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This print is from the Brown Power series, which adopts the visual language of the Black Power movement and uses a softened Pan-African color scheme (red, black, and green) to portray several African-American freedom fighters.
With his fist raised in a gesture made famous in the Black Power movement of the 1960s, we are reminded of civil rights activist and minister, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. and his countless proclamations of “I Am-Somebody,” from a poem of that title originally written by Reverend William Holmes Borders, Sr. Jackson recited this poem at numerous rallies, festivals and television appearances as a call and response demonstration of empowerment and shared humanity that was central to his activism. This portrait captures the sentiment of this statement, echoing both in his defiant stance but also remaining a human portrait.
By incorporating unknown silhouettes and figures into the series, viewers are expected to examine their acceptance of the aesthetic of power and activism to reveal how symbolism can at times overcome the truth.
– Description written by co-curator Pedro Alonzo.
