To Be Black In The USA - An History Of Discrimination

Since more than 2 years, the debate on discrimination against black people in the USA is omnipresent in the medias, due to brutality and excesses by the police. It’s like the past some tried to forget is shouting : racism and discrimination are still very alive in the USA. This topic not only has been debated and denounced by medias and political activists, but also by artists. Tarantino’s Django was a revenge of the history against racist bigots. We can also mention the great TV show « Roots » based on the classic Alex Hailey’s novel that narrate the life of Kunta Kinte (an African enslaved by white people and brought to the USA) and its offsprings, or the Oscar-awarded « 12 Years A Slave ». In music also the last years have seen many artists denouncing discrimation and police brutality, the most famous being Kendrick Lamar and it’s already classic album « How to Pimp A Butterfly ».

...and this new video of Mick Jenkins called „Drowning“ (you can find it easily on youtube) that inspired me this article. The video, deeply inspired by « Roots’ » esthetic, starts with those words : « I can’t breathe ». Then we see 2 white man with devilish smiles maintaining a black man on the floor. The reference is clear : it’s about the death of Eric Garner, killed by policemen in 2014. Just after this tragic event, I dedicated a painting to Garner. That’s was my modest way of denouncing discrimination against black people in the USA, and discrimination in general, whatever the target is. I wrote 2 sentences on this painting : „I Can’t Breathe“ and „Strange Fruit“. « Strange Fruit » was a poem against racism written in 1937 by Abel Meerepol, made famous when Billie Holiday and then Nina Simone sang it later. Putting the name of this song/poem and Garner’s last sentence on my painting, I meant : discrimination is unfortunately still alive nowadays and we must denounce it. No matter the context.