Faith Ringgold's God Bless America

Louise E. Jefferson, her father was a calligrapher for the United States Treasury taught her his craft. During the Harlem Renaissance, Jefferson attended the School of Fine Arts at Hunter College in New York where she became an active member of the artist community. In 1935, she joined Augusta Savage, Aaron Douglas, Selma Burke, Gwendolyn Bennett, and Jacob Lawrence as a founding member of the Harlem Artists Guild.

Nancy Rourke is one of the most renowned De’ VIA, or Deaf View/Image Art, artist. The point of this kind of art is to express how the deaf person feels, which could involve expression of their lives being oppressed or forced into and oral program. Nancy had a love for art for most of her life, but did not express her feelings about her past until 2010, when she joined the movement.

The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing on September 15, 1963 has been one of the most historic bombing in the African American community. Since then, the Spike Lee’s Four Little Girls film and the poem, Ballad of Birmingham, have been created to commemorate the event and the loss of the four beautiful young girls. Both have received awards for their outstanding and thoughtful works that both artist put into their projects. The movie, Four Little Girls, was a very stimulating movie because it was not your typical scripted play. It was a documentary of all the family, friends, and community that were affected by this event. On the other hand, the poem, Ballad of Birmingham, was very eye opening because it put a new perspective of the church bombing.

In her book, “Good Country People,” Flannery O’Connor shows first hand how one cannot judge a book by its cover… not even a Bible. Even though a façade is put on, one realizes how vulnerable Hulga Hopewell actually is. Her encounter with a Bible salesman, Manley Pointer, shows how one cannot trust even “good country people” (2). Symbolism in this story transforms what one perceives the character of Hulga and Manley to be and allows the reader to make deeper connections about their physical and mental flaws.

At first glance and after reading through Amazing Grace, it seems that Jonathan Kozol is going to take us on a journey through the lives of the underprivileged, but similar to the ones you read about, or hear in the news. However, this is not the case; the real underlying theme seems to be how the life and society they live in is very alike to a life in a prison, not because it talks explicitly about prison conditions in this area, but also because their lives are portrayed as being a prison. Kozol uses the views of children and adults throughout this book to emphasize this theme through their living conditions and personal lives, background and struggles.

This painting speaks for all of those people and says to stand against this and become who you truly are on the

One of the most intriguing and influential images included in Citizen by Claudia Rankine is the image entitled Blue Black Boy. Blue Black Boy is a visual work of art created by Carrie Mae Weems in 1990’s; Weems is a very successful female African American artist. Through a close reading of the image, I was able to derive meaning out of the various aspects that work together to create such an eloquent work of art.

Artworks featuring the American flag can have different meanings, for example, Faith Ringgold's God Bless America and Jasper Johns Flag. The painting God Bless America was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s it’s an expression of the emotional and physical agony of African Americans, it’s also a comment on bigotry. It shows a woman behind bars, the bars being the red and white stripes of the American flag. The star on the woman's shoulder represents a sheriff's badge. The art is contradictory because it's both patriotic and racist. The painting Flag is more patriotic. It’s made out of an ancient Egyptian painting called encaustic which leaves lumps and smears asking viewers to consider the work of art and to ponder its meaning.

Dorothy Allison’s essay, Panacea, recalls the fond childhood memories about her favorite dish, gravy. Allison uses vivid imagery to cook up a warm feeling about family meals to those who may be a poor family or a young mother. Appeal to the senses shows this warm feeling, along with a peaceful diction.

Do you think that it is important to learn about and accept other people? I believe that it can benefit us all if we did. I have a quote that I believe is a foundation for my views. “We as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves”, written by Barbara Jordan, is a quote that means people should be able to put aside their beliefs of one another. Two texts that I will be discussing: “American Flag Stands for Tolerance” and “Universal Declaration of Independence”, along with contents from the documentary “My So-Called Enemy” will be used to show you why it is important to accept others that our different from ourselves. We people need to try to understand that everybody has somethings that contrasts from the next person. No one always agrees with someone else, nor do we share same opinions, ideas, or likings, however those things that make us different are actually what makes us same.

The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink

The idea of this piece is to show the connection between mother and daughter being painted. It shows the time and the classic style of the

Amazing Grace, one of the most well known songs in the world, has been, and will continue to be, performed in a vast variety of ways. Whether it is up-tempo, balladic, or somewhere in between, this song is much like the American National Anthem, in that every artist who approaches the piece wants to incorporate their own signature style. Aretha Franklin and Judy Collins are two women who are not deviant from that standard. Both of these women have produced classic renditions of the same piece, but with wildly contrasting attributes. Aretha Franklin, well known as a singer and figurehead for African-American gospel, recorded Amazing Grace with her own stylings and flair.

Faith Ringgold was a teacher, painter, and civil rights activist. Through her rigorous battle for equal rights, God Bless America came to be. In 1964, Faith Ringgold painted her insightful, strident piece that was only one of twenty in her series she called, “The American People.” All twenty of these pieces impacted the lives of many. a.) So what inspired the `inspiring? The Civil Rights Movement. Segregation was one of the biggest problems facing society at the time, as well as in the years before. b.) Faith Ringgold joined the fight against said monstrosity with her artwork. In the picture, the woman is depicted holding her hand over an olden-style sheriff star which represents her holding onto her outdated beliefs. c.) The woman pictured plays a very important role because not only does she represent all of the people who onto their outlandish values, no matter the effect on others, but those very same people who rest easy in their ignorance as they are locked inside their own madness. The stripes depicted work to create such an impressionable image on our brains as they actually portray the blocks that this woman, as many others, has put up to keep herself barred off from change; to tie in the previously made statement: she has locked herself in her own madness. God Bless America is a very important piece of artwork that represents the civil rights movement, and the people who fought for equal rights.

This art piece portrays a darker colored woman in the middle with twelve men sitting at the table, six men on each side. She is not wearing any sort of garments except for a simple white cloth around her spread out arms. All men are divided into three-men group based upon similar actions. The man immediate right to the woman is the only man with paler skin color. On the table, there are feast of fruits, vegetables, bread, and drinks.