Liberation of Aunt Jemima

Ironically enough, months after I had named my Div II " The (Sexual) Liberation of Mammy, Pt 1", I found out about artist Betye Saar. Saar was an artist whose work helped influence the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s. In 1972, she created a piece that she entitled, "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima". Her goals were similar to mine, and I have gained an immense amount of inspiration from her "liberation" pieces.



Note how she puts a gun in mammy's hand, along with the broom. There is also a black fist in the framed picture. The broom and gun in Mammy's hand are an homage to the famous picture of Huey Newton, one of the leaders of the Black Panthers Party:




Saar has done many other powerful pieces that play on black memorabilia and black liberation. This piece is entitled Sambo:



There is also a gun in the top part of the banjo case. But there are also little hanging men. It seems to be simultaneously talking about the lynching of black men and the dancing minstrel, who seems almost like a puppet here. The watermelon slice, of course, is representative of black stereotypes.