We Who Believe in Freedom by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi

Other books by Paper Moon Publishing: Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition, Carolyn L. Mazloomi, ISNB-978-0-9792675-0-5 Quilting African American Women’s History: Our Challenges, Creativity, and Champions, Carolyn L. Mazloomi, ISBN: 978-0-9792675-1-2 Cincinnati Snaps, Kathy Wade, ISBN-10: 0979267528 Yours for Race and Country: Reflections on the Life of Col. Charles Young, Carolyn L. Mazloomi, ISBN: 978-0-9792675-4-3 Copyright © 2019 by Carolyn L. Mazloomi.

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First Edition Cover Images: MLK: We Just Keep On Coming by L’Merchie Frazier Mama Rosa by April Thomas Shipp 2 Face – Nobody’s Business But My Own by April Thomas Shipp Iconic by Earamachica Brown Back Cover Images: Three Marys: Freedom Riders by Dawn Williams Boyd Strong, Gifted and Black by Carolyn Crump Black Lives Still Matter by Glenda Richardson Photographs by Carolyn L. Mazloomi Cover and Book Design by Andrea Moore Title Page Image: Power in Numbers by Sharon Kerry-Harlan Copies of this book can be purchased at www.papermoonpublishing.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 DEDICATION 5 FOREWARD

Sharbreon Plummer

6 WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM:

NARRATIVES OF SURVIVAL AND VICTORY Carolyn L. Mazloomi, Ph.D.

8 AM I NOT A MAN? Penny Sisto

10 AM I NOT A WOMAN? Penny Sisto

12 LET FREEDOM RING Carolyn Crump

14 FREE

Cynthia Lockhart

16 FREEDOM

Sandra Lee Johnson

18 HARRIET

Latifah Shakir

20 A GLIMPSE OF RACISM Sylvia Hernández

22 BLACK OPPRESSION IN AMERICA Marjorie Diggs Freeman

24 STRANGE FRUIT Carolyn Mazloomi

26 2 FACE – NOBODY’S BUSINESS BUT MY OWN

April Thomas Shipp

28 ICONIC

Earamachica Brown

30 REMEMBERING BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION Ora Clay

32 AND STILL I SING Trish Williams

34 CREATIVE VOICES Sandra Noble

36 CHOOSE LOVE

Sylvia Hernández

38 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE AND RELIGION IN AMERICA Valerie White

40 MAMA ROSA

66 THE HISTORY LESSON

42 MLK: WE JUST KEEP ON COMING

68 MARTIN, MALCOLM AND BARACK

44 MLK MARCH

70 POWER IN NUMBERS

46 THREE MARYS: FREEDOM RIDERS

72 THEY PAVED THE WAY, 2008

48 WE SHALL OVERCOME

74 TRAYVON COULD HAVE BEEN MY SON

50 STRONG, GIFTED AND BLACK

76 BLACK LIVES MATTER

52 RUBY NELL BRIDGES

78 BLACK LIVES STILL MATTER

54 SO WHAT SKELETONS ARE IN YOUR CLOSET

80 BLACK WOMEN AND FREEDOM

56 IN MY AKUABAA FORM

82 FEAR NOT WARRIOR! FOR WE ALL BLEED…

April Thomas Shipp

L’Merchie Frazier

Deborah A. Moore Harris Dawn Williams Boyd Dawn Williams Boyd Carolyn Crump

Marion Coleman

Ed Johnetta Miller

Myrah Brown Green

58 DON’T HATE ME Carolyn Crump

60 VICTORY = JUSTICE FOR ALL Carolyn Staples

62 DID YOU HEAR? HER SON’S IN TROUBLE. (TRIPTYCH)

Lauren Austin

Michelle Flamer Carolyn Crump

Sharon Kerry-Harlan

Marlene Seabrook O’Bryant Dorothy Burge Barbara Eady

Glenda Richardson Carole Lyles Shaw

WE ALL BREATH… THE SAME Carole Staples

84 STAY WOKE AND VOTE Carole Lyles Shaw

86 THE EYES OF CONSCIOUSNESS: AMERICA EYE SEE YOU… Carole Staples

This book is dedicated to all the African American women who played a role in the Civil Rights Movement, who felt their voices were marginalized and their contributions ignored.

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Foreword

Sharbreon Plummer How do we commemorate the bravery and resilience of a group who fought for justice in the face of bigotry and racism? We Who Believe in Freedom creates a visual dialogue that centers on the events and issues that shaped the Freedom Summer movement 55 years ago and that still inform today’s social landscape. An activist and historian in her own right, Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi has harnessed the power of quiltmakers as visual griots to masterfully compile a fiber-based narrative that speaks on the challenges and triumphs found within the fight for civil rights throughout African American history. Although the works boldly critique the systems of oppression and erasure that marginalize people of African descent, the subjects depicted are far from passive victims. Each one embodies and invokes the boldness and sense of purpose that student volunteers retained while organizing throughout Mississippi in the racialized climate of 1964.

Dr. Mazloomi’s efforts are a testament to the power of Sankofa–acknowledging that as we make forward progress, our past cannot be forgotten. The Women of Color Quilters’ Network’s infusion of spirited political themes and imagery into the age-old practice of quilt making serve as a reminder of what existed before us and the possibilities of that which is to come. As you turn each page, allow We Who Believe in Freedom to carry you through the journey of tragedy and triumph that occurred during the “long hot summer.” Most importantly, reflect on how much (and how little) can change over the course of 55 years, and the part you can play in shaping those stories.

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We Who Believe In Freedom: Narratives of Survival and Victory Carolyn L. Mazloomi

In the nearly four centuries since the 1619 arrival of three African women in Jamestown, Virginia, included among the “20 and odd Negroes” on the ship White Lion, the history of African American women has often been neglected. Records of their hard-pressed lives are scarce, and documents are often biased and negative. Yet African American women have made profound contributions to America, as well as ensuring the survival of their people from slavery to the present.

The European slave trade drew as many as twelve million Africans into the largest forced migration in human history. Despite assumptions of some scholars, African culture survived the trauma of the Middle Passage and the humiliation and brutality of slavery, fueling a steady and powerful stream of artistic production in the Western Hemisphere. Tapping into a spiritual reserve of powerful rituals and memories, African slaves created artistic forms that carried knowledge and values across generations.

No artistic form is more closely associated with African American culture than quilt making, representing skill, aesthetic beauty, and utilitarian need. Moreover, for African Americans the quilt became a covert expression of resistance within the context of storytelling. In this way, African American women found an outlet for their emotions, adversities, and triumphs. Under brutal conditions, quilters helped create strategies for survival as well as an interpretive window on the Black experience in America. Although many slave quilters could not read or write, they left compelling cultural documents about the tragedy and humiliation that marked their lives.

Denied freedom but in possession of artistic genius, they gave voice to the voiceless, transcended suffering, reclaimed history, and transformed the future of their descendants. Van E. Hillard summarizes this dynamic by writing, “As the Negro spiritual ‘I Shall Not Be Moved’ reflects a tree planted by the water, the quilt shall not be moved as a tradition of defiance and dialectical response to social and political circumstances.”

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Much of what this country knows about resistance, defiance, and reclamation of power from systems, has been learned from African American women. Strong African American women have confronted a power structure that conscripted for them the role of slaves. Through the power of their unbending intent, faith and perseverance, they continually snatch back the script and rewrite their lives as victors. I speak about African American women who found a spiritual balm for

self-healing and used that balm on their families and communities. I speak of women like Mum Bett, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks - spiritual giants who devoted their lives to binding up the wounds, inspiring the downtrodden, nurturing children and resurrecting the consciousness of a nation tarnished with the blood of native and African Americans. I speak about Black maids in Montgomery, Alabama boycotting public buses and walking to work for thirteen months in protest; Black women beaten, burned and jailed during the Civil Rights Movement; Black women marching to protest police killings with the Black Lives Matter movement. The presence of African women in America had a key role in the formation of social and cultural development of the Western Hemisphere.

Through artistic expression, utilizing the canvas of quilts, the artists of Women of Color Quilters Network have produced works reflecting social commentary on the Civil Rights Movement and issues of race in America. The quilts are symbols of liberation, resistance and empowerment, layered with memories and meanings.

This exhibition is dedicated to all the African American women who played a role in the Civil Rights Movement, who felt their voices were marginalized and their contributions ignored.

WE WILL NOT FORGET.

1965 - Bloody Sunday by Carolyn L. Mazloomi Collection of Congressman John Robert Lewis

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AM I NOT A MAN? (Collection of Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi) Penny Sisto Floyd Knobs, Indiana About 15% of all Africans who made the voyage to the Americas died. Most died from the accumulation of brutal treatment and inadequate care from the time of their enslavement in the interior of Africa. Others suffocated in the tightly packed holds, while some committed suicide, refused to eat, or revolted. The victims of violence meted out by their officers, sailors in turn dispensed their own brand of terror to the Africans. It was said the sharks often followed slave ships to feed off the dead bodies thrown overboard.

For Africans who survived the Middle Passage, their new lives began with the separation from family and community and ended with a lifetime of enslavement.

Am I Not a Man? 2011; 56 x 40 inches; cotton fabric and batt, rayon, netting, ink, thread; thermo-printing, stamping, machine quilted.

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AM I NOT A WOMAN? (Collection of Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi) Penny Sisto Floyd Knobs, Indiana “Mothers, wives, daughters, granddaughters were stolen from Africa and placed, against their will, in slave ships for a painful and brutal journey to another continent, where they would be enslaved for life. Enslaved women endured the unspeakable torture of being raped and beaten, and used for breeding by the ship’s crew, overseers, slaveholders and their sons. Despite overwhelming brutality, and the harsh demands made on the enslaved woman by her daily duties, her spirit to survive persevered. They still went on to become the nurturers of African American culture. By sheer will and determination they provided their children with the strength, love, and coping skills to survive in a country which did recognize them as human beings. African Americans women are still making an impact on this country.�

Carolyn Mazloomi

Am I Not a Woman?

2011; 46 x 48 inches; rayon, organza, felt, netting, ink, thread; hand painting machine quilted.

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LET FREEDOM RING Carolyn Crump Houston, Texas

George Washington brought 9 of his slaves from his home in Mt. Vernon, Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first capital of the United States. I find it ironic that, Washington fought in the Revolutionary War to get “freedom” for the people of America, and enslaved Africans were not considered citizens of this country. In fact, Washington owned 123 slaves.

The participation of African American soldiers in the Revolutionary War was still not enough to persuade Washington to free his slaves.

The words “let freedom ring” were in my thoughts and in every stitch of fabric that went into creating this piece. The words ring hollow. The presence of slaves in The President’s House in Philadelphia are a reminder that even in today’s society African American’s are still in transition, as they strive to prove their worth. The President’s House, in the background of the quilt, reflects the turmoil suffered by the slaves living there. The clarity in the face of George Washington reflects his selfishness.

Let Freedom Ring

2010, 37 x 31 inches; cotton fabric, cotton thread, felt, cotton batting, ink, markers, pencil, dye, acrylic; machine quilted.

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FREE

Cynthia Lockhart Cincinnati, Ohio America’s founding fathers established and articulated that,” All men are created equal...” Freedom stands for, “equal opportunity for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” However, in America for people of color who were slaves, freedom, and equality was not a true reality.

Although the American Civil War resulted in Lincoln freeing the slaves to end war; it proved to be a political charade which would ultimately deliver festering inequalities for Black people. As a result, Black people in America, prayed, worked hard, and became educated despite blatant racism. The cry for Freedom and the long fight for equal rights manifested into the Civil Rights Movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, other significant leaders, Americans, and peoples of all races. I am forever grateful to the multitude of people who peacefully protested with signs, fearlessly marched, fought, and died for Freedom during the Civil Rights Movement and for those who continue to be warriors for equality today.

The layers of the quilt represent the decades of love, pain, prayer, struggle, and hope for those seeking their Civil Rights. This art work is a tribute to those who represent the spirit of Freedom.

Free 2015; 24 inch diameter; netting, metallic thread, felt, yarn, bone bead fibers, silkscreened images, acrylic paint, lace, dye, fibercation accented with beading, stones and leather cording, machine assembled.

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FREEDOM Sandra Lee Johnson Orange, California

The original Freedom Quilt was created by Jessie Telfair in Parrot, Georgia in 1980. Jessie Telfair was fired from her job of twenty years because she voted in a general election in the mid 1970’s. Her patriotically colored Freedom Quilt is at once a celebration of her sudden independence and a statement of personal and political indignation. Do we see this kind of political indignation in our world today? As a child of the 60’s I grew up in a time when the country was still segregated. Freedom was not for all and I can remember growing up knowing when and where I was allowed to live, talk, and walk.

Today, in 2017, I am able to look back and see many African American women who dreamed of greatness and achieved it, in spite of the limited freedom they possessed in their lives.

As a young African American girl, my freedom came by way of living in a predominantly white community. I was told by many not to try to be a cheerleader and that I would never be able to gain that popularity. Yet, in spite being told otherwise, I persevered and stepped into the spotlight to become a varsity cheerleader.

As an adult it has taken me over 50 years to discover that freedom is doing what I am destined to do. To do what I love is what I want it to be.

Sandra Lee Chandler, the first African American child to live at 3428 W 82 Place, Inglewood, California. Sandra Lee Chandler, the first African American Varsity Cheer Leader at EI Modena High School, Orange, California in 1978

Freedom

2017; 75 x 45; inches; cotton fabric and batt, machine appliquĂŠ, pieced and quilted.

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HARRIET

Latifah Shakir Lawrenceville, Georgia Harriet Tubman known as the “Conductor” of the Underground Railroad and she escaped slavery many times. The slaves compared her to Moses in the Bible because she led many to freedom. The Underground Railroad was the “secret” passage of escape using quilt codes, the North Star and songs. Harriet would stand outside the slave’s cabin and sing, “Go down Moses. Way down into Egypt land and tell old Pharaoh to let my people go.”

I want my viewers to observe in my art quilt the sacred symbols used.

My composition is in geometrical form using triangular and grid. The triangular shape represents the purpose and change of life the runaway slave would embark upon. The grid represents the “secret” code leading to freedom. The curves lines give movement throughout the quilt. The red images of slaves are included on the work, but once escaping bondage, that single act of freedom had the butterfly effect.

Harriet Size 48X53 Date Completed 2017 Recycled clothing Men and Ladies, upholstery fabric, silks, antique fabrics, fabric paints, handmade buttons, metal objects, hand and machine stitching.

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A GLIMPSE OF RACISM Sylvia Hernández Brooklyn, New York

I was asked to create a quilt about racism. I didn’t think there was enough fabric in the world to cover this topic. Taking on this theme was daunting to say the least. I decided to create a storyboard to tell part of this long story. I chose storylines that I hope would encourage people to do some research to learn more about the individuals and events depicted. As with family stories, if we don’t tell them they will be forgotten or considered unimportant.

A Glimpse of Racism

2018; 35 x 39 inches; cotton fabric and batt, machine appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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BLACK OPPRESSION IN AMERICA Marjorie Diggs Freeman Durham, North Carolina

A caste system began in America when the first captured Africans arrived on our shores as slaves. Slavery ended but white dominance and privilege continues through carefully planned legalized systems to suppress black progress and upward mobility: segregation, voting rights suppression, housing restrictions that directly affect education, health care, employment.

Now, mass incarceration for minor offenses resulting from these inequities, have life-long impact on black progress. The book, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, inspired this quilt.

Black Oppression in America 2017; 25.5 x 47.5 inches; cotton fabric and batt; machine appliquĂŠ, pieced and quilted

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STRANGE FRUIT Carolyn Mazloomi West Chester, Ohio

First recorded by the famous jazz singer Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit” is a song about the lynching of black people in the South in the first half of the 20th Century. The song, originally a poem, was written by JewishAmerican school teacher Abel Meerpol, in the late 1930s. Meerpol was very disturbed by racism in America directed toward African Americans.

He was haunted by a shocking photograph of the lynching of two black men and was inspired to write Strange Fruit. The song has been called America’s original protest song. Although the word lynching isn’t in the poem, the inference is clear: Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Strange Fruit

2014; 60 inches x 67 inches; cotton fabric and batt; printed, ink, stamped, hand drawn, machine quilted.

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2 FACE – NOBODY’S BUSINESS BUT MY OWN April Thomas Shipp Rochester Hills, Michigan

I can honestly say I think everything influences and inspires me to create. Nina Simone once said, “One’s art should reflect the times in which you live.” Injustice and inhumanity have influenced some of my pieces, while others were influenced by my love of music, namely jazz and the blues. I also like to incorporate images of historical figures in my work, delving deeply into the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library for research to tell those stories in cloth. Doing the research is just as exciting as creating the artwork. I first discovered Bert Williams on the cover of an old issue of African American Legacy Magazine. It was his eyes that draw me in. I needed to know his story. W. C. Fields, a vaudevillian entertainer of the era, who appeared in productions with Williams, described him as “the funniest man I ever saw – and the saddest man I ever knew.” Why would a black man perform in blackface?

To know his story, you’d need to understand the time in which he lived, and the limited opportunities he faced as an entertainer.

Fast forward almost 100 years later. The fashion houses Gucci and Burberry, in recent months, have had apologized for black faced articles of clothing.

NBC Morning News journalist, Megyn Kelly, had her contract terminated after controversial comments about blackface, and the Governor of Virginia wore blackface on the pages of his medical school’s year book entitled “Cork and Curls”, a reference to burn cork and curly wigs.

To be very clear, if you’re not black, it is never okay to wear blackface. Bert Williams’ last performance was in Detroit at the Garrick Theater. He collapsed on stage and died a few months later in New York from pneumonia.

I photocopied actual play bills and posters for the background of this piece. I want the viewer to see the man behind the mask.

2 Face – Nobody’s Business But My Own

2018; 37 x 30 inches, commercial and hand dyed cotton, cotton batting, machine pieced and appliquĂŠ, and machine quilted

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ICONIC

Earamachica Brown McKinney, Texas Icon - that is what she was. At the age of 44 Fannie Lou Hamer learned that she, a black person, had the right to vote. From that day, until her death almost 16 years later, she became more than a person trying to register and vote. She became an American Civil Rights icon. Words cannot capture her strength and bravery in the face of adversity, nor her dogged determination to be human and exercise all of the civil rights associated with mankind. An organizer, speaker, politician and singer, she was truly of the people. This is my nod to her amazing life.

Iconic

2019; 65 x 63; cotton fabric and batt; machine pieced, appliquĂŠ, and quilted.

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REMEMBERING BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION Ora Clay Oakland, California

“Our art should tell our story” has been invaluable advice I received from my mentor, master quilter, Marion Coleman. “Remembering Brown vs.

Board of Education” was inspired by my own education experience of attending segregated schools in Alabama. The quilt recognizes the named plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case outlawing school segregation in the United States, the lawyers bringing the case, and the lower court cases leading up to the Supreme Court. The story also honors Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark, whose study with black and white dolls influenced the Court by demonstrating the harm segregated schools caused to children.

This traditional quilt pattern, Log Cabin Courthouse Steps, seemed like an appropriate vehicle to tell the story of this landmark case.

Remembering Brown vs. Board of Education 47 x 56 inches, Cotton and organza fabric, thread, rough edge appliquĂŠ, computer printed letters.

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AND STILL I SING Trish Williams Peoria, Illinois

This quilt was created to honor Marian Anderson, who in 1939, attempted to rent concert facilities in Washington, D.C.’s Constitution Hall, owned by the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR), and was refused because of her race. This sparked widespread protest from many people, including Eleanor Roosevelt who, along with many other prominent women, resigned from the DAR. Arrangements were made for Anderson to appear instead at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, where she drew an audience of 75,000. Once I moved to the heartland of Illinois, I was reminded of this group and I learned that they are still supportive of their history. This piece was created with a photomontage of images of African Americans during this time period. I digitized and printed the images onto fabric for the background. Once I quilted the background, President Lincoln was highlighted with fabric marker and color washed to create the illusion of marble. The image of Miss Anderson was created with the use of cotton for the head and scarf, and enhanced with fabric marker, her coat was created with faux fur that I channel quilted to mimic mink and the gloves were gifted to me.

And Still I Sing

2015; 33 x 40 inches; cotton fabric and batt, polyester, fabric ink pens, faux fur, found objects; machine

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CREATIVE VOICES Sandra Noble Warrensville Heights, Ohio

Creative Voices represents three civil rights activists, Elizabeth Catlett, visual artist, Lorraine Hansberry, playwright and Nina Simone, jazz singer. Each used their artistic voice to protest against racial injustice and oppression.

Catlett, made lithographs including, “Freedom for Angela Davis” and “Watts/Detroit/Washington/ Harlem/Newark”. Both works addressed the racial unrest of blacks in America.

Simone composed and performed several civil rights protest songs.

“Mississippi Goddam” was her response to the assassination of Medgar Evans and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Alabama that killed four black girls.

Hansberry penned plays and essays about the trials and tribulations of the black experience in America. She was actively involved in civil rights protests throughout the North and South.

Creative Voices

2016, 49 x 39 inches; organza, cotton fabric and batt, photo-transfers; machine appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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CHOOSE LOVE Sylvia Hernรกndez Brooklyn, New York

I made this quilt because we are in desperate need of love, understanding and community. Dr. King had the right idea all those years ago and we need to practice it daily. Children learn what they see and hear, so we need to try and make the world better for them.

Choose Love

2016; 37.5 x 42.5; cotton fabric and batt, machine appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE AND RELIGION IN AMERICA Valerie White Denver, Colorado

My piece, “Conversations about Race and Religion in America,” was greatly influenced by Faith Ringgold’s flag series, created in the 1980’s.

What I find both interesting and disturbing about her series then, and my humble approach to creating work that speaks to the same issues now, is the fact that while America has made significant progress, the struggle for improved race relations and equality for women persists. Yet, I am hopeful and optimistic that real change will come. I am of the opinion that change begins with conversations shared on many levels. My goal in this piece was not only to encourage conversations about the state of America but to be pro-active in my resolve to initiate that change.

Conversations about Race and Religion in America

2017; 40 x 40 inches; textile paint, cotton duck and cotton batt, textile markers; drawings by artist;

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MAMA ROSA April Thomas Shipp Rochester Hills, Michigan

Rosa Parks lived not too far from my family’s home in Detroit. I grew up learning about her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. I’d often wonder how different my life would have been without her, and so many others of that great generation who marched for my rights. I never got the opportunity to meet her in person. It was a missed opportunity on my part, and one which I deeply regret. So close, yet so far away. I consider it a joy to live in and share the city she called home. Ms. Parks once worked as a seamstress at a department store in Montgomery, and she was a quilter. I’d like to think if Rosa Parks were still alive, she’d be a member of my quilt guild.

My quilt, Mama Rosa, is divided into two sections. The cream section behind her, represents her past life, with faded ghostly images and straight lines. The colorful section symbolizes freedom, happiness and peace.

Mama Rosa

2017; 30 x 35 inches; commercial and hand-dyed cotton fabric, poly batt; machine pieced, appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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MLK: WE JUST KEEP ON COMING L’Merchie Frazier Boston, Massachusetts

The Quilted Chronicles, the Target Series is an on-going series of works that are designed to address significant events that involve targeted populations. Targeted populations refer to the entire group of individuals or objects at the center of an issue or community change.

This work continues my Quilted Chronicles Target Series. It depicts two pivotal moments of the Civil Rights Movement that are cornerstone of the quest for freedom, justice, and equality.

Featured is the event Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma, Alabama, when armed police attacked Civil Rights Movement demonstrators as they were attempting to march to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama. The 4,000 marchers crossed the bridge again on March 2l, 1965 and successfully walked to the Capitol building.

The bridge was declared a National Historic Landmark on March 11, 2013.

Highlighted also are the sanitation worker’s strike signs of “I Am a Man”, as they wage their own protest to the treatment of black public laborers in Memphis, Tennessee in April 1968. This is the strike that accounts for the presence of Martin Luther King in Memphis when he is assassinated, as he stood in solidarity with the protesters and their quest for justice.

The moments of Selma have been captured recently in the movie of the same name. The recognition of We Just Keep On Coming is to acknowledge the on-going resistance to current issues and protest in our communities that are a focus of campaigns like “Black Lives Matter.”

MLK: We Just Keep On Coming

2017; 44 x 48 inches; Nylon, silk, photo-transfer; machine appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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MLK MARCH Deborah A. Moore Harris Helotes, Texas

My quilt is a visual narrative of the original route of the Martin Luther King Day march in San Antonio, Texas. The San Antonio MLK march was started in 1968 by Rev. Callies after the assassination of Dr. King, to call attention to local community concerns. The quilt reflects the image of Dr. Martin King watching over me and my family and all the other participants as we march. Since its small beginnings, the San Antonio MLK march has become one of the largest in the United States. The route of the march has changed over the years, because of increased participation. I still prefer the old route, because it went through the black neighborhood.

My quilt attempts to replicate the people taking part in the march. I can remember the signs and landmarks as I walked through the neighborhood.

Folks, young and old, marched either alone or in groups; some wearing matching tee-shirts and others in drag. Viewers would stand outside their homes and businesses to get a glimpse of the marchers passing by. I included churches in my quilt, because they were so important during the Civil Rights era as centers for organizing protests and other strategies.

My quilt honors those people, past and present, who march every year on Dr. King’s birthday for equality in this country. The borders of my quilt are not straight, because the path to freedom is not a straight one. We are still marching as one, with the hope of eventually reaching the goal of equality for all as Dr. King envisioned.

MLK March 2018; 40 x 60 inches; cotton, polyester and rayon thread, cotton blend batting, embellished with jewelry, scrapbooking elements; machine embroidered and quilted.

Photographed by Ansen Seale.

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THREE MARYS: FREEDOM RIDERS Dawn Williams Boyd Atlanta, Georgia

They came from all over the country - some were young, fresh faced and naïve, others older and more seasoned – but all were determined that the sin of generational and institutionalized racism in the southern United States, could not withstand the onslaught of their courage. They were met at the city limits, at the bus station and at the bridges with scorn, raised angry voices and arms wielding bats. They were spat upon while they sat quietly at the lunch counters. They were hosed, firebombed and set upon by dogs. They were ambushed on lonely back roads and led into the dark piney woods. Some were never seen again.

Finally, the reporters followed and the cameras whirred. Flashbulbs exploded and drove back the darkness. Vivid images of America’s ugly, blood stained petticoats were splashed across the world stage.

Slowly some things and some minds changed.

Three Marys: Freedom Riders 2012; 54 x 85 inches; fabrics, cotton floss and buttons; appliquĂŠd by machine, embroidered and quilted by hand.

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WE SHALL OVERCOME Dawn Williams Boyd Atlanta, Georgia

We marched - in silence and in full throated song – for freedom, respect, equality and self determination.

We marched, sat in, protested, boycotted, picketed and went to jail alone and en mass to prove that we were men, that we were women, that we are citizens, that we were worthy of the sacrificed lives of our forebearers.

We marched to demand a fair wage and fair housing.

We marched to demand “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for our children’s children, so that they would “be judged by the content of their character”.

Fifty years later we are still on our feet and in the streets, still carrying signs and candles, still wearing pink hats and holding our hands up. We are still marching to mourn and rail against the racially motivated slaughter of our fathers, our sons and our sisters.

Will we ever be able to rest?

We Shall Overcome

2017; 69 x 46 inches; fabrics, cotton floss and buttons; appliquĂŠd by machine, embroidered and quilted by hand.

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STRONG, GIFTED AND BLACK Carolyn Crump Houston, Texas

“Reminiscent of the song, “Young, Gifted and Black” by Nina Simone, the quilt stars Dr. Martin Luther King, minister, activist leader of the Civil Rights Movement, founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, (SCLC); Dr. Ralph Abernathy, co-founder of SCLC and creator of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign; and formerly Chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and now Georgia’s U.S. Rep. John Lewis. Locked in arm-in-arm formation, often the familiar symbol of unity, against all odds, for the Civil Rights protest marches, the three men are woven by the red stripes of the American flag, emblematic of the sacrifices that carry the memory of the non-violent struggle for racial equality. These marches and similar protests were organized to confront racism, segregation and discrimination, advocating legal change by direct action to gain the promise of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, referred to by Dr. Martin Luther King as the two most important documents of America. The carpet supporting their feet is the quilting representation of the Log Cabin pattern, stemming from Ancient Egyptian cloth traditions to become one of America’s most well known quilting patterns that embodies the idea of the courage and pioneering spirit of change.”

L’Merchie Frazier, Director of Education, Museum of African American History, Boston, MA

Strong, Gifted and Black

37 x 38.5; inches; cotton fabric and batt, thread; digital printed on fabric and machine quilted.

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RUBY NELL BRIDGES Marion Coleman Castro Valley, California

As a child who grew up in segregated North Texas, the story of Ruby Nell Bridges has always been a powerful one to me. Her courage springs forward as she withstood a year of angry racial slurs by white parents and students who did not want her to attend William Franz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Although three other girls were selected to attend McDonough Elementary School, Ruby did not have the comfortand companionship of other children who looked like her. Every day Ruby walked to school with her mother and the escort of U. S. Marshalls. While in the classroom, Ruby was the lone student of her teacher, Barbara Henry, a Boston native, who was willing to teach her. To maintain a sense of segregation, Ms Henry had to hold class with Ruby on a separate floor of the school. Today I continue to marvel at her bravery at such a young age.

Ruby Nell Bridges

50 x 50 Inches, cotton, silk, polyester, U.S. Postage Stamps, image transfers, free motion stitching.

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SO WHAT SKELETONS ARE IN YOUR CLOSET Ed Johnetta Miller Hartford, Connecticut

I lived through the Civil Rights Movement and was always struck by the hatred and animosity shown to us by white people in the South. The crowds that gathered to spew hateful chants, throw eggs and thrash at African American children who were integrating schools. I recall reading the book Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America by James Allen and John Lewis, and seeing hundreds of gleeful whites, men, women, and children, attending the lynching of African Americans. Watching the charred and mutilated bodies swinging from trees, I often wonder where those people who took such pleasure in our torment and pain are today?

Where are they? Do they have remorse? Do their children and grandchild know about their racist behavior, or do they hide these skeletons in their closet.

So What Skeletons Are In Your Closet 2016; 2017; 50 x 50 inches; commercial cotton, photo-transfer, cotton batting, machine pieced, appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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IN MY AKUABAA FORM Myrah Brown Green Brooklyn, New York

One of my fondest memories of childhood is sitting with my Mother at the local Woolworth counter having lunch and then a special dessert. I felt like a grownup, even though I was only six or seven years old. I didn’t have a worry in the world and because this became a special event ritual for my Mother and me, I was able to recite my order directly to the waitress each and every time. Mom had migrated from the south and it wasn’t until later in my life did, I hear the multiple, segregation, sometimes harsh stories of moments in history that my parents and other close relatives experienced.

In My Akuabaa Form pays homage to all of those who were either participants or were affected by the Freedom Summer of 1964. The juxtaposition of the flying geese pattern moving in the four directions, North, South, East and West and the Akuabaa protector symbol, indigenous to the Ashanti people of West Africa represents how many Civil Rights workers at college campuses in Ohio and other places around the nation staged one of the most impacting movements in the Twentieth Century. Although many were met with intimidation and of course violence, the Akuabaa symbolizes the spiritual power of protection that they carried with them on their backs. The student activists that helped this historical movement led to the emerging of one the most important women in the Civil Rights Movement; Fannie Lou Hamer. She was able to form the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party that summer leading to countless being able to vote in elections around the nation. This also led to Shirley Chisolm entering congress and announcing her candidacy in 1972 for president and the ascension of President Barack Hussain Obama to the highest office of the Free World in 2008 and then recurring in 2012.

Growing older, I came to realize that it was because of those student activists; Freedom Riders from Ohio and other parts of the country who created the endless economic, social and political options for me and generations to come. Now, when I remember those outings with my Mother at the local Woolworth counter, Freedom Summer was the impetus that afforded us that privilege.

In My Akuabaa Form

2000; 94.5 X 85.5; cotton fabric and batt; machine pieced, appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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DON’T HATE ME Carolyn Crump Houston, Texas

“Anchored in the current issues of social justice that confront the on-going advance of freedom and equality are the five examples featured in this quilt. These depicted stories of concern signal the necessity to continue the activism of the Civil Rights Movement. As we celebrate fifty-five years of milestone triumphs, these emerging current events remind us that incomprehensible acts fracture and continue practices engendered by hate, target individuals who are unjustly stigmatized, maligned and killed because of a warped and unfounded lens of inhumanity. Rooted in ignorance, myth and miseducation, racism, gender discrimination, and hate teachings promote practices that are in opposition to protection of the birth and civil rights of every person. The command “Don’t Hate Me” demands that love and protection are the tools with which we conquer hate.

L’Merchie Frazier, Director of Education, Museum of African American History, Boston, MA

Don’t Hate Me

49.4 x 18 inches; cotton fabric and batt, thread; digital printed on fabric and machine quilted.

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VICTORY = JUSTICE FOR ALL Carole Staples West Chester, Ohio

All humans are equally worthy and deserve fair treatment and respect.

We must doggedly focus on disarming injustice with everything we have within us. The senseless violence, killings and excessive jail sentencing due to the color of one’s skin must come to an end. The laws of this country are intended to be applied to all regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or religious affiliation. Victory will be the sweet and complete riddance of fear, racism, and bigotry to make room for more love, peace, and prosperity for the entire human race.

Victory = Justice for All

2018; 24 x 36 inches; cotton fabric and batt, thread, wooden beads, embellishments; machine pieced and quilted.

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DID YOU HEAR? HER SON’S IN TROUBLE. (TRIPTYCH) Lauren Austin Altamonte Springs, Florida

“Did you hear, Her Son’s in trouble,” created 1999-2001, concerns my conflicted feelings about the legal system as a black lawyer and artist. At the time I made this piece, I worked as an attorney on civil law cases, mostly employment, housing and education discrimination. My clients were black people in crisis situations – losing their jobs, homes or having children taken by the state. The siege against us was real, ever present and the consequences enormous.

During that period I obsessively reread Thurgood Marshall’s writings, especially his Supreme Court dissents. Justice Marshall ALWAYS spoke for those with the least power. I read Dandridge vs. Maryland, 397 U.S. 471 (1970) and Lyng vs. Castillo, 477 U.S. 635 (1986) over and over to sustain my resolve.

My go-to case in times of overwhelming depression was City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, (1983). Marshall’s dissent reminded me I wasn’t crazy about what law does to my people by denying our life traumas and putting power in the hands of those who hate us.

Going to court I would witness the long lines of our people shackled together, sitting and standing, waiting for arraignment. Brown hands would reach out to me with whispers of “Would you be my lawyer?” In court I would see the mothers in the audience, there for their children and families, suffering embarrassment and name-calling. The resistance, perseverance and caring of these women in defense of their loved ones stays with me to this day.

A stone of inadequacy rests on my heart…I did so much and so little at the same time.

These quilts were made for those in the modern day courts and for those mothers in the stands. I saw you then and I see you now. The struggle continues.

Did You Hear? Her Son’s In Trouble (Triptych) 3 Panel Series Panel 1 2001; 28 x 71 inches; cotton fabric and batt, rayon, lame, metallic thread; machine pieced, appliquÊ and quilted.

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Panel 2 2001; 46 x 73 inches; cotton fabric and batt, metallic thread; photo-transfer, machine pieced, appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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Panel 3 2001; 36.5 x 62 inches; cotton fabric and batt, rayon, lame, metallic thread, cowrie shells, beads, found objects; machine pieced, appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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THE HISTORY LESSON Michelle Flamer Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When “Negro” appeared on the 2010 US Census, I thought to myself, “I have had no less than five identifications during my lifetime.” What other group in the United States has had so many labels? Born in 1956, I grew up “colored”. By age six, I saw news reels of men being hosed and attacked by dogs. We were “Negroes” and wanted our civil rights. By the mid-1960’s our message was perhaps bolder:…“Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.”

Black was now beautiful. Then in my late teens, I was an “Afro- American,” a former colored girl whose ancestors survived the Middle Passage. Today I am an “African American” like “my President,” Barack Obama.

Colored, Negro, Black, Afro-American, African American, each evokes different periods in American history, some good, some bad, but it always comes down to R-A-C-E on the front side and its …ism on the backside of my quilt.

The History Lesson

2010; 44.5 x 53 inches; cotton fabric and batt; phototransfer, machine appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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MARTIN, MALCOLM AND BARACK Carolyn Crump Houston, Texas

“The three men featured in this quilt are iconic thought leaders on the progressive timeline, who represent outcomes of the enormous impact of the Civil Rights Movement against the backdrop of slavery and Jim Crow, their voices mark milestones of the dreams, aspirations and collective actions directed toward the positive identity formation, uplift and rise of a people facing their historic fight for truth, justice, and equality. Their solutions of the plight of the black man and woman in America are philosophically varied and challenging in approach, utilizing non-violence, radical activist protest, and political action as differing strategies. Their work engendered local, national, and global constituents to support the cause of freedom.

Christian minister, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and Muslim minister, elHajj Malik el-Shabazz, aka Malcolm X, in their twentieth century efforts, build the muscle of a public consciousness and awareness that results in the evidentiary, twenty-first century, successful election of the first AfricanAmerican and forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama in 2008.”

L’Merchie Frazier, Director of Education, Museum of African American History, Boston, MA

Martin, Malcolm and Barack

32 x 14.5 inches; cotton fabric and batt, thread; digital printed on fabric and machine quilted.

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POWER IN NUMBERS Sharon Kerry-Harlan Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

A civil “Movement� can begin with an idea from an individual or group, who begins to question inequality and oppression. Many times, these actions are in response to injustices to minorities. One way the Civil Rights Movement gained power and momentum was through the massive number of people who attended marches and participated in boycotts against racial segregation. Power in Numbers is a tribute to the many nameless people whose voices we cannot hear, but whose faces we will never forget.

Power in Numbers

2016, 49.5 x 49.5 inches; acrylic and hand-pulled silk screens on rusted fabric

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THEY PAVED THE WAY, 2008 Marlene Seabrook O’Bryant Charleston, South Carolina

The road that led to Barack Obama becoming the forty-fourth president of the United States of America was paved by many persons and events focused on bringing to fruition America’s promise that “all men are created equal.” On the evening of November 4, 2008, like others all over America -and abroad - I was glued to my television set. I was prepared to watch the returns until the wee hours of the morning and was stunned when around midnight, it was announced that Barack Obama had 338 electoral votes-well over the 270 needed; -and he was declared the winner. This young African American man had just become our president.

I was elated, overwhelmed, speechless! Having been born in the thirties, I could not help but remember the indignities of Jim Crow and the sacrifices of the civil rights movement. I could not help but think that our president-elect was standing firmly on the shoulders of many who had paved the way for him.

I went to sleep knowing that there was a quilt in there somewhere, and in the next few days brainstormed sixty-seven names and events. As they often do, my quilt design came during my dreams -a path of engraved “bricks” led to a portrait of our president. When I was invited to create one of forty-four quilts for an inaugural exhibition at the Historical Society of Washington, DC, I decided to concentrate on the civil rights era and limit my bricks to forty-four.

The quilt features forty-four gold stepping stones that are symbolic of the precious lives, blood, sweat, and tears of those named and, vicariously, of others unnamed and unknown.

All gave some, but the first six rows and the collage at the top honor those who gave ALL. I chose the African fabric with the cowrie - shell print because it is doubly significant. It recognizes President Obama’s paternal heritage, as well as the fact that until 1807, the British used cowrie shells as currency to purchase so many of the ancestors who never could have imagined this historic milestone. The thirteen gold-painted cowrie shells attached at the bottom represent the history of the thirteen original colonies from 1619 to 1865.

They Paved the Way, 2008 35 x 38 inches; African and commercial fabrics, gold etal, textile paint, African bone beads, cowrie shells; photo-transfer, hand painted, machine appliquĂŠ, pieced, and quilted.

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TRAYVON COULD HAVE BEEN MY SON Dorothy Burge Chicago, Illinois

This fiber art wall hanging is dedicated to all of the mothers who fear for the safety of their children and seek to protect them from violence. The murder of Trayvon Martin was the inspiration for this quilt. This AfricanAmerican teen was killed as he returned from a neighborhood convenience store. To raise awareness about this incident, people from around the country participated in a “We are all Trayvon” campaign. As a mother, I designed this quilt to show my support and concern and to illustrate that Trayvon could be my son. The quilt was created from a photo of my great nephew, who was the youngest member of my family at the time. He was dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and carrying an ice tea and a bag of candy, mirroring Trayvon Martin, the day he was killed. The work is signed by Trayvon’s parents.

Trayvon Could Have Been My Son

2012; 30 x 48 inches; commercial cotton, cotton batting, cotton and rayon threads; machine appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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BLACK LIVES MATTER Barbara Eady Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Black Lives Matter depicts the development of the Black Lives Matter Movement in the United States. The chalk lines represent the scores of unarmed men, women and children of color killed by police across the country. The overlapping gold chalk lines represent Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, who were killed together by 137 gunshots from police in East Cleveland, OH. The small chalk lines represent the children, including Tamir Rice, age 12 of Cleveland and Aiyana Jones, age 7 who were killed by Detroit police during a raid on the wrong home. The yellow tape depicts the scene of police crimes. The marchers depict the people’s protest of the gross misuse of power by police and the demand for accountability from police departments. The quilt binding is red, white and blue because these crimes occur in America.

Black Lives Matter

2015; 56 X 48; cotton, appliquĂŠ, machine quilted.

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BLACK LIVES STILL MATTER Glenda Richardson Baltimore, Maryland

I made this piece to pay homage to the hundreds and hundreds of Black women and men, particularly those who were unarmed, who have died at the hands of the criminal justice system. I honor them by repeating the names of those such as Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, and Eric Garner, who have become iconic in the Black Lives Matter movement. The birds in the corners of the piece represent the souls of others who have been lost. Scenes of protest and the protestations, “ Resist!, We Can’t Breath, They Can’t Kill Us All!”, are worked into the pattern of the garment of the lone figure at the center of the quilt. This figure represents the resilience of a people who have suffered much adversity and continue to demand racial justice. The greenery and the flowers represent the regeneration that is described in the proverb “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”.

Black Lives Still Matter

2018; 50.5 x 65; cotton fabric and batt, photo-transfer on cotton; inkjet printing, machine pieced and quilted.

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BLACK WOMEN AND FREEDOM Carole Lyles Shaw Bradenton, Florida

Since Africans were brought to the shores of this country, Black women have fought courageously to gain and preserve freedom for our race. At first, we fought by escaping to freedom or working to buy our families from slavery. In the 20th century, we spoke up against lynching and march for voters’ rights. Today, we organize and speak up against violence, economic oppression, police brutality and so much more.

Black Women and Freedom

2017; 31 x 43 inches; commercial cotton and batt, machine pieced, appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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FEAR NOT WARRIOR! FOR WE ALL BLEED… WE ALL BREATH…THE SAME Carole Staples West Chester, Ohio

Color based racism was created in the United States in the 1600’s.

Categorization of people by a “race” was invented to make it easier to enslave people and to identify slaves by skin color. There is only one race though, the human race.

Genetically, all humans are fourteenth cousins or less in degree of relationship. You see, we are all genetic family made up of the same electrons, protons, and molecules with the same goals, dreams, and functions. What makes us different is a creative way of showing us what ultimately makes us the same. Our skin is our largest organ; its purpose is to shield and protect our “insides” aka internal organs from the elements and foreign objects from entering the body. Yet for people of color, our skin is our greatest vulnerability and elicits hatred, mistreatment, discrimination, violence and death. We need to overcome racism, for we all bleed the same red blood, we all breathe the same air the same way. The chemical makeup of skin is the same for any human being. The only thing that makes skin’s appearance diverse is the amounts of a substance called melanin in our skin. The rest is just people’s stories they have create about it and passed down to others, not the truth.

Fear Not Warrior!

For We All Bleed‌ We All Breath‌The Same 2018; 36 x 40 inches; cotton fabric and batt, thread, wooden beads, embellishments; machine pieced and quilted.

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STAY WOKE AND VOTE Carole Lyles Shaw Bradenton, Florida

Voting is power in action. Being aware is not enough—action is required to preserve freedom.

Stay Woke and Vote

2018; 18 x 25 inches; commercial cotton, machine appliquĂŠ and quilted.

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THE EYES OF CONSCIOUSNESS: AMERICA EYE SEE YOU… Carole Staples West Chester, Ohio

Eye see you America with your overt racism, which you have become brazen about and do not shield from plain sight.

Racism spurred on by divisiveness, harshness and hatred. Why? Because you’re full of fear. Fear of diversity, fear of culture, fear of lifestyles.

Fear of scarcity and fear of what you don’t understand yet.

America, my wish for you is to triumph over racism by sharing stories about our differences, and instead, accept and acknowledge our differences as only one small part of us. My wish for you is to embrace diversity, celebrate our lives and recognize that we’re all unique expressions of the one infinite mind and combat fear through aggressive helpings of love.

The Eyes of Consciousness: America Eye See You‌ 2018; 36 x 40 inches; cotton fabric and batt, thread, wooden beads, embellishments; machine pieced and quilted.

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