Undergrad_Book_16-18_Pge_View_Print_no print marks_compressed

Undergraduate Research at UMass Dartmouth
83
As a Dominican-American on campus, I see women
and men with different complexions living in complex
environments. As students of color, we sometimes
feel the barrier of living and communicating
within our institutions of education. At the same
time, African-American culture has grown a sense
of resiliency against the old racial assumptions.
And this is largely thanks to the efforts of those
protagonists who made America a better place for
all of us. During the Harlem Renaissance, many
African-American artists created works that resisted
the racial oppression of their time. These artists
wanted Black voices and Black stories to be heard,
and by doing so they vocalized their own stories to
stand up for their rights. By empowering a community
and continuing to provide a dialogue, many
musicians, artists, writers, and scholars gathered
together to make a difference.
It is important to note that during this time there
was also a demand for African-Americans to be
proud of their racial heritage. In later decades
many African-American artists continued to voice
their perspective regarding racial oppression. For
example, Betye Saar made The Liberation of Black
Jemima. By creating an image of Aunt Jemima
inside of a frame with a Caucasian child on her
hip, Saar used iconographic imagery to state and
comment on African-American women and their
labor in American history. Romare Bearden, an African-American
painter, developed a vocabulary with
sudden bursts of bright hues that helped depict
African-American men and women. His portraits
represented black commonalities and helped
address African-American living conditions. Lastly,
our contemporary, Kara Walker, uses silhouettes
and folklore to frame the living conditions and com-
Erick Maldonato’s solo show, I.D., at the 224 Gallery, UMass Darthmouth