By Nicquel Terry Ellis on August 4, 2020 7:02 a.m.
NYC Paints Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower
ATLANTA — A massive, black afro pick topped with a clinched fist— a potent symbol of Black identity — is touring the country to promote social justice amid a national reckoning of racism, police brutality and voter suppression.
The creators behind the 28-foot tall art installation “All Power to All People” say they hope it will spark activism and energize Black voters in every city it touches leading up to the November presidential election. The first stop is Atlanta, the birthplace of the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr.
“I think at its best, it’s a call to action to take major steps toward the improvement of our society,” artist Hank Willis Thomas said. “And it’s making a claim and statement that we belong here and our power can make our country better and greater. No one should be ashamed of that.”
The exhibit’s tour comes as protesters renew calls for the removal of statues and symbols— such as Confederate monuments— that reflect America’s racist past. In recent years, protesters have uprooted the statues themselves or government officials have voted to do so.
Thomas, who created the exhibit in 2018 in partnership with Kindred Arts, an arts non-profit based in New York City, said Black and indigenous people have suffered inequalities for many years and their struggle is often misrepresented in American history.
Thomas said it’s time to reconsider the value of historical monuments that have been up for decades. Some may need to be replaced with new monuments that reflect America’s ideals today, he said.
“Sometimes they have worn out their expiration date,” Thomas said. “And when they do, it requires creative solutions.”
“All Power to All People” will be in Atlanta until Aug. 11 and then it moves to Washington D.C., to coincide with the 2020 March on Washington set for Aug. 28. The march will mark the anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. The tour also includes New York City in September, Los Angeles in October and Philadelphia in November.
Marsha Reid, executive director of Kindred Arts, said she hopes the exhibit will help maintain the momentum from recent protests against racism.
“We have so many inequities to correct and we can’t do that until we are willing to acknowledge them and we correct the imbalance of power,” Reid said. “We have to unite in the desire to see change.”
Reid said organizers decided Atlanta should be the first stop in this tour given the recent unrest here. It was previously displayed in Miami.
Protests and looting broke out across Atlanta after the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, both Black men.
Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes on Memorial Day. Brooks was fatally shot on June 12 by a white Atlanta police officer in a Wendy’s parking lot after he grabbed the officer’s taser and ran. The Wendy’s was burned down the night after the shooting.
Voting rights activists have also accused Georgia elections officials of voter suppression after the state’s June 9 primary saw long lines and voting machine problems at majority Black polling places in Atlanta. Some of the same voting issues were seen in the 2018 general election.
And days before the exhibit went up, two civil rights heroes with roots in Atlanta — John Lewis and C.T. Vivian— died on July 17.
“It just felt like back-to-back blows,” Reid said. “The village is hurting.”
The exhibit has been welcomed by Atlanta officials who say the city’s rich civil rights history makes it a good temporary home.
It’s located about two miles from the birth home of King and a few blocks from the entrance to the John Lewis Freedom Parkway. The parkway was renamed to honor Lewis in 2018.
Camille Russell Love, executive director of the Atlanta mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, said she hopes the exhibit will inspire people to vote and continue protesting.
“The fact that John Lewis passed and the country is in an uproar in more ways than one, having something that will spark conversation I think is very important and very timely,” Love said. “Atlanta does represent to the world the birthplace of the civil rights movement in a lot of ways.”
Source: USA Today