Every work of art connects to a hero’s journey. Sometimes that journey is a spectacular story that resounds through the ages. Sometimes it is the everyday living of regular people that rings with the essence of what connects us all. This Black History Month, our Justice + Art selections embody the joy of self discovery, and the wonder of growing into who we become.
Art
Amy Sherald
Amy Sherald is an American painter known for her iconic portraits of Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor. Yet, most of her subjects are ordinary people she meets on the street, painted in ways that evoke everyday living and leisure.
Her large-scale compositions often employ colorful backgrounds and playful outfits that appear in stark contrast to the commanding expressions of her subjects, who gaze directly at their viewers, inviting them to contemplate their inner lives.
In a recent NY Times article entitled “Brazen Optimist,” the artist acknowledges that she doesn’t like to bring her troubles into her paintings, stating, “You don’t have to live the fight to be the fight.”
“American Sublime” is a survey of Sherald’s work currently on view at the San Francisco Museum of Art.
Art
Amy Sherald
Amy Sherald is an American painter known for her iconic portraits of Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor. Yet, most of her subjects are ordinary people she meets on the street, painted in ways that evoke everyday living and leisure.
Her large-scale compositions often employ colorful backgrounds and playful outfits that appear in stark contrast to the commanding expressions of her subjects, who gaze directly at their viewers, inviting them to contemplate their inner lives.
In a recent NY Times article entitled “Brazen Optimist,” the artist acknowledges that she doesn’t like to bring her troubles into her paintings, stating, “You don’t have to live the fight to be the fight.”
“American Sublime” is a survey of Sherald’s work currently on view at the San Francisco Museum of Art.
Music
“I’m Every Woman” by Chaka Khan
American singer Chaka Khan is a 10-time Grammy Award-winning superstar whose career spans five decades. Her 1978 disco crossover hit, “I’m Every Woman,” written for her by the songwriting duo of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, has an infectious, positive energy that celebrates female power and continues to resonate with listeners around the world. The song topped the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and is lauded as one of the greatest dance songs of all time.“
That song became very much a woman’s anthem. With Chaka, she just is like a dynamo, unstoppable, very sexy person. Her persona is all woman, which is why she did ‘I’m Every Woman’ so well.”
—Valerie Simpson, Songwriter
Film
Mahagony
This rags-to-riches musical stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, an aspiring designer from the slums of Chicago who puts herself through fashion school in the hopes of becoming one of the world’s top designers. Tracy’s ambition leads her to Rome, spurring a choice between the man she loves or her newfound success. A Berry Gordy Film released by Motown Productions in 1975, starring Ross, Anthony Perkins, and Billy Dee Williams.
Like the character she plays in Mahogany, Dianna Ross was an aspiring fashion designer who then made the switch to becoming Motown’s leading act in the 1960s when she joined the Supremes, one of the world’s best-selling woman-led music groups. Listen to Ross sing, “Do You Know Where You’re Going To,” the lead single of the movie’s soundtrack and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song.
Film
Mahagony
This rags-to-riches musical stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, an aspiring designer from the slums of Chicago who puts herself through fashion school in the hopes of becoming one of the world’s top designers. Tracy’s ambition leads her to Rome, spurring a choice between the man she loves or her newfound success. A Berry Gordy Film released by Motown Productions in 1975, starring Ross, Anthony Perkins, and Billy Dee Williams.
Like the character she plays in Mahogany, Dianna Ross was an aspiring fashion designer who then made the switch to becoming Motown’s leading act in the 1960s when she joined the Supremes, one of the world’s best-selling woman-led music groups. Listen to Ross sing, “Do You Know Where You’re Going To,” the lead single of the movie’s soundtrack and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song.
Featured Writing
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
In Jacqueline Woodson’s own words, “Brown Girl Dreaming tells the story of my childhood, in verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, I always felt halfway home in each place. In these poems, I share what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and my growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. It also reflects the joy of finding my voice through writing stories, despite the fact that I struggled with reading as a child. My love of stories inspired and stayed with me, creating the first sparks of the writer I was to become.”
Featured Writing
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
In Jacqueline Woodson’s own words, “Brown Girl Dreaming tells the story of my childhood, in verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, I always felt halfway home in each place. In these poems, I share what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and my growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. It also reflects the joy of finding my voice through writing stories, despite the fact that I struggled with reading as a child. My love of stories inspired and stayed with me, creating the first sparks of the writer I was to become.”
