A button with a black and white photo of Assata Shakur. She is a political activist and was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA), an organization that engaged in armed struggle with the U.S. government. In 1977, she was convicted in a cop-killing case from 1973. Escaping prison in 1979, she has lived in political asylum in Cuba ever since.
Hicks’ shimmering painting shows a young girl, clad in purple cloth, wearing emerald jewelry against a purple geometric background. Purple is often associated with royalty and the glittering elements add to the piece’s sense of luxury and decadence. Hicks graduated from Texas Southern University in 2018.
Michaux’s painting shows a nude woman draped with jewelry from her ears, neck, and arms. In her right hand, she holds a branch with leaves; a small flame extends from her left hand, above her head. After graduating from Texas Southern, Michaux went on to teach art at several universities, including HBCUs Southern University, North Carolina Central University, and South Carolina State University.
Samples’ senior notebook includes his written philosophy of art and photographs of the artist’s works. As a part of the Texas Southern art curriculum under Dr. John T. Biggers and Professor Carroll Harris Simms, students would create these notebooks to explain their artistry and showcase the works they created as students.
White square button for the Birmingham, Alabama, 1963 Foot Soldiers Reunion. There is also text on the button that says: "Inspired by what we did for ourselves-and the world." The 1963 Foot Soldiers were children marchers in Birmingham who encountered police resistance in the form of water hoses, attack dogs, and arrests.
This radiant work by Oliver Parson engulfs the viewer in the spiraling flow of a smiling woman's silky headwrap. The headwrap is a fashionable method of hair protection and expression of identity that is shared among women across the African diaspora.
A blue button with the Black Panther logo and text that says “Black Panther.” The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in Oakland, California. Rooted in Black Power and Marxist-Leninist ideologies, the Black Panther Party would soon spread with branches all over the United States.
A white button with a picture of the Black Panther Party logo. The text says "Black Panther Newspaper Committee." The Black Panther newspaper began as a 4 page newsletter in 1967 by Black Panther Party founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The paper went on to express the party’s core ideologies to a large national and international readership.
Mills' painting is a portrait of an unknown woman, dressed conservatively in a turtleneck, with short hair and a pearl earring. As a part of the art curriculum, students are required to create portraits during elementary painting. Many of Mills’ pieces share this painting’s muted and dark color palette. Some of Mills’ classmates recall him being color-blind, perhaps partly explaining these color choices.
A button with a black and white photo of Bobby Seale. The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in Oakland, California. Rooted in Black Power and Marxist-Leninist ideologies, the Black Panther Party would soon spread with branches all over the United States.
Frederick D. Jones, Jr. is a mid-twentieth-century African-American artist from South Carolina. "Concerto" is a surrealist depiction of an orchestra’s performance under a cloudy, moonlit sky. In the foreground is a violinist beside ballet shoes and a red ball. Directly behind her is a flutist and dancer. There is also a mask, rope, and yellow scarf.
Oliver’s mural contains an homage to Frederic Leighton’s Flaming June. The central figure is surrounded by vast, flowing patterns of deep red, reddish-brown, pink, and aqua, in the midst of which two figures seem to struggle against the energized space, while the female figure remains in deep sleep.
This is a brochure for Curnell’s senior art exhibition. The culmination of the Texas Southern art curriculum is a senior exhibition where students showcase artwork created over the course of their undergraduate studies. The brochure features a photo of Curnell, a brief biography, a catalog of the artwork featured in the exhibition, and photos of several of her artworks and designs.
This painting is an Afrocentric self-portrait of Earl Jones, who attended Texas Southern University in the mid-1970s. Jones painted himself wearing a detailed shirt with various patterns reminiscent of African textiles. The background includes round homes with conical roofs. The buttons of Jones' shirt are in the form of humans and the shirt bears the design of a plowed field.
Cleinmann’s mural displays multiple generations of Black women, a manifestation of Biggers’ teachings about their importance. The mural is one of the few unfinished murals in Hannah Hall. Typically, unfinished murals were painted over. The mural was recently restored by conservators.
Erma Gordon's self-portrait shows the artist from three different angles. The three profiles are tied together by a light, almost translucent fabric that is worn by the frontmost figure and held by the others. This motif is used repeatedly by the artist, including in her mural. Two boys move fluidly and playfully through the background.
A red and black button with a picture of Fannie Lou Hamer and her name in print. Ms. Hamer was a renowned leader in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. She worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to organize Freedom Summer in 1964 and was also vice-chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
A white button in support of freeing the "Queens 2." Their names, Bashir Hameed and Abdul Majid, are listed on the button. The two members of the Black Liberation Army were sentenced to 33 years in prison for the 1981 murder of a New York cop. They were considered political prisoners because of discrepancies in their cases and convictions.
Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs was an artist, historian, teacher, and writer from St. Rose, LA. "Friends" is a print depicting an interracial friendship. Two girls, one black and the other white, are sitting on a loveseat in front of a patterned curtain. This radical image of race relations was created during the height of the Jim Crow era.
Randolph’s painting shows a mother in an African dress wearing her child on her back with a chitenge. The wall is graffitied with words like pig, power, and love, and an image of a Black power fist. The work contrasts the African aesthetic of the figures with the African-American political graffiti, expressing an idea of global Blackness.
Calvin Burnett was a graphic artist, illustrator, painter, designer, and art teacher from Cambridge, MA. "Girl in Black" depicts a girl standing with a smug expression, wearing a Black garment. The dress blends into the dark background and uses the white space to define the woman's features, while white scratches add texture to the piece.
Sauls’ drawing is a portrait, completed in pastel, of a person with curly hair wrapped in a green robe. As a part of the curriculum at TSU, art students are required to create portraits. Some opt for self-portraits, while others begin to create images of those including family, friends, and peers. A variety of portraits created with different mediums can be found in the permanent collection.
A button with a black and white photo of H. Rap Brown (Jamil Al-Amin). After organizing in Mississippi during Freedom Summer in 1964, H. Rap Brown became chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1967. He continued SNCC’s adoption of Black Power ideologies which began under his predecessor Stokely Carmichael.
Renfro’s painting displays an image of a working man dressed in overalls from behind. The man is wheeling bricks towards a construction site. His bones and muscles are made visible in the composition, perhaps to highlight the physical demands of his labor. Dr. Biggers taught his students to portray the human form with care and detail, particularly oft-neglected features like hands and feet.
A button with a black and white photo of Huey Newton holding a shotgun. Huey Newton, alongside Bobby Seale, founded the Black Party for Self Defense in Oakland, California, in 1966. The Black Panther Party held an ideology of armed self-defense against the oppressive and racist forces of the United States government and police.
A black and green button for Jericho '98: Amnesty and freedom for all political prisoners. At the top of the button is a quote from Ho Chi Minh: "When the prison doors open the real dragon will fly out." Jericho 98 was a protest held in Washington, D.C. on March 27, 1998. The 5,000-7,000 attendees called for the release of all political prisoners.
A button with a black and white photo of John Carlos and Tommie Smith giving the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico after winning bronze and gold medals, respectively, in the 200 meter running event. The salute is considered one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympic Games.
This photograph by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. shows John Biggers being inducted into the Order of Kilimanjaro, an award given to him by the African Union at an event in Houston. Africa and African roots were essential parts of Biggers' art and teachings. He is often credited as one of the first African American artists to visit Africa and begin to incorporate African art and traditions into his art.
