group of Black American students, as a group of white protestors tries to block the school's entryway. -
Catlett's wood sculpture depicts a bold and dynamic female figure, rendered in abstract simplicity. The wood sculpture consists of mahogany and cedar as the color to capture a darker melanin. -
This painting is considered to be one of the artist's earliest works. Ringgold's piece commemorates the Long Hot Summer of 1967, a period of 159 events involving police brutality towards Black Americans. The painting consists of a violent riot, dead bodies, and facial expressions of fear. -
Gilliam's abstract art is a purple-tinted composition. The title, April 4, is the very day when Martin Luther King jr. was assassinated. Gilliam tapped into the emotions of Black Americans throughout the United States during the civil rights era by providing a moment of reflection. -
Hammons's piece commemorates the trauma and struggles associated with the desegregating of schools during the civil rights era. Hammons presents a wooden door frame with the name "Admissions Office" written on it. Underneath the label is an ink print of a person pressed into the door. David's work symbols the violence on Black American students in desegregated white schools. -
Barbara Jones-Hogu is the Co-founder of the Black artist collective AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). Jones-Hogu's artwork shows central Black figures freely embracing their natural hair, raising the right arms in the air with clenched fists, and the word "unite" appearing several times in a fragmented style. -
In the Liberation of Aunt Jemima, Saar repurpose the 'Mammy", the racist Jim Crow archetype, as the key figure. The character is seen holding a broom in her right hand and carrying a rifle on her left hand. In doing so, she is liberating her as symbol of black power.