Women, Art, and Hope in Black Lives Matter

Abstract

Black women, LGBTQ folx, and artists in Louisville, Kentucky, played key roles in bringing attention to the police killing of Breonna Taylor and ensuring that Breonna became a focus of the Black Lives Matter movement. In this oral history interview, one of the organizers of protest actions in Louisville, Talesha Wilson, remembers how she became involved again in Black Lives Matter in 2020. She discusses the need to address sexism, homophobia, and transphobia while seeking racial justice and describes an action that she organized in an area of the city called NuLu. The action highlighted how the organization of urban space and gentrification have disempowered Black people and forced them to live in areas where they are more likely to be the victims of police violence.

Black Lives Matter and other signs of solidarity: Perspectives from Black STEM graduate students

“…Findings revealed a complexity of perceptions—positive, negative, and mixed—toward the signs of solidarity that likely impact participants' impressions of the STEM learning environment and their sense of belonging (Davies et al, 2005; Ong et al, 2018; Solórzano et al, 2000). Consistent with Purdie‐Vaughns et al (2008), their reactions to the signs in part reflect their diversity as individuals—including in their experiences of cross‐race interactions, personal degree of criticism about the signs as being self‐serving (Lawson, 2020; Wilson, 2020), and skepticism that the signs indicated earnest faculty interest in creating inclusive counter‐spaces (Ong et al, 2018; Solórzano et al, 2000; Terrell et al, 2009) for students from minoritized backgrounds. In this regard, if the hope is to foster safety and a sense of belonging, the well‐intentioned signs of solidarity may need to be complemented with additional messaging to convey a comprehensive understanding of inclusion, as well as consistent actions by aspiring allies (Lawson, 2020; Stone‐Sabali et al, 2023).…”

“…Students were asked open‐ended questions to examine their perceptions about the signs of solidarity that non‐Black faculty members may display. The questions were designed with the consideration of prior literature (e.g., Lawson, 2020; Purdie‐Vaughns et al, 2008; Wilson, 2020) suggesting signs of solidarity or identity safety cues could be perceived positively, negatively, or in a complicated manner (i.e., mixed reactions). Examples of questions included, “ Which signs more or less resonate with you and why?…”

“…That is, were motivations to display the signs driven by sincerity or by an individual's guilt from being complicit or complacent toward racialized oppression (Droogendyk et al, 2016)? Moreover, displaying signs of solidarity has been criticized for being superficial or performative demonstrations of support and allyship that did more to show that an individual was “not racist” rather than addressing problems (racism) or solutions (antiracism; Lawson, 2020; Wilson, 2020).…”