All Lives Matter-Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter

I would consider this my favorite by far. This mixed media painting using acrylic and pencil was inspired by an exhibit by Jane Vance that I went to while on an art field trip through my school. Jane Vance's work that I saw involved the hardships of those from other countries, especially Africa and most were huge mixed media. When I saw them I fell in love with her style and how she was able to express so much through her art. On the ride home I was already booming with ideas and eventually decided on doing a mixed media of black lives matter. Let's start from the middle of the painting, the eye of the storm. These children are from a photo I found online of a Black Lives Matter rally in New Orleans that touched my heart. Its to represent that there can be peace even in the messiest of storms because even though right now there might be problems that don't mean the future won't be peaceful, that equality is possible. The flowers they are passing are a sign of peace and love. Just below them in the middle is Mister Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He gave a speech about the injustices and how he had a dream, a dream that one-day whites and blacks could coexist in peace. That's why I chose to put him where I did because he had a dream of little boys and girls of different races being able to play, hope, and dream together and the picture I feel is a great representation of that dream. 

Now to the top right corner. The man is Eric Garner, a man who had quit his job ue to medical reasons and who had been selling untaxed cigarettes. The police had arrested him before twice that year and when they had shown up in July of 2014 he had refused to be frisked or detained so the officer, for the first time, let him go with a warning. Later that month, July 17th, the police officer came back with more a different police officer and proceeded to take him down to the ground and hold him into a chokehold. Garner's friend videotaped on his phone the police officers ignoring his eleven pleas for breath and his final words of "I can't breath" as he died right then and there. This was not a chance meeting but the choice of trying to "crackdown" on people like Gardner. They left him motionless there on the ground with no immediate aid, which was against protocol. Later the first police report just happened to be missing the part of the officer wrapping his arm around Garner's neck. After his death, there was a series of police killings that caught the nation's attention and struck debate on race and law enforcement. The picture of Garner is his senior photo that was used during the protest following his death. Eric Garner was thirty-four when he died, leaving behind a family and a daughter that later followed him into the afterlife after being declared brain dead.

The woman right beside Garner is Logan Browning, an American actress who attended the protest wearing the "I can't breath" tape over her mouth in representation of his death and last words. She has starred in a Netflix series called "Dear White People" that is about inspiring black people to know they can go to college and they can go into the ivy league schools and make it through even though the schools are prominently white. 

To the left of them is simply a representation of one of the many protests Black Lives Matters does to get the justice that black lives in America deserve. The fist in the air representing unity and is called the "black power fist", it is generally associated with black nationalism.

The bottom right corner is Atatiana Jefferson, a twenty-eight-year-old woman who was killed just this year in Texas. She had been taking care of her nephew, who deeply loved her, due to her sister recovering from major heart surgery. The night of her death, she and her nephew had stayed up late playing video games to help relieve the thoughts. She had opened her door that night to let the cool autumn airflow through her house. A neighbor, concerned that there had been a break-in, called an officer who showed up. Body camera footage from the police officer shows he did not follow protocol about announcing his presence but instead chooses to walk around the home. Inside Jefferson protected her terrified nephew form what they thought was an intruder outside. Eventually, the officer shined a light into the room screaming "put up your hands! Show me your hands!" and still did not identify himself. Within seconds of his commands, he shot through the window killing Jefferson within minutes of the bullet entering her body. The officer had said he perceived a threat but Jefferson was licensed to own and carry a firearm, having a right to have it with her if someone was lurking around her home. Thought it was later revealed that her firearm was not involved in this incident. The background of the officer who shot Jefferson is not a good one. He has many incidents of not listening to authority and willing to use lethal force. He was also charged in his past with inappropriately touching a female friend while he was in college. What if it had been the boy rather than Jefferson standing there that night

?

Now to the left corner, a female by the name of Alicia Garza, American civil rights activist. She is a co-founder of the Black lives matter organization. I found the quote I put in of hers very fitting because Black lives matter is not an internet movement but a very real organization that constantly fights for the rights of black Americans to have equality and to transform society.

Lastly the background. The colors black and yellow, which are on the sides and lower part, are the colors of Black Lives Matter and the flag obviously represents America. In this, I am showing that one day there will be equality and it will blend together.