INDIVISIBLE
Confronting Enduring Legacies of Division in American History
RACIAL LITERACY AND JUSTICE
Contributors: Chris, Michelle, Riya, Otto, and Noor
This exhibit is important not only in light of recent events, but more importantly is dedicated to education on the centuries of systemic racism and racial oppression that is still so eminent in our society today. Throughout this exhibit, there will be information about the role of race historically, but how current beliefs are still heavily rooted in our history. Resources will also be linked in the exhibits for further education and ways you can contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Gregory Ragland, red paint added by protestors, June 2020
Riya, oil pastels, 2020
Riya, digital, 2020
Noor, digital, 2020
Noor, digital, 2020
Noor, digital, 2020
POLICE BRUTALITY- CHRIS
This website focuses on the relationship between police brutality and certain racial minorities historically and currently. There are also resources linked on ways you can further educate yourself on racial justice topics and contribute to those movements.
Author’s Statement:
Police action in the United States has been a source of controversy from the very beginning, disproportionately affecting minorities and immigrants. This exhibit documents various time periods and notable changes within the institution, as well as issues that surround it. Furthermore, the website shows racial issues as well as possible solutions to the current problems.
Everybody can help solve this problem, and there are many different ways to contribute, including attending protests, signing petitions, and writing to policy-makers. We have to ask ourselves: how can we make a change? What steps can we take to make sure police don’t use excessive force? And finally, what is justice?
RACISM INFOGRAPHIC- MICHELLE
This exhibit is an infographic presentation about racism in history and in society today. At the end there will be ways to help out such as numbers to text and organizations to donate to.
Author’s statement:
African Americans have had a long history including slavery, the Civil War, the Jim Crow South, and more. They had to fight for their rights through movements and stand up for themselves when discriminated against. About 100 years later, their efforts had not been forgotten; however, racism is undoubtedly still prevalent today. With the racial wealth gap and the recent police brutality in mind, the community is fighting back through protests, riots, and social media platforms. United, we can make a change and allow racism to dissolve, meaning no more stereotyping, discrimination, violence, fear, and division.
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This infographic presentation explains the history of racism, how it is still prevalent today, and most importantly, ways for us viewers to take action. To learn more about the current black lives matter hashtag, click here. While exploring this exhibit, reflect and ask yourself questions. How can I respond to acts of racism in a school or work environment? What are some ways to take action and fight to dissolve racism?
THE BLACK EXPERIENCE WITH THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM- NOOR
This exhibit is about black experience with the criminal justice system and the 13th amendment as told through artwork. The website has three artworks depicting different sides of the black experience with the criminal justice system, slavery, prison labor and the 13th amendment.
Author’s Statement:Â
Systematic racism has been a problem in this nation since its creation and the choices we have made along the way have not made the problem better, only changed the way it manifests in our society. It is important to acknowledge this in order to truly fix the problem at hand.
BLACK LIVES MATTER - RIYA
#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013,  after the wrongful charge of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada. Its mission is to stop all white supremacy and build enough power to help out black communities with crime and vigilantes. By protesting and creating the movement, it created a space for Black imagination and innovation.
Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted. BLM members see and understand significant gaps in movement spaces and leadership. Black liberation movements in this country have created room, area, and guidance mostly for Black people to move the work forward with little or no recognition. Â
The power that #BlackLivesMatter held propelled the conversation around the state-sanctioned violence they experienced.
In 2014, Mike Brown was murdered by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.  In support of the brave and courageous community of Ferguson and St. Louis as law enforcement, criticized by media were brutalizing them, they were tear-gassed, and pepper-sprayed every night. Ferguson was not an aberration, but a clear point of reference for what was happening to Black communities everywhere. The movement developed, and Black Lives Matter news spread everywhere about the #BlackLivesMatter project and the work done in Ferguson to combat systemic racism that has persisted in our nation for over four hundered years.
It became clear that we needed to continue organizing and building Black power across the country. The Black Lives Matter Global Network would not be recognized worldwide if it weren’t for the protests in St. Louis and Ferguson, who put their bodies on the line day and continue to show up for Black lives.
GEORGE FLOYD
Riya, digital, 2020
SLAVERY TO FREEDOM
Riya, Digital, 2020