Daily dose of artists supporting the Black Lives Matter movement
July 18, 2020
Art, whether it be music, movies, or drawings, has the power to heal and educate. People are able to document movements and as time goes on, we look at it and interpret it through our lens.
As the world continues to fight for justice for George Floyd and others affected by police brutality, artists are doing their part by creating and offering an escape with a purpose.
Here is an interesting piece of art The Sundial saw today:
Hannah Haywood, also known as hanhaywood on Instagram, has been a graphic designer for six years.
Haywood recently got her art turned into pins by another Instagram user, Chelsea Byers.
Byers reached out and asked if she could make the art into pins.
It took two weeks for the pins to be made and sent to Haywood but once they were, the pins were all donated in 30 minutes to people who wanted them.
Some of the pins read, “No Justice No Peace” and “Power to the People ” with clenched fists, and “Stay focused, there is still work to do.”
Haywood explains why she made the designs and what she wants people to take from it.
“I do graphic design as my profession, so making the designs was my way as a designer to contribute to making a change,” Haywood said. “I hope people see my art as visual reminders that there is still work that we need to do in society to be better.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBay_OjDRFu/
Becky Bacoka, also known as 1chewbecca on Instagram, has been a digital artist for over 20 years.
Bacoka recently created a digital illustration of a Black woman with a face mask on and a tear in her eye. Written on the woman’s hair, the statement reads “Racism is a pandemic too.”
Bacoka explained the inspiration for creating this illustration.
“I need to be inspired to create something. I was inspired by a photograph of a protester holding a sign that read, ‘Racism is a Pandemic too.’ I thought that statement was so powerful that I wanted to use it,” Bacoka said.
“I was trying to think of ways of executing that statement into an art piece. With COVID, I thought of a mask as it also symbolizes that Black voices being muted – I wanted to do something powerful that went with that statement,” she said. “With that piece, I created it using Adobe Fresco on my iPad Pro. I also use Procreate with some of my illustrations.”
Bacoka wanted to show her support and allyship for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“With my art, I want to bring awareness towards the social injustices that are happening — not just right now, but for the last 400 years. I want people to know why Black Lives Matter — have those difficult conversations with their Black friends, listen and also do some research on their own. Like COVID, this is a very serious issue because Black lives are being killed.”
Grammy award winning rapper, Anderson .Paak released the song “Lockdown” on Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the liberation for those who were enslaved.
Paak is a drummer, singer, rapper who plays just about any instrument there is.
The rapper reflects on the global protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd in the song. He vocalizes his anger and raw emotions about racial injustices against the Black community. Paak also details his experience at the Black Lives Matter protests held in Los Angeles in June. He uses some pictures of his experience on the song’s front and back cover of the single.
Paak also dropped the music video the same day. The video is directed by Dave Meyers, a video director who has directed videos for artists like Missy Elliot, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z , Janet Jackson and Maroon 5.
The video to “Lockdown” is beautifully shot and is little different from the streaming version of the song, as it features fellow rapper Jay Rock on a verse.
Paak and his friends are hanging out after protesting in the video and are still upset as the song says: “Killed a man in broad day, might never see a trial/ We just wanna break chains like slaves in the South/ Started in the North End but we in the downtown/ Riot cops tried to block, now we got a showdown.
There are several close ups on everyone’s face, which really makes the video stand out and lets the viewer empathize with them.
The video ends with an animated tear falling off of Paak’s face as he holds his son. The tear turns into several names of victims of racial injustice, such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and more. The names then give form to a clenched fist, which used to be the Black Lives Matter logo.
All of the video’s cast and crew salaries were donated to the Black Emotional And Mental Health Collective, Dream Defenders and Color of Change.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTh17WDBOa/
Jennifer a’Midi, known on Instagram as @jensblends, is a mosaic artist.
A’Midi recently posted a mosaic rock with “BLM” on it.
“I made the BLM rock to show that my heart is with everyone” a’Midi said. “I was raised in a multi-racial family and I also raised my children in a multi-racial family. My eldest daughter is half Black.”
She has been doing mosaic art, including mosaic art rocks, for 15 years.
“I started making mosaic rocks because I live near the Eel River in Humboldt County and the river rocks are perfect,” a’Midi said. “I don’t sell them. I enjoy taking them out in the redwood forest and up north by the ocean. I place them so it will hopefully make someone smile. I love sharing my art.”
The process of decorating the rocks can take up to two weeks. A’Midi cuts the tiles into the shapes that she wants and then glues them down; the glue takes 24 hours to dry. She then mixes the grout, adds colored mason stains and then tapes off the mosaic. She finally wipes the grout off and then lets it cure for two weeks.
“I hope my art will give everyone a smile and some hope,” Amidi said.
Corey Taylor, a Washington D.C. resident and a 22-year Air Force veteran, is a self-published comic book author and artist with a series titled, “Kopy Kat and the Bomb Squad.”
“Kopy Kat and the Bomb Squad” is set in a fictitious New York City where crime is completely out of control, according to Taylor’s website. The main character, Kopy Kat, is a Black woman and the squad members are Black as well.
The young heroes have mysteriously been given superpowers, and they decide to fight crime like their favorite comic book heroes. They quickly find out that fighting crime isn’t as easy as it looks on the big screen or in comics. Things get crazy when the teens are introduced to other super-powered individuals.
“My comic ‘Kopy Kat and the Bomb Squad’ is the comic I always wanted to see as a Black kid who loved superheroes,” Taylor said. “I was never satisfied with the stories about heroes of color.”
Taylor recently fulfilled part of his dream by self-publishing the first two issues of his comic. The first issue focuses on the introduction of Kopy Kat and her team.
On top of being a comic artist, Taylor is putting together a book, titled “Artists Unite” that will highlight artists, poets and even spoken word performers. Over 50 artists and poets have submitted their work for the book.
Taylor explained the reason for creating “Artists Unite.”
“I feel that as an artist I should use my platform to make the world a better place. The ‘Artists Unite’ book is a way to get artists on the same page and use their skills to assist change for the better in the world,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he plans to start a crowdfunding campaign for the book in mid-July and will give all of the proceeds to charity.
Taylor said it’s important for people of color to tell their own stories.
“Representation matters,” Taylor said. “It’s just that simple. We have to tell our story, not wait for someone else to tell it. I started my comic series to tell my superhero story from my point of view.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CByrYJqgSX2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Katherine Bodine, known on Instagram as @katherine_bodine_art, is a digital artist.
While Bodine has created art her whole life, she started making digital art in 2016.
Bodine has started an art series in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement. As of Monday, she has finished four pieces. One of her art pieces, titled “Piece 3,” is of a raised Black clenched fist — which was used as the Black Lives Matter logo previously. The arm and fist have vines and flowers wrapped around it. It took her two hours and 27 minutes to complete the piece. The art was based on a reference photo on Pinterest by Lakiba Pittman.
Bodine explains what she wants people to take away from her art.
“What I really want my art to do is remind people that the BLM movement is something that shouldn’t be allowed to fall out of consciousness,” Bodine said. “I really want to remind people that this is important, this is something we should care about, and this isn’t something we should let anyone forget.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBxqUjgn2Ec/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Irish artist Stephen Cooke, also known as Pan Cooke, is a street artist, doodler and painter.
“I’ve been making art in some form for most of my life,” Cooke said. “I started working full time as an artist around six years ago.”
Cooke said he started making Black Lives Matter comics in early June, following the death of George Floyd. His comics, which shed light on how Black people are killed in America, take four to seven hours to complete.
“Firstly, I pencil them which consists of creating rough outlines and shapes which I then go over in a dark ink and refine,” Cooke said. “The last part of the process is coloring.”
He explained the idea of wanting people to look at his art and gain awareness of the issues in the world.
“When I started doing the comics focused on victims of police brutality, my only intention was to learn these stories myself, so it’s been great to see other people get something from it,” Cooke said. “If people take away anything from my art, I’d hope it be some sort of new awareness of stories they may have been passively ignorant to in the past, like I was.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBybEXNMBix/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Break the Muzzle is an online pop up sticker store that creates a platform to promote Black artists and sell their art. All of the profits go to the Black Lives Matter organization.
After the artists send their art to Break the Muzzle, it takes 30 minutes to produce the stickers — a process done by using a laminator to print the stickers, followed by the hands-on work of cutting the stickers to size.
Adel, who runs the pop up store, also explained the store’s reason for promoting Black artists.
“It was in response to the BLM movement. I found myself thinking what other actions I could do other than signing petitions and sharing information. I wanted to donate but I had no money so I thought I could make some stickers to sell. However, in selling my designs — it sort of nullifies and creates a more competitive environment for Black artists who should be highlighted especially in the BLM movement,” Adel said. “So it only made sense to highlight their work while donating the money to BLM movements. Diversity is incredibly important in the art industry, and I’ve noticed that I’ve only ever followed a few Black artists. So they definitely needed more promotion.”
Break the Muzzle will be accepting art from Black artists until mid or late August.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA6kojmDOyZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
A self-taught artist, who wants to go by her username @leledoesdoodles, created a Black Lives Matter protest illustration that took 19 hours to finish.
@leledoesdoodles explained her inspiration for creating the piece.
“My inspiration was a combination of a build up over the years of my support for BLM and distraught over racial inequality and police brutality among the Black community. So much injustice & the treatment of their lives as if they don’t matter!” she said.
@leledoesdoodles wrote in her post, “Black Lives MATTER. What has been going on is devastating, and hurts my heart to the core. I don’t think I can muster all my feelings into words, but I can muster them into my art.”
She explained what she wants people to take away from her art.
“What I wanted people to take away from it is the plea for justice and equality for the Black community, and the many emotions behind it. Also, since I was gaining such a huge audience, I really wanted to make my stance of solidarity with the movement and my strong support of the protests.”
You can visit @leledoodle’s Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/leledoesdoodles
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBa656XDbpu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Kadir Nelson is a Los Angeles–based painter and illustrator, who is best known for featured paintings on the cover of famous magazines such as The New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated. He has even created album covers for Drake and the late Michael Jackson.
His latest work for The New Yorker was a front-page illustration, “Say Their Names.” The cover features an illustration of George Floyd. Within Floyd’s silhouette are several Black men and women, such as Michael Brown, Tony McDade and Sandra Bland, who have been killed by systemic racism and police brutality.
The illustration also includes Emmitt Till, Malcolm X and Gordon, also known as “Whipped Peter”, a runaway slave featured in “The Scourged Back” photograph. There is also a sign that says, “A Man Was Lynched Yesterday.”
Nelson’s cover of The New Yorker will be available Monday. All of his work can be found on his website.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBZ5FyOg2T7/
A local artist, who preferred to go by her Instagram name @lidyaxdereje, spent six hours making an illustration of Rayshard Brooks. She posted it on social media to spread awareness of the incident.
Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot dead by a white Atlanta police officer, Garrett Rolfe, on Friday evening. The police were called to investigate a report of a man asleep in his car, which was parked in a Wendy’s drive-thru. During a foot chase, Rolfe shot at Brooks three times, striking him twice in the back.
Rolfe was fired and the other officer involved in the shooting, Devin Brosnan, was placed on administrative duty. Erika Shields, Atlanta Chief of Police, resigned the next day.
Protesters burned down the fast-food restaurant, where the shooting took place, on Saturday.
@Lidyaxderje wrote in her post, “My heart goes out to his loved ones. I pray that he receives the justice that he deserves. I pray for true change. May he rest in power.”
She explained what she wants people to take away from her art.
“I want people to understand that Rayshard Brooks was a man that deserved to be treated as such,” she said. “What happened to him was in no way humane. They not only took away a man, but they took away a father, brother, and friend. I would go on, but I’m tired of having to explain things like this.”
@Lidyaxdereje encourages people to repost and share the illustration.
In the Facebook group “Citizens for a better Oxnard,” an Oxnard resident who wants to be known as “Ace Ace Ce” is selling two-layer Black Lives Matter masks for $10.
“I saw an opportunity to sell masks to people who want to help the cause,” he said. “I will be donating half of the money that I make to businesses that were hurt during the looting or even COVID-19.”
Interested buyers should send him a message and he will get the mask to you via mail.
http://www.instagram.com/p/CA05bsnBMWv/
Cat Willett, a Brooklyn-based illustrator, has worked with a range of clients from Savage X Fenty to Apple. She used her platform to share a beautiful illustration of Floyd she created on May 30. In her Instagram caption, she vowed to share the high-resolution edition of the illustration with anyone who asked.
In the caption, she wrote “Friend. Father. Boyfriend. Musician. Athlete. Employee. Brother. Son. Advocate. Citizen. Human. George Floyd. #sayhisname We can do better. I can do better. Please donate to @brooklynbailfund @mnfreedomfund if you can spare it.”
You can follow Willett on Instagram at @catxwillett.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBO_3HqFXrE
CSUN Printmaking Society recently showed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and will be selling pieces of art to raise money for the cause.
Fellow member Francis Robateau, a CSUN graduate student, is selling three art pieces according to the Instagram post. Robateau will donate all of the proceeds to the “Peoples City Council Freedom Fund” GoFundMe, which has raised $2,445,560 of their $3 million funding goal as of Wednesday.
According to the GoFundMe page, The Peoples City Council Freedom Fund will go toward:
- Legal support, bail, fines and court fees for arrested protesters
- Medical bills and transportation for injured protesters
- Medical supplies and personal protective equipment for community medics
- Direct monetary support to Black Lives Matter Los Angeles
- Supplies — such as megaphones, pamphlets — and support for protesters and organizers
- Direct monetary support to the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles and other groups assisting protesters with legal support
The CSUN Printmaking society was established in 2009, according to the Facebook group. The student group gives students a place to come together and share their art and ideas. Printmaking is based on the principle of transferring images from a matrix onto another surface, most often paper or fabric, according to metmuseum.org.