Art Pedagogy of Black Arts as a form of Social Justice Education

Although art education is largely ignored in the core curriculum of many high schools, it is a more than useful means for giving young adults the historical foundation needed in order to inspire future leadership. Black art, in particular adequately addresses issues of social change and mobility, citizenship, identity as well as other critical themes within the African American community. Black visual artists and their works discuss critical issues of history, representation, aesthetics, and ideology in a medium that is being deemed invisible. This paper focuses on the usefulness of art history as an educational tool for teaching African American high school students about African-American art as well as the historical frameworks from which this art was produced. Specifically, I address the works of African American artists such as Charles White, Faith Ringgold, Kara Walker and Aaron Douglas in order to emphasize the importance of art education as a field that should be incorporated into the core curriculum of predominately African American high schools.

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Artist Statement for "Untitled" Series

As an Afro-Caribbean American woman, I believe my art has developed from a combination of my emotional, aesthetic and analytical self. I am very interested in examining Black Aesthetics in theory and practice. I am interested in works for, of and/or by black people, and what similarities in the works of these dispersed peoples are traceable to African art forms, the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, imperialism, marginalization, and racism. Although I believe contemporary Black art cannot be understood without considering its geographical, historical, intellectual and general cultural background, I am aware of the difficulties when trying to identify quantitative retentions and influences with African art forms. Working with two colors, I am combining representational drawing I have been trained to do, with ways of drawing that are associated with self-taught art. Through the use of gold and black paint, I create portraits and narratives about "divine" characters in order to convey contemporary discourse on class, race, gender and sexuality. As a non-believer, I use images of the Orishas as an attempt to confront the African American experience and its history of omission. The Orishas are deities who originated from Yoruba tradition in West Africa. Like the people who practice it, the religion has been dispersed globally, creating several traditions. Some of the variations are Santeria, Lucumi, Obeah, Voodoo, or Candomble, and are practiced from Cuba to Haiti, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Trinidad and the United States.

My use of stereotypical exaggeration is very intentional when characterizing an Orisha/African American. I believe these divine Orishas personify mortal African Americans. I use the color black because it is loaded with charged representation; it is used as a racial signifier, and for its negative and positive connotations. In this series, black acts as itself, a marker of race, a stain—as a hyperbole. I use stereotypes in hopes of provoking people to confront their own biases. Although my images are theological, I see these "celestial" characters among black folk that live the African American experience.