“Iconic Black Women”, by Seattle artist Hiawatha D
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As part of an ongoing journey to learn more about Seattle’s black community and their ongoing story, I visited the city’s Northwest African American Museum (NAAMNW) in March 2020. The museum’s permanent collection casts a spotlight on black migration within the United States, and the contributions by blacks to the nation and to the American Pacific Northwest. Also timely was the simultaneous visit of the NHL’s Black Hockey History mobile museum as part of their 14-city tour throughout North America.
I was especially moved by the museum’s special exhibition “Iconic Black Women: Ain’t I A Woman“, by Hiawatha D, an artist based in Seattle. His work and paintings highlight his story as a black man and black artist in America. His series of paintings “Iconic Black Women” shines a positive light on black women throughout past and contemporary American history: the important places they’ve occupied, and the important contributions they’ve made to human rights, music, literature, and sport. On sight of the paintings, the context, clothing, and body language may be immediately familiar. But many of the people painted don’t have faces, which allows viewers, especially young women, to see themselves in these figures, sparking and strengthening a connection between viewer and iconic black women.
I would love to see another name added to this list of iconic black women: Viola Desmond.
Iconic Black Women
“Iconic Black Women: Ain’t I A Woman”, by Hiawatha D.: on exhibition at Seattle’s Northwest African American Museum.
Artist Hiawatha D.
“Soujourner”. Soujourner Truth: Abolitionist, women’s rights activist. Born 1797, died 26 Nov 1883.
“Harriet”. Harriet Tubman: Abolitionist, political activist. Born 1825, died 10 Mar 1913.
“Rosa”. Rosa Louisa Parks: seamstress, civil rights activist, “mother of the U.S. civil rights movement”. Born 4 Feb 1913, died 24 Oct 2005.
“Shirley”. Shirley Anita Chisholm: politician, educator, author, activist. Born 30 Nov 1924, died 1 Jan 2005.
“Toni”. Toni Morrison: novelist, essayist, editor, teacher, professor; 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. Born 18 Feb 1931, died 5 Aug 2019.
“Wilma”. Wilma Rudolph: international track and field icon, Olympic champion; first American woman to win 3 track-and-field gold medals at a single Olympics. Born 23 Jun 1940, died 12 Nov 1994.
“Nina”. Eunice Kathleen Waymon, a.k.a. Nina Simone: singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, civil rights activist. Born 21 Feb 1933, died 21 Apr 2003.
“Betty & Coretta”. Coretta Scott King: author, activist, civil rights leader, beloved wife to Martin Luther King Jr. Born 27 Apr 1927, died 30 Jan 2006. Betty Shabazz X: educator, civil rights advocate, beloved wife to Malcolm X. Born 28 May 1934, died 23 Jun 1997.
“Maya”. Maya Angelou: poet, singer, memoirist, author, civil rights activist. Born 4 Apr 1928, died 28 May 2014.
“10:22 AM”. At this time on 15 Sept 1963, a bomb planted by white racists exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Killed were four black girls: Cynthia Dionne Wesley, age 14, who dreamed of becoming a university math professor; Carole Rosamond Robertson, 14, who looked forward to the dress she would wear at an upcoming formal dance; Denise McNair, 11, who dreamed of becoming a medical doctor; and Addie Mae Collins, 14, who dreamed of playing professional baseball. Also called “The Four Little Girls”, in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
“10:22 AM”. As part of the memorial piece, the accompanying (church) pew encourages visitors to sit and reflect. How can young black girls with their entire lives ahead of them be killed? How can the lives of black women be remembered and honoured?
“Tarana”. Tarana Burke: civil rights activist, founder of MeToo MVMT. Born 12 Sep 1973.
“Lupita”. Lupita Amondi Nyong’o: Academy Award winning actress, fashion icon. Born 1 Mar 1983.
“Serena”. Serena Jameka Williams: world-class athlete, businesswoman, philanthropist; 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion. Born 26 Sep 1981.
“Beyoncé.” Beyoncé Knowles Carter: singer, songwriter, actress. Born 4 Sept 1981.
“Michelle & the Girls.” Michelle LaVaughn Obama: lawyer, university administrator, author. 1st African-American First Lady, wife of United States’ 44th President Barack Obama, 2009-2017. Born 17 Jan 1964.
“Simone”. Simone Arianne Biles: gold-winning artistic gymnast; 5 Olympic medals: 4 gold, 1 bronze; NY Times best-seller author. Born 14 Mar 1997.
“Oprah”. Oprah Gail Winfrey: media mogul executive, actress, talk-show host, television producer, philanthropist. Born 29 Jan 1954.
“Angela”. Angela Yvonne Davis: political activist, scholar, author, professor emerita at University of California Santa Cruz. 1960s counterculture activist, Communist Party USA. Worked with the Black Panther Party during the Civil Rights Movement. Born 26 Jan 1944.
“Whoopi”. Whoopi Goldberg: actor, comedian, author, television personality. Born 13 Nov 1955.
“Maxine”. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (California): politician; advocate for women, children, people of colour, and the poor. Born 15 Aug 1938.
“Cicely”. Cicely Tyson: fashion model, civil rights activist, Academy Award winning actress. Born 19 Dec 1924.
“She Black”.
“Dear Sista”. The past, the present, and the future.
“Dear Sista: Love, Light and Liberation Letters from My Sisters”, book by Veronica Very Davis, and featuring the art of Iconic Black Women by Hiawatha D (Instagram).
Hiawatha D
Artist website – Instagram – Twitter.
The following YouTube video is by Veronica Very Davis:
I made all images above on 7 Mar 2020 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime. Thanks to LaNesha DeBardelaben from the Northwest African American Museum for their support. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-hUF.
I would love to see added to this list of iconic black women the Canadian Viola Desmond, who was a successful black businesswoman in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1946, Viola Desmond was jailed, convicted, and fined for refusing to leave a whites-only area of a movie theatre. She fought unsuccessfully to have the conviction overturned. In 2010, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Mayann Francis (1st black person to serve in that post), posthumously pardoned Viola Desmond, removing her conviction from the historical record. In honour of her struggle, the Canadian Mint put Viola Desmond onto the face of Canada’s 10-dollar bill since 2018; she is the first black person and first Canadian woman to appear on Canadian currency in active circulation.
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