Includes bibliographical references (pages 345-349) and index.
Contents:
The Wall / Roger Bonair-Asgard. Reverberations. Painters, poets, and performance : looking at the Wall of Respect / Rebecca Zorach -- Poetry. The Wall / Gwendolyn Brooks ; The Wall / Don L. Lee (Haki Madhubuti) ; Black culture / Useni Eugene Perkins ; Black art spirits / Alicia L. Johnson -- II. Heroes and heroines. The heroes and heroines of the Wall of Respect / Abdul Alkalimat, with contributions by Rebecca Zorach -- III. The wall in history and cultural politics. Black Chicago : the context for the Wall of respect / Abdul Alkalimat ; Black liberation : OBAC and the makers of the Wall of Respect / Abdul Alkalimat -- OBAC documents. Invitation letter and statement of purposes / The Committee for the Arts (Gerald A. McWorter, Hoyt W. Fuller, Conrad Rivers) ; Black people and their art / Gerald A. McWorter ; Festival of the Arts / OBAC ; OBAC position paper : some ideological considerations / Gerald A. McWorter ; Inaugural program / OBAC ; Visual Arts Workshop report / OBAC (prepared by Myrna Weaver and Jeff Donaldson) ; OBAC : Organization of Black American Culture ("all-purpose handout") / Gerald A. McWorter ; An invitation to OBAC dialogues : rappin' Black / Joseph Simpson ; By-laws of the Organization of Black American Culture / Hoyt W. Fuller and Gerald A. McWorter ; Who is on the wall and why / Gerald A. McWorter ; What is a Black hero? / OBAC ; Officer transition (memorandum) / OBAC ; OBAC progress meeting (letter) / Hoyt W. Fuller and Joseph Simpson -- Black Arts Movement articles. Culture consciousness in Chicago / Hoyt W. Fuller ; The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians / Muhal Richard Abrams and John Shenoy Jackson ; OBAC : a year later / Hoyt W. Fuller ; Toward a Black aesthetic / Hoyt W. Fuller -- IV. The impact of photography. Black photographers who take Black pictures / Romi Crawford ; Camera works and the Wall of Respect / Romi Crawford -- V. Reverberations. Conflict and change on the Wall / Rebecca Zorach -- Reverberations. Wall paintings on 43d St. show Black man's triumph / Sam Washington, The Defender, August 28, 1967 ; Crowds gather as 'Wall' is formally dedicated / Dave Potter, The Defender, October 2, 1967 ; Wall of Respect : artists paint images of Black dignity in heart of city ghetto / Ebony, December 1967 ; The rise, fall, and legacy of the Wall of Respect movement / Jeff Donaldson, The International review of African American art, 1991 ; Interview with William Walker (excerpt) / Victor Sorell, June 1991 ; William Walker discusses the Wall : Chicago mural group conversation, 1971 ; Interview with Eugene "Eda" Wade (excerpt) / Rebecca Zorach and Marissa Baker, 2015 ; The Wall of Respect : how Chicago artists gave birth to the ethnic mural / Norman Parish III, Chicago tribune, August 23, 1992 ; Wall of Respect symposium (excerpt) / opening address by Romi Crawford and Roundtable discussion, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, April 2015 ; The Wall / Roger Bonair-Asgard.
Summary:
The Wall of Respect: Public Art and Black Liberation in 1960s Chicago' is the first in-depth, illustrated history of a lost Chicago monument. The Wall of Respect was a revolutionary mural created by fourteen members of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) on the South Side of Chicago in 1967. This book gathers historic essays, poetry, and previously unpublished primary documents from the movement's founders that provide a visual guide to the work's creation and evolution. Painters and photographers worked side by side on the mural's seven themed sections, which featured portraits of Black heroes and sheroes. The Wall became a platform for music, poetry, and political rallies. Over time it changed, reflecting painful controversies among the artists as well as broader shifts in the Civil Rights and Black Liberation Movements. At the intersection of African American culture, politics, and Chicago art history, The Wall of Respect offers, in one keepsake-quality work, an unsurpassed collection of images and essays that illuminate a powerful monument that continues to fascinate artists, scholars, and readers in Chicago and across the United States.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.