CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 2/19/2018

Symbols that call us into being: 'Beyond Mammy, Jezebel & Sapphire'

“What do I know about Black women’s bodies,” Takiyah Nur Amin writes in Beyond Mammy, Jezebel & Sapphire: Reclaiming Images of Black Women. “I know that our mere presence is often perceived as a disruption to white joy, white pleasure—saying no words and rendered mute on a canvas makes no difference. What I know is that when Black women’s bodies are presented artistically beyond and outside stereotypical depictions, many of us try hard to squeeze those images back into a narrow and archaic frame. I know that looking at stylizations of Black women’s bodies here—in the fullness of their diversity—makes me feel, at least temporarily, a little more real, a little more understood, a little more actualized. Images have power…symbols call us into being.” Featured image is "I've Been a Witness to this Game IX" (2016) by Mildred Howard.