City Radicals

𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙚 14 𝙞𝙨 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙋𝙪𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚.

𝘿𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝘾𝙊𝙑𝙄𝘿-19 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙖, 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙛𝙧𝙤-𝙋𝙪𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡, 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝘽𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙖 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙜𝙖𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣 17𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙋𝙪𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙤. 𝙏𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝘽𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙮𝙢𝙗𝙤𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚.

𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤: 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙋𝙪𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙘7𝙣𝙮.𝙘𝙤𝙢

𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤: 𝙀𝙙 𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙫𝙞𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙛𝙛 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩.𝙘𝙤𝙢

In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street, was one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the United States. But on May 31 of that year, the Tulsa Tribune reported that a black man, Dick Rowland, attempted to rape a white Woman, Sarah Page. Whites in the area refused to wait for the investigative process to play out, sparking two days of unprecedented racial violence. Thirty-five city blocks went up in flames, 300 people died, and 800 were injured.

Untitled (Man Smoking/Malcolm X), from the Kitchen Table series, 1990.

Carrie Mae Weems has worked toward developing a complex body of art that has employed photographs, text, fabric, audio, digital images, installation, and video over the past thirty years. Her work has led her to investigate family relationships, gender roles, the histories of racism, sex- ism, class, and various political systems.

Christopher Columbus, a mediocre sailor and mass murderer.

After Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the island we know as Haiti 523 years ago, he wrote of the Taíno people who inhabited it, “They never refuse anything that is asked for. They even offer it themselves, and show so much love that they would give their very hearts.” It was this perceived generosity that Columbus thought would make it easier to colonize.

Natives were regularly whipped for what Columbus considered minor offenses — but stealing a vegetable or animal could result in cutting off a Taíno’s nose, ear, or hand; they were forced to walk around with their severed body part in shame. Columbus took and gifted Taíno women to his crewmen, who would violently beat and rape them. Pregnant Taíno women who were taken captive gave birth to babies who were sometimes thrown to hungry dogs. Columbus established a business in the sale of 9- and 10-year-old Taíno girls for sexual slavery. He also kidnapped and enslaved Taínos themselves — personally initiating the transatlantic slave trade in his voyage back to Europe.

Olympia, Washington, February 1969

Armed members of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party standing on the state capitol steps in protest of a law that limits the ability to carry firearms in a “manner manifesting an intent to intimidate others”