Reviewed by Rethinking Schools
Review Source: Rethinking Schools
Book Author: Robert Shetterly
In his preface to Portraits of Racial Justice, Robert Shetterly describes his new volume as “an art book, a history book, a curriculum, a manifesto. It is a community of people unafraid to name the failures of this country and the injustices of power that benefit from those failures. These truth-tellers define the way forward.”
Shetterly’s magnificent portraits, along with his compelling biographical sketches, invite young people to join the current of conscience that flows through U.S. history. How can one not feel hope when surrounded by these defiant truth-tellers — painted by Shetterly with love and respect. Ella Baker, Muhammad Ali, Rosa Parks, Ai-Jen Poo, Fannie Lou Hamer, Frederick Douglass, The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, John Brown, Ida B. Wells, Bob Moses (whose portrait by Shetterly appears in this issue on p. 8), and so many more.
These are our moral ancestors. Shetterly calls his portraits “songs of justice.” This book is a gift to educators; it belongs in every classroom in the United States.
Portraits of Racial Justice by Robert Shetterly
Published by New Village Press on September 21, 2021
Genres: Activism
Pages: 128
Reading Level: High School
ISBN: 9781613321638
Review Source: Rethinking Schools
Publisher's Synopsis: A vivid portrait collection of past and present Americans speaking truth to power.
The first volume of Robert Shetterly's Americans Who Tell the Truth portrait series, Portraits of Racial Justice takes a multimedia, interdisciplinary approach, blending art and history with today’s issues concerning social, environmental, and economic fairness. Shetterly's paintings, as well as profiles of those portrayed, illuminate a community of people not only willing to recognize the shortcomings of America’s history, but most importantly, individuals who offer their visions of a better world moving forward.
Starting with Michelle Alexander and ending with Dave Zirin, the diverse array of fifty full-color portraits spans multiple generations and struggles. This volume also includes four original opening essays on racial justice in the United States by Ai-jen Poo, Dave Zirin, Sherri Mitchell, and Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., which provide an intersectional response to the long-term goal of diversity and inclusion.
As Shetterly says, “Without activism, hope is merely sentimental.” Portraits of Racial Justice, Shetterly’s homage to transformative game-changers and status-quo fighters, provides the inspiration necessary to spark social change.
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