Frederick Douglas And Aaron Douglas's Aspects Of Negro Life

There seems to be nothing more unnerving than carrying feelings of undesirability, isolation, struggle, and desolation. As early as the 1600’s African Americans have had to fight for their voices to be heard, for the definition of equality to be understood, and for the barrier between the oppressed and the oppressor to be shattered once and for all. Despite the plethora of adversities that African American people had to face during previous years, a motif was apparent, not giving up. In the words of Frederick Douglas, “whenever my condition was improved, instead of increasing my contentment; it only increased my desire to be free, and set me thinking of plans to gain my freedom.” Douglas, like many influential African Americans at the time, …show more content…
Although these works could not put viewers in the position to experience the trying times that African Americans had to endure, they allowed viewers insight into a brutal, preserving history through pictorial forms. Significant African American artists such as Aaron Douglas and Meta Warrick Fuller were not ashamed to give their audiences depictions of African American life over the course of history. Rather it be in the form of painting like in Douglas’s Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction or in the form of sculpture as in Fuller’s Emancipation, a vital point has been made aware, African Americans have prevailed in the face of tribulations and will only continue to rise. Ultimately, there is a noticeable conscience effort to demonstrate the gruesome life and times of the African American and their response to these situations, an exploration of the previously mentioned works can further validate this …show more content…
The Harlem Renaissance, also called the New Negro Movement held a different meaning for everyone, some used the movement to make the public aware of the various issues concerning African-Americans. Douglas was one of the many that “used African American arts and culture as the vehicles for promoting ‘the race.’ Because Douglas was part of this era that demonstrated the importance of black culture and history, it is not surprising that Douglas’s Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction highlights the critical points of the African American journey. In comparison, Meta Warrick Fuller was a black female artist who specialized in sculpture. As Powell states, “Fuller embarked on a series of sculpture projects which documented her evolving racial consciousness, as well as her expanding artistic talent.” Like Douglas, Fuller demonstrated her passion for delving into black culture and history which can be noticed in her sculpture