They empowered the Black community through the depiction of African-Americans in powerful poses like the Black Power Fist, some which symbolized peaceful protest.
Wadsworth Jarrell’s painting “Revolutionary” includes a depiction of an African-American woman in her natural hair, something that is and was treated as an “unnatural” and socially UNACCEPTABLE. The woman is depicted holding a microphone of sorts, so it can be assumed that what is written all around her is what she is saying into the microphone, all messages of Black Power. In such a depiction she empowers and encourages her community.
Wadsworth Jarrell’s painting “Revolutionary” includes a depiction of an African-American woman in her natural hair, something that is and was treated as an “unnatural” and socially UNACCEPTABLE. The woman is depicted holding a microphone of sorts, so it can be assumed that what is written all around her is what she is saying into the microphone, all messages of Black Power. In such a depiction she empowers and encourages her community.
In Barbara Jones-Hogu’s painting “Unite” the overall color scheme of the foreground is dark, especially in comparison to the the brightly colored words in the background of "UNITE". This is especially powerful due to the foreground consisting of African-Americans, who seem to be in the common Black Panther dress, holding up the black power fist, used in forms of silent protest against racism within countries. She uses the contrast of colors to draw attention to the power fists due to their shadow appearance over the words.
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AfriCOBRA quickly developed an efficient manner to unify was through positive and empowering images.
Carolyn Lawrence wrote “Black children keep your spirits free” multiple times. She repeats the phrase “free” throughout the entire painting, in any blank spaces to emphasize the necessity of the movement itself. The use of the movement is to uplift and unite the African-Americans, and have an artistic rebellion against the White power in society.
AfriCOBRA related to the Civil Rights Movement, so they were able to help people gain the power, the voice, or the inspiration to fight against oppressing powers.
Barbara Jones-Hogu’s painting “Be Your Brothers Keeper”, it says “Resist 1968 Law and Order in a sick society”, which refers to the Nixon policies and appointments based around racial segregation. Although he did more desegregation than most presidents, he still appointed and allowed people that believed in separation of the races in all stances. He appointed justices that helped vote for Supreme Court effectively held that school systems could be separate and unequal“ throughout the states, which is the exigence for this whole piece, standing up against the power and fighting for rights.
Use of powerful images or ideas of African-Americans, many were positively impacted and they were able to create one unified group of people against a cause that they believed in.
AfriCOBRA connected African Americans with African cultures thus recreating the image of the traditional African American and instead replacing it with one that has a global relationship with other ‘black’ cultures. As do musicians who recreate African American history through jazz and music. AfriCOBRA in the present and its connections in various art form through Chicago illustrate the impact the movement has had.
AfriCOBRA was able to create a unified community through showing the importance of spreading love and support through families.
In Barbara Jones-Hogu’s painting “To Be Free” the theme of family is the strongest as they are the main subjects. The ‘light’ or bright colors represent the path of time and connects to an African past and culture. As family is a theme that connects to community unification and power it is important to analyse pieces such as this one in order to understand the role of it and especially the role of women in the community.
Through the use of bright colors and radical ideas of Black beauty and support within black families, the African-Americans in Chicago were able to be unified in one central idea of empowerment. They were able to protest the treatment that they had endured as well as being able to show support for one another through art. The positive movement of AfriCOBRA gave them the ability to inspire other Black creators as well as African-Americans in Chicago of their abilities and their power.