02/22/2017
In the past two years, I have been approached and asked if I would like to Organize, Curate or Participate in exhibits that focus on Protest. Each time I had respectfully turned them down. Not for not having quality material or interest in the subject's importance, but more due to my experience of BEEN THERE DONE THAT .... my statement made and it stands on its own merit and this is why.
In 2012, before the trend of Protest and Art, no one was interested in seeing a Protest Photo as Art much less an whole exhibition dedicated to it. The only people whom were at that time where those that specialized in MISERY MONGERING images of Black and Brown peoples. At the time, under an Obama Administration, the very opposite of Bush narrative was sold that THE WAR IS OVER and no one wanted to see suffering peoples at home or abroad. My intent was to wake people up from this false narrative and show that the issues now are as and more important to then. That the Protests that are ignored and marginalize still exist and have been for decades and still are reflected through the lens of Photographers today with a high level of Art and Composition.
No Gallery or Exhibition space wanted to sponsor or host the idea. One place did. It was the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in Harlem, NY, historically known as the Audubon Hall and the place where Malcolm X was assassinated. When I had explained why the importance of doing an exhibition on Protest was important as well as that there wasn't anyone doing exhibitions like this and that once created, there will be a growing trend, The Malcolm X Center would be the first. They would be the only one Nationally and will have the greatest Collective of photographers that will set the standard. Without pause, they said YES. At "Light-Speed" I was able to create the show ART AND PROTEST - Images of Peace Struggle and Human Rights initially on a shoestring budget which eventually got sponsorship once the momentum, interest and anticipation grew. (People and organization love to connect themselves "after-the-fact" for work they lift no fingers for.)
Part of the then interest wasn't so much as the location of the show or the content, but who participated. Artist, some of which were unknown, were those that by tradition were on the frontlines of protests as activist, didn't exhibit their Protest Art. Then there were the Elder photographers whom never were asked if they had Street images of rallies and marches. For them, it was new territory. For me, it was a no-brainer. Each would have images no one else had ever seen. ART AND PROTEST would be the first time anyone would have seen the images. That in itself was a selling point. In the end, the Collective was made up of:
Adger Cowans | Shawn W Walker | Ocean Morisset | Jamel Shabazz | LeRoy Henderson | Howard Cash | A.d. Minter | Lyric R Cabral | Terry Beverly | Azim Thomas | Lynne St Clare Foster | Jimbe' Jimbe | Erik James Montgomery | Jewel Shears | Hakim Mutlaq | Kenya Lamonte Smith | Paul Chinnery | Lee White | Douglas L. Adams Jr. | Tamara Ramos | Burroughs Lamar
There were others whom participated later such as musicians, poets, lectures, researchers but overall, these photographers were the focus and foundation of three generations of Artist with experiences and images that dated back to the 1960's. When you have not only developed the idea into a reality, participated, worked along side and shared, marketed and advertised and know you have stamped the basics to which you have yet to see anyone else surpass, including well established institutions, there would be a delayed effect for repeating something you have done before and Right as well as knowing that if I couldn't do it myself, why bother? Granted there are new Causes, Newer Images and a Greater number of people interested in Protest Art but for me, to do this again is like a Mother trying to have more children not because she wants them, but to have a child that is better than the previous child. And that, is just spiritually and painfully wrong.
After taking a moment in recognizing the significance of February 21, 2017, the annual remembrance of the assassination of Malcolm X, I think and thank the institution of Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center for allowing this show to exist and in doing so, quietly set in motion, a listing of ... need I say ... Copycats that is continuing the tradition of Art in Protest as a medium to teach as well as open up one's consciousness to Struggle in America. - A.D. Minter
Written by A.D. Minter, Photographer, Fine Art Artist, Writer, Curator, Member of Kamoinge Works and Publisher.
The exhibit ART AND PROTEST -Images of Peace, Struggle and Human Rights is a collection of Color and Black and White photography which depicts Civil and Human Rights as well as images of Civil Disobedience in America from the 1960's to the Present.
