J usticeAid believes in justice and the power of art to bring us together in the fight for a more equitable nation and world. This year, in parallel with our fundraising for Black Voters Matter, each month we will highlight Black artists in order to uplift those whose voices have been muted, and whose visions can help us all see ourselves as we really are, and as we could be.
Art

Left: Slick, 1977, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Gift of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York; Middle: Lawdy Mama, 1969, Courtesy of the Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; Right: Photo Bloke 2016, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Barkley L. Hendricks
Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) was an American painter and photographer known for his lifesized realist portraits of ordinary Black Americans living in urban areas in the 1970s. His subjects communicate assurance, style, and attitude. By giving representation to people who were often overlooked during a time of heightened racial tension, Hendricks’ works were seen as subversive and not mainstream (Duke). But he made it clear that his paintings were not expressly political. “My paintings were about people that were part of my life,” he told the art newspaper The Brooklyn Rail in 2016. “If they were political, it’s because they were a reflection of the culture we were drowning in.”
“An underground virtuoso, always being discovered in bits and pieces, the portraitist solidifies his place in the canon with a solo show at the Frick — its first ever for a Black artist.”
—From Yinka Elujoba’s New York Times review of Barkley L. Hendricks: Portraits at the Frick. On view at the Frick Collection, NYC, until January 7, 2024
Music
Common and John Legend
“Glory,” written and performed by American rapper Common and American singer/actor/producer John Legend, was the theme song for the 2014 civil rights drama, Selma.
Both artists are longtime champions of social justice. In 2022, Common was presented with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at the Tribeca Festival. Legend’s latest push is endorsing progressive candidates in local prosecutor and district attorney races (see NPR interview). In this Rolling Stone interview, the longtime friends and collaborators reflect on their music, artistic vulnerability, and the importance of championing cultural diversity in America.
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
“Glory” won an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 2014, and a Grammy in 2015. On the left: A rousing performance of “Glory” at the 87th Annual Academy Awards. On the right: Another collaboration by Common featuring John Legend: “Rain” from his politically charged album, Black America Again (2016).
Film
Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom
This 2013 biographical film is based on the 1994 autobiographical book of the same name by anti-apartheid revolutionary and former South African President, Nelson Mandela. Directed by Justin Chadwick and starring Idris Elba and Naomie Harris, the film chronicles Mandela’s early life, coming of age, education, and 27 years in prison before becoming President of South Africa and working to rebuild the country which was ravaged by Apartheid.
Featured Writing
Angela Davis
One of America’s most historic political trials is undoubtedly that of Angela Davis. In 1971, Angela Davis was tried, and ultimately cleared, for kidnapping and first degree murder when guns registered in her name were used by a Black teenager to take over a courtroom, ending in the death of the teen, judge, and two defendants.
If They Come in the Morning:Voices of Resistance is not only an account of Davis’s incarceration and the struggles surrounding it, but also perhaps the most comprehensive and thorough analysis of the prison system of the United States.
With contributions from George Jackson, Bobby Seale, James Baldwin, Huey P. Newton, and others. Verso

