Black Lives Matter

 

SOLD
Original Oil/ Collage on gallery wrap canvas
Size: 30" x 40"

In this painting I have captured a moment during a march through downtown Atlanta in support of the unjust killing of Michael Brown. These youngsters have taken a step of protest to the streets and I wanted to capture that determination of the marchers in the faces and their posture.
On the American flag they carry, I have placed the images of  unarmed Black people killed by the police with names and dates on the red stripes of the flag. On the white stripes I have placed the many marches held around the country in solidarity of these atrocities.

The year 2014 saw to many injustices of non-indictments of White police officers in the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo; Eric Garner and many others leaving the Black community reeling. Militarized police are allowed to kill Blacks at will as long as they deem it necessary and are therefore protected by the very forces that employ them. This has been an ongoing problem since early American history and has grown more prevalent in these modern times. It is too often a message that Black lives are worthless in the context of power of the state versus the individual. This must change!