Three popular magazines have decided to starkly portray the connection between the US President and his white nationalist supporters. Maybe the tide is turning for the White (Supremacy) House?
- Artist Kara Walker just wants to make art, not provide answers:
According to Ms. Walker’s assistant, Allison Calhoun, reached by phone on Wednesday, for months the gallery had been asking for a few words from Ms. Walker, to use as the raw material for a standard news release on her show. But Ms. Walker had been far too busy making work to think about writing. (She was still finishing paintings this week, and wasn’t taking any calls.) Last weekend, however, confronted with the spectacle of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and of President Trump’s first reaction to it, Ms. Walker sat down and her statement poured out. The gallery’s staff had it by Sunday evening; despite its unorthodox content, they released it almost unchanged, said Scott Briscoe, a gallery associate.
Ms. Walker’s words acknowledge that her right and capacity “to live in this Godforsaken country as a (proudly) raced and (urgently) gendered person is under threat by random groups of white (male) supremacist goons.” They also express frustration at the idea that she, a mere artist, might have answers for the urgent questions facing us at this moment in history.
- A timeline of Confederate monuments demonstrates that most were made during the time of Jim Crow:
Timeline of confederate monuments by @splcenter pic.twitter.com/AeT5WQsdvF
— Jen Manion (@activisthistory) August 15, 2017
- No one is pulling any punches anymore:
- Great thread on how South Koreans decided to dismantle a major symbol of Japanese colonialism:
This was the Japanese General Government in Seoul. It was a beautifl neoclassical architecture designed by Georg De Lalande, a German. pic.twitter.com/M09K7yVCY3
— Tony Choi (@tonykchoi) May 19, 2017
- A fantastic explainer about the role of race in the Native American community, and how they are the only community in this country whose blood quantum is recorded by the government:
It was also inspiring to observe that despite these internalized feelings of oppression, people found their own sense of belonging and ways of being part of their Native nation or community, while at the same time maintaining a sense of individuality. Before filming these interviews, our co-director, Brian Young, had been struggling with his own sense of “nativeness.” (He is a member of the Diné, or Navajo, nation.) By hearing how others negotiated those feelings, he could better understand and explore his own way of expressing his Native identity while living in New York City.
Through our upbringing and education, we have learned much about Stonewall Jackson. We have learned about his reluctance to fight and his teaching of Sunday School to enslaved peoples in Lexington, Virginia, a potentially criminal activity at the time. We have learned how thoughtful and loving he was toward his family. But we cannot ignore his decision to own slaves, his decision to go to war for the Confederacy, and, ultimately, the fact that he was a white man fighting on the side of white supremacy.
While we are not ashamed of our great-great-grandfather, we are ashamed to benefit from white supremacy while our black family and friends suffer. We are ashamed of the monument.
In fact, instead of lauding Jackson’s violence, we choose to celebrate Stonewall’s sister—our great-great-grandaunt—Laura Jackson Arnold. As an adult Laura became a staunch Unionist and abolitionist. Though she and Stonewall were incredibly close through childhood, she never spoke to Stonewall after his decision to support the Confederacy. We choose to stand on the right side of history with Laura Jackson Arnold.
- And a small break as we look at a map of embroidery techniques across Pakistan. Gorgeous:
- It’s time to brush up on some of the lesser-known symbols of white supremacy and white nationalism so you’ll know them if you encounter them:
[CN: white nationalist symbols]
Lots of us don’t know fascistic symbols beyond swastikas: it’s a really good idea to get acquainted to some. pic.twitter.com/qNWXiwVxeS— Zoé (@ztsamudzi) November 11, 2016
- This is the amazing story of a rare mid-19th century Navajo Ute first phase blanket discovered on Antiques Roadshow last month (sadly, I can’t keep thinking of how this blanket got into this man’s family and what happened to the original owner):
- Now, this is art and should be in the next Whitney Biennial:
Whoever placed a “participant” banner on the Arizona Confederate memorial, let me buy you a beer pic.twitter.com/mbUpUmSIiz
— Uncle Dommy (@UncleDommy) August 17, 2017
Required Reading is published every Sunday morning ET, and is comprised of a short list of art-related links to long-form articles, videos, blog posts, or photo essays worth a second look.
