https://www.artimpactinternational.org/against-all-odds
“Against All Odds!” International Art Exhibition runs from February 3 – April 30, 2024. Art for Black History Month and beyond. This video inspires people of all cultures to support the arts. We celebrate the determined spirits who rose above hatred and discrimination to pave the way for future generations. This is an opportunity for us all to honor strength within Black people who against all odds found a way to enhance humanity.
“Against All Odds!” has the purpose of educating and inspiring people. It celebrates Black invention, creativity, and the rich wellspring of African American culture. It honors the determined spirits who rose above hatred and discrimination to pave the way for future generations.
Throughout history, African Americans (and all the diaspora*) have faced immense adversity and obstacles due to racism, discrimination, and oppressive systems designed to limit their potential. Despite this, Black people have made remarkable achievements and contributions in every field – from science and technology, to arts and culture, to business, politics and more.
“I grew up during the 1950’s in segregated Maryland, with segregated housing and schools. My life as an adult has been trying to challenge that social order. My art is concerned with the hard right, who are trying to revive that social order, where exclusion and hierarchy dominated.
I usually begin a painting thinking about historical events that deeply affect me, and create images with the intention of viewers to think deeply about the event. I believe the visual arts provides a way to slow down and deeply reflect, in contrast to those who manipulate emotions, so common today in social media.
“The painting “Maroons of Jamaica” celebrated the courage, ingenuity, and tenacity of those who refused to be enslaved, who fought successfully for their freedom, and who created a viable social world that exists to this day.
“The painting “We Can’t Breathe” is one of a series concerning the death of George Floyd. It is also about the young woman who became a citizen journalist, who had the courage to take out her phone and record the horror for the world to see.
“The painting “The Tennessee Three” is about Rep. Justin Jones, Rep. Justin Pearson, and Rep. Gloria Johnson, who supported protests for gun reform in the wake of a school shooting in Nashville that left three children and three adults dead. They called on their fellow legislators to ban assault weapons and received instead expulsion from the legislature. (Gloria was spared expulsion by a single vote.) Their constituents rallied behind them and reinstated them. They are represented in my painting as dancing in ecstasy, or are they depicted as chalk marks in a crime scene?
These three painting represent my recent work, which is concerned with countering a narrative in this country which is becoming more and more fascist. The protagonists in the three events depicted here stayed principled, and challenged the authorities challenging them. They are revealing strategies for collective action to address wrongs. They are revealing ways to confront the authoritarianism that is turning our society upside down.
“I am certainly not suggesting that these historical examples encourage war, but rather they and many others suggest silence is complicity, and we need thoughtful dialogue and action to save democracy. We need to learn to fight back and build forward, not destroy.” – Patricia A. Smith
Against All Odds! Exhibiting Artists:
Clement Bryant,
E.L. Whitley,
Edgar “Ed” Redmond,
Hubert Jackson,
Hubert “Hubie” Scemama,
Indra Persad Milowe,
Janie McGee,
Jerome Smith,
John Mark Rainey,
John R. Anderson,
Katherine E. Roundtree,
Leon J. Sheffey,
Lorraine Harris,
Maria Ortiz-Haynes,
Nikco X,
O Yemi Tubi (MOYAT),
Ntsiki Mputamputa,
Patricia A. Smith,
Prelli Anthony Williams,
Ronald Godley,
Shantelle LaTice Fuller,
Stephen Perrone,
Steven Paul Lester,
Timothy Myers,
Wendy Kraft,
Wm (Bill) Jones
Xavier Thomas
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