| Paint is the only weapon I have with which to fight what I resent. If I could write, I would write about it. If I could talk, I would talk about it. Since I paint, I must paint about it. Charles White You might recognize one of the men in the picture above. On the left is a young Harry Belafonte, an American singer, songwriter, and activist best known for popularizing an upbeat Caribbean musical style in the 1950s. (On Sunday, we’ll be singing a hymn he recorded in 1956 that you might recognize.) He’s also the inspiration and subject for this artwork, drawn by the second man in the picture, Charles White.
Charles White was born on Chicago’s Southside in 1918 and showed an early interest in art. The Art Institute of Chicago was foundational to development as an artist. His mother not only took him as a child to look at the art, he would later win a scholarship to attend one of their youth summer camps, and then a full scholarship to study as a young adult after two other art schools rescinded his acceptance because of his race. Almost forty years later, the Art Institute put together a special retrospective exhibit showcasing his work and legacy. That’s where I first learned of Charles White and his work. Harry Belafonte and Charles White met at the Committee for the Negro in the Arts, a group formed in the late 1940s to advance and celebrate black culture. In each other they found a friendship and kinship as they each sought to use their gifts and particular mediums to express the heart and struggle of the black experience. In a piece entitled Voice of Jericho, Charles White captured the power and energy of Harry’s voice. You can see the air come alive with a voice that could very well bring down the walls of Jericho or any other wall that would keep a person from realizing the fullness of their humanity and rights as an equal. This Sunday, we begin our celebration of Black History Month focusing on African American Poets. Every Sunday will feature a significant poet paired with a reading from a prophet and a piece of art by Charles White. We’ll consider the relationship and similarities between poets and prophets and even painters—as those who are charged or compelled to express a truth of the human experience. I’m excited for the discoveries that await us as we hear the words of the poets and prophets that call us to pay attention and find our own voices. In Love, |
