Mar. 10—Dozens of fourth graders were asked to imagine they were slaves Thursday as they packed themselves into a small gallery at the Carnegie Center for the Visual Arts in Decatur.
Jessica Emrick, exhibit coordinator, asked them to imagine they were slaves on a ship bound from Africa to America, crammed into every square inch of the ship deck, laying down, with no space to sit up or to move.
Several students said they didn’t think they could bear it for the weeks and weeks it would have taken for the journey. But in those days, it wasn’t a choice. Millions were forced into slavery between the 1500s and the 1860s in this country.
Students were reminded it was real while touring the Carnegie exhibit, ABCs of Black History, by Milton Bowens and Daphne Burgess. The exhibit includes art on every letter of the 26-letter alphabet, ranging from abolition to Medgar Evers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to the underground railroad and Zora Neale Hurston, a Black writer and filmmaker.
“See how we are crammed in here,” Emrick told the students. “They were laying down, packed in really, really tight like we are,” she said. “And (they were onboard) for a long time. It wasn’t a fast trip from Africa to the United States.”
Emrick and Allison Belcher, education and marketing coordinator for the Carnegie, took turns explaining the art for each letter of the alphabet. The exhibit, available free until it closes March 15, includes Burgess’ vividly colored acrylic paintings with adinkra symbols and Bowens’ mixed media artwork with black and white photos, African design work and slave ship patterns.
For example, the artwork for the letter “A,” which represented abolition, included a diagram of a slave ship and how occupants would be assembled on the ship’s decks.
“He’s using the diagram to tell how terrible it was, and the overall space to show how abolitionists were people of faith who believed slavery was wrong and that they should be returned to Africa. That is not exactly how our history worked out,” Emrick said.
A symbol for cotton tells the viewer the role cotton played in the slave trade — that it was a major crop planted and harvested.
Burgess used the outline of Africa as a background for the letter “B” for Black history, Belcher explained. At its center is a bird that is both walking forward and looking backward. Belcher said this is to remind us that as we progress, we must not forget what has come before us.
“If we don’t learn about history, we will make those same mistakes,” she told the kids.
One little girl said her favorite painting was “F” for food, because she was hungry and the list of goodies on the soul food list included chicken, macaroni and cheese and sweet potatoes.
Belcher said more than 1,000 students are expected to see the exhibit before it closes.
Hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
— jean.cole@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2361
