This series continues the original Oppression Fighters series, with bell hooks, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, and Lorraine Hansberry joining the growing list of activists portrayed in this one-layer stencil-style portrait by The Artist Oliver James. 

​

        In today's world where books about BIPOC and LGBTQ communities and authors are being removed from schools, it's as important as ever to celebrate Black Female Authors. From Zora Neale Hurston, pioneer of African American ethnography to Lorraine Hansberry, the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Or bell hooks, theorist and social critic that wrote on race, feminism, and class, to Toni Morrison, author, and editor bringing black literature into the mainstream. All four women were activists in their own rights and greatly shaped African American culture and civil rights. 

​

        These paintings were a part of the Dupont Underground for The Cost of Living: An Observation of the Resistance, Resilience, and Joy of the Black Woman Group Exhibit and Her Voice, Her Vision: Women’s History Month Exhibit 2023 at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, MD.

​

        Thank you to Nikki Brooks, Dupont Underground, and everyone at the Chesapeake Art Center.

​

         Using acrylic spray paint on 4'x3' plywood, this series of black, single-layer portraits are patined on a beige background with words of encouragement to bring depth and dimension to the images in a similar way that the subjects themselves brought depth and dimension to life and black female empowerment. 

​

Design: The Artist Oliver James

Photography/Videography: Oliver James