Black Creative Expression

Throughout history, Black Americans have faced one of the longest roads to reaching equality. With the issue of slavery and the many years of Black discrimination that proceeded it, Black Americans were not fully able to express themselves in anyway, especially artistically. Years before slavery in African cities, paintings, sculptures, and tribal cloths were all created by the natural artistic abilities of African Americans, but where did this art go? These art pieces and artifacts were stripped from these people in the transition period of slavery, but their talent and skill remained within them. Most art pieces created by Black individuals were not even seen or respected by Western Society for years after slavery was abolished, but they still created these unique pieces to explain their experience. Events like slavery, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights Movement have influenced the development of black creative expression in America.

Most slave owners forced their slaves to suppress their artistic skills and also ruled against any of them painting Black figures, but this didn’t stop the need for Black Americans to express themselves. Artist Joshua Johnson was an active painter all throughout the slavery era and was even granted freedom in 1782. He was only allowed to paint white figures and signed only one of his art pieces ever (Jaelyn 2021). This is a perfect example of how easy it was to miscredit and lose the history of Black artists. With no protections in favor of Black artists, many pieces that could have been created by them, have been lost or are not signed. Without intense effort and funding directly being applied to the discovery of Black historical art, it is nearly impossible to trace these pieces back to their original creators. With so many years of oppression and disvalue given to the black community, it explains how these discoveries have been delayed. Restoring these pieces of history should be just as much of a priority as other aspects of history because without a complete picture, our society will never know the actual experiences of Black citizens that were revealed through these lost pieces.

Just after slavery, Black Americans experienced a historical and artistic awakening called the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. With such a suppressed and controlled lifestyle before slavery, Black Americans were just now given the ability to create freely. Black individuals were finally given better access to education and resources, so many new Black artists and writers were emerging during this era. Black artists not only had the ability to now create their artistic ideas, they also now had a target audience of other Black Americans who now had the freedom to spend their money to support these artists. Langston Hughes for example is one of the most notable poets that flourished during the Harlem Renaissance. While he was not a painter, he was an active author, playwriter, and poet throughout his lifetime. He is one of the many Black artists that was finally able to express themselves after finally being given the opportunity and freedom to do so. In one of his essays released in 1926 called, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” he says,

This is such a beautifully written quote that perfectly expresses the feelings of him and other Black Americans at the time. It is very influential to be able to use writing to resist Western thoughts and finally share their cultural art and ideas. After being held back and controlled for so long, Black Americans just wanted to be heard and to be able to freely express themselves.

Over time, Black artists only ever became more and more popular, but as the Civil Rights era of the 1960s rolled around, attention shifted towards equality and Black art often encouraged the power of Black individuals. Sculpturer, Elizabeth Catlett, created a large mahogany “fist” sculpture that signifies and is titled, “Black Unity.” Released in 1968 at the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, this sculpture created a gesture of community and has now been more popularized today with the Black Lives Matter Movement (Banks 2017). Symbols like these are nearly universal and can allow large groups of people to express their support and connection not only to each other, but to the community as a whole. Catlett’s astonishing work transcended time and has continuously symbolized the community that Black American’s have had to build around themselves to thrive within this society. During the civil rights movement, Black Americans were finally not conforming to the treacherous world that was forced upon them, they were finally demanding equality. The community and symbolism of it was dire to the strength and perseverance of Black Americans on this journey.

With so many different forms of Black art that have existed throughout History, it is truly a shame that so little of it has been appreciated. With so many historical setbacks like slavery, discrimination, and inequality, the art that was produced during these times were raw, political, and often tragic. As time progressed, Black artists finally emerged, flourished, and gained notoriety during The Harlem Renaissance and The Civil Rights Movement. The unique experiences of Black artists created beautiful and expressive work that inspired and encouraged other Black Americans to stand up for what they believe in and protect each other.