Brooklyn Museum Assignment- Part 2: Choose a work from Soul of a Nation that spoke to you. Why did you choose this? How does it relate to the rest of the exhibition? Use formal analysis to talk about the work and why you chose it.

In the Soul of a Nation Exhibit, the piece that most spoke to me was Freedom Now by Reginald Gammond. The painting is average sized and like most pieces in the exhibit, it was in shades of black and white, but what interested me the most is that it captured a very important moment in African- American history: The civil rights movement, which was at its peak when the Reginald decided to create his piece, 1963. The painting was completed in black and white which I believe is trying to convey the message of how civil rights is a black and white issue in that you are either for civil rights or you’re against it. In the painting, there is an illusion of a large group that is part of a larger protest and they all seem to direct their eyes are directed toward the viewer. The eye to eye contact between the viewer and the individuals in the painting allows for the artist to send a message that everybody is required to chose a side, either go out in the streets and protest the injustices against the African-American community or stay at home and allow for the injustice to go on. The piece also shows cut-off signs but makes sure to show the faces clearly which I believe Gammond did so intentionally to humanize the movement to an audience that probably was never sympathetic to the movement. Despite seeming like just a black and white painting capturing a moment during a protest, upon further analyzing it becomes clear that Gammond created a piece that empowers the viewer to support the civil rights movement and understand that a movement is not just a message but the people behind it willing to do anything to make sure that injustice is no more.