The South Got Somethin’ to Say: A Look Into Southern Black American Art

By: Connor Joseph

Long before we took our talents through the great migration, to places like Harlem and Chicago and during the times of Jim Crow when we used our creativity as silent weapons of war. Southern Black Americans have used art as a power of resistance in opposition to oppression. This art has stretched across mediums and around the world. At times being the only voice palpable for white masses, southern Black American art has become the symbol of bravery, freedom, and strength to a community that built a country force upon them. This strength, one might say laid the foundation for Black American art as we know it today. So, does the South have something to say? Moreover, what is the message?

         To better understand, you must first note that the South has always been saying something. For centuries Southern Black Americans have been the cries for freedom. Echoing the same sentiments shared from chattel slavery, southern black art, in whatever medium it subscribes to looks to evoke spirituality that is beyond the "isms" of the world. Given the significant role the American South plays in the consciousness of black minds, it is hard to capture the beauty and history that our ancestors worked to provide despite their harsh reality. This is the role that Southern black art plays, it helps to give context and a freed voice to a population that is at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Emma Amos (1937-2020), Art Heaven 2006

  While chattel slavery ravished across the South, the enslaved were afforded little to no ways of expressing their creativity. Many times, to serve this desire, women would make elaborate quilts and other forms of textiles such as clothing in order to express their artistic liberties. Slavery distorted how black art was perceived and created. During the antebellum period, black artists such as Joshua Johnson and Augustus Washington grew to prominence across the South but many times their work would only showcase wealthy white families while also holding European influence. After the war and due to the failure of reconstruction, many Black Americans moved North. This movement coined the Great Migration ushered in the Black Art Movement or what some might call the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance produced some of the greatest in Black American art but what many don’t realize is that most of these artists received their education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities located all across the South. This further cemented the footprint of the Southern Black American Experience in the Black Arts movement.

Terrence Osbourne (1976- ), Zulu Morning     

     By the time of the Civil Rights movement, Southern Black Art became symbols of resistance and community. Tackling complex issues of violence, racism, and other disparities that affected those that looked like them at an imperative time of change in American history. For the first time, Southern Black American artists were able to express themselves without the approval of European standards and created astonishing innovations in blackness.

Looking forward to now, modern-day Southern black artists seem to tread on the familial trend of community. Artists like Terrence Osborne, Lynthia Edwards, and Thornton Dial are a few among the Southern artists that have found distinctive ways to integrate the uniqueness of the communities in which they live into their art. Binding their ancestral past, these striking takes on the Southern Black American experience takes on a new voice, that has never quite been heard by the masses, the voice of authenticity.

Lynthia Edward (1978- ), Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

So, what does the South have to say? Well, a lot actually . The Black American South has the honor of being the foundation for how are perceived in America, not only through the art movement but in every facet. As a black woman, born and raised in the South, I believe that our art is quintessential to the Black American experience. In fact, I thought this was true on a national basis, but when researching I found that there was little to no information on such. Seeing this as an injustice, I hope this blog serves as evidence that this spotlight must remain on Southern Black American Art, not just because they have something to say, but because their message is important.

Sources

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