Black art and creativity at its essence is important because it allows us to share our struggles, triumphs, gifts, and brings the black story in America to life. This representation shows black boys and girls that there is enough room for them to be creative and take up space. The spark of black art and creativity came about during the Harlem Renaissance from the 1920s through the 1930s. This was where African Americans shaped their own identities through music, art, literature, and film, allowing them to control their own narrative. From my impression, European based art has been more visible and acknowledged as the primary form of art in American culture. According to Blavity News, “The erasure of blacks and minority cultures from art history has been demonstrated through a lack of presence in major auctions, museums, galleries, and art history curricula” (Inniss, 2018). Due to this, European art has overshadowed works from other contributing nationalities. However, Europeans did portray African Americans in their art but frequently depicted counter images of how African Americans actually viewed themselves. An example of this can be seen on the sheet music cover “By The Watermelon Vine Lindy Lou'' by Thos S. Allen, an American composer (Allen, 1904). This cover speaks to the racist watermelon trope among African Americans. Watermelon symbolized freedom and prosperity for newly freed slaves, but was turned into ridicule by angry whites.
Thankfully, due to the Harlem Renaissance, the black creative community is widely known. Jacob Lawrence, one of the first nationally recognized black artists, had a tremendous impact on the black community and world with his “The Great Migration Series” (Lawrence, The Migration Series). This series of 60 paintings showcases the migration of six million African Americans from the rural South to the urban North. Lawrence was able to capture the importance of this part of history, allowing us to go back and recount this time, and his work is part of how we have come to understand it presently.
Along with talented visual artists, we have world-renowned singers, such as Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. Simone is known for performing “Strange Fruit,” the classic poem by Abel Meeropol, an American poet and songwriter, turned into song. The performance of this song highlights the atrocities upon African Americans taking place in America. The lyrics of the song convey anguish and suffering, presenting a microcosm of injustice, providing a gateway for discussion among races to come together to attack racist tendencies and call out white supremacy.
These three creatives are just a few out of the many African Americans who have shaped the creative and artistic realm. Black art should be kept alive. To aid its continuation, support local black artists and creatives through sharing or buying their artwork music, books, or films. One of my favorite black artists is Liana Farmer, who is a Boston native. Her beautiful handmade illustrations of African American women can be found @bylianarae on Instagram. Black art is essential because it can educate us all on society's past and provides a roadmap of how we can better shape our future.
Sources:
Inniss, Tania. “Black Art Matters: Why Our Creative Visual Contributions Should Be Valued
And Represented More Widely - Blavity.” (2018). Blavity News & Politics.
Libraries/Levy/Gado, Sheridan. “Sheet Music Cover Image of 'By the Watermelon Vine Lindy
Lou' by Thos...” (1904). Getty Images.
“The Migration Series.” (2021). The Migration Series | Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series,
https://lawrencemigration.phillipscollection.org/
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