The United States of Racism Project is an exhibition of art, photography, design and narratives meant to answer the collective call for artists to do what it takes in order to shed light on the detrimental effects of racism in our society. We plan to shed light on the various "states" of racism in the United States, partnering with local Black-owned businesses for funding collaboration and support, and ultimately evoke lasting change in our communities and our country. We believe that artists have a unique role to play in the fight for justice in that they have the power to shift mindsets, to humanize the complexities of visible and invisible implications of racism. Black-owned establishments and artists are both hit the hardest by racially-driven policies and procedures written into nearly every aspect of our societal framework.
If we pay close enough attention and educate ourselves, we will see the intense need for uplifting Black artistic expression that has the power to show perspectives that have been marginalized for centuries. We plan to delve deeply into the subjects we shed light on, the narratives and artwork will reflect personal accounts of how racism shows itself through each system in our society.
The hunger we see for institutional and interpersonal change makes us hopeful that this project will further inspire the citizens of this nation to participate in the unlearning process required to address and dismantle racism. Like all mediums seek to do, the showcase of USOR collaborations will present viewers with alternative perspectives that seek to challenge mindsets long after the viewer steps away from the art.
We currently have several galleries anticipating the completion of the collection. We plan to grow this into a comprehensive platform for artists from all walks of life who want to use their skills for social justice. Completion of the collection depends on funding, but we aim to begin showing it in 2021.
Meet the Creators
Bobby Danger is a visual and graphic artist and owner of Danger Artworks LLC, established in 2009. Bobby was raised in Durham, North Carolina, also known as "The Bull City," a city ripe with history especially surrounding social justice and activism. Art is the way he communicates with the world, it is the way he deals with the everyday stress that comes from being a Black man in the United States. He has experienced racism on many levels throughout his life in his hometown as a child, in the military, in school, and even within the art community. In 2011, he was part of the Homegrown Under 35 Art Show, an exposition ranked top 10 in the Southeast. His art has been displayed at Craven Allen House of Frames in Durham, the Durham Arts Council and the Durham Art Guild. He was a resident artist at Golden Belt from 2014-2015. Bobby Danger stands next to his piece, "Say It Loud" at Spectre Arts Gallery in 2015 in Durham, North Carolina.
In early June 2020, he was commissioned by The Raleigh VAE (Visual Art Exchange) and The Raleigh Mural Project to do his first mural following a night of intense protests in response to the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of police. It was painted on panels with acrylic paint, and thus was able to be carefully preserved and removed and will eventually be returned after being shown in exhibitions featuring artists who used their talents to further the Black Lives Matter movement.
Karen Ashley is a writer and owner of LYTM Photography. She was raised in Blacksburg, Virginia and in Greensboro, North Carolina. She also lived abroad in Sweden for a year, an experience that expanded her limited worldview more than she would know at the time, having only lived in the Southeast United States for the prior 16 young years of her life. This perspective shift directly correlated with the experiences she was exposed to while attending an international school with people from a range of backgrounds and cultures. It forced her out of her (White) comfort zone as she realized the importance in simply understanding the size of the world. It was the first time she had been around a culture that did not vehemently uphold the exceptionalism attitude she was used to seeing regarding her country of origin. It is when she began to see the United States as that - her country of origin - and no more important than any other country, as every country is part of a larger global society. Karen eventually began to see herself as a capable citizen responsible for dismantling the sense of exceptionalism she saw in herself and recognized as harmful and counterproductive. Every narrow view she held tight would begin to unravel and expand as she was forced to break down the inadequacies and blatant lies a public education in the United States had embedded in her. Karen continues her attempts to disrupt racism and social constructs within small and large institutions today.”
These experiences helped shape Karen into an activist and showed her the power of her own voice and privilege and how to best use it to help create a more just society. To strengthen her writing skills, she majored in English/Creative Writing at Appalachian State University. This verbal mode of expression enhanced her passion behind the camera lens, and to this day her favorite style of photography is photojournalism. Karen’s life as a White woman has been profoundly impacted by issues of race and her personal stories further show that while White people can never experience racism, you don't have to be Black or Brown to be harmed by its destructive nature. Her role in this project is to provide historical context and educational content to accompany each work of art. Bobby Danger works diligently in exhausting heat in response to protests to end police brutality across the United States. A skateboarder jumps over the burnt pavement in Raleigh, North Carolina after protests to end police brutality intensified. The mural was painted over Happy & Hale downtown. Walking away from it was not easy! Luckily, we get to see it again soon - and so do you. He said it just "came to him" to add bloody bullet holes to the piece in place of the stars because "that's what it feels like to live in America, because each one has its own character and they are all dark and have their own abyss." Adding the final touch to the mural, Bobby Danger brings depth to the powerful bullet holes that replace stars in the American Flag.
Our Purpose
Currently, this piece is the largest and most poignant of the The United States of Racism collection to date due to the circumstances in which it was created and the subject matter. It depicts a biracial child clutching his lip in fear, painted in black and white with an American flag painted in color behind it. The stars in the flag are replaced with bloody bullet holes, and insinuating the brutal truth that racism seeks to destroy kills. The emotion present in the child’s face set against this powerful backdrop is indicative of the times we are currently experiencing, especially as the heightened visibility of discriminatory police brutality has been brought to the public by the availability of recording devices, flashing in front of eyes of all generations, stoking fear and outrage. However, this is only one depiction of overt racism; we must delve deeper to understand how our country got to these current “states.” We must break down why Black non-white are forced to be taught vastly different lessons about safety than white children. Activist art forces us to see these realities caused by the disconnect between Black and Brown realities versus White realities. It speaks directly to the pain, rage and fears that exist in the hearts of those who are personally impacted by racism and those who deny its impact in their personal lives. Today, we like to believe that few people can deny the complex trauma that slavery placed on our nation. But we realize this fact is still denied, even in those who may genuinely desire to see it end, and we believe our education system is in part to blame for this. The great artists and writers we are taught to strive to mimic are still primarily White men and White women, Both of us, children of the 80s, remember clearly being taught to honor the “greats” and that those often considered “the greats” were nearly all one race and often deceased. Think of Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and John Steinbeck - a simple google search of “Great American Authors” lists these as the top five. Toni Morrison is the first non-white author and is listed 5th. Examples such as this reveal how far we still have to go in order to achieve our goals to eradicate racism in every corner of the world. Unfortunately, many White people have been taught to believe that it is “no longer an issue” or that we have “come so far” from where we were. This complacency dilutes the urgency of how much further we need to go, particularly in the more covert, insidious corners where racism lurks. Therefore, our exhibition will examine the following "states" of racism in the following areas: the police force, corporate America, the military, food access, healthcare, housing, education, the prison industrial complex. It will also shed light on the innocence stolen from children who are forced to grow up too fast due to the trauma of these combined forces stacked against them. Our long term goal is to eventually publish a book with the final collection that will change hearts and policies alike to make this country a safer, more humane place to raise our families. Bobby Danger paints Huey P. Newton in acrylic on a bedsheet while at Occupy Winston-Salem, NC in honor of demands being made by The Triad Abolition Project for reform in the Forsyth County Detention Center following the tragic death of John E. Neville. Your Contribution
Your contribution to our campaign will help us with the costs required to continue making an impact within our community in Winston-Salem and, eventually expand beyond North Carolina by traveling to at least one community in each state before we begin to seek other ways our unique presentation of the crisis of racism presents. Ultimately, we want this to be an organization complete with a studio space for activists artists. We believe this is only the beginning of The United States of Racism Project. A donation will support the purchase of art supplies including paint, colored pencils, and canvases. It will allow us to purchase a domain and grow a blog that will provide stories and educational resources meant to inform and draw attention to the work of artist-activists already raising the consciousness of America’s racism pandemic. We also offer complimentary design and copyediting services for organizations whose goals align with our own - to completely dismantle the systems that perpetuate racism; a contribution will allow us to continue offering these services free of charge. Transparency with funding will be released as necessary to complete unfinished artwork and to grow the collection. Our funds will be used to cover complimentary the custom framing of at least 5 matte board/colored pencil pieces necessary for display. The accompanying narratives will also be printed and framed for display and will include a QR code that can be scanned for translations in several languages. We are also currently researching ways to include access for those deaf or hard of hearing.
We invite you to contact us if your community or organization would like to showcase this collection at unitedstatesofracism@gmail.com. If you would like to support us in other ways, you can! Here’s how:
Follow us on Instagram @theunitedstatesofracism.
Support and follow Danger Artworks @dangerartworks on Instagram and Facebook.
Support Danger Artworks LLC by contracting Bobby Danger to create your logo or branding - his designs are just as stunning as his visual art.
Order prints or clothing designed by Bobby Danger: Dangerartworks.myportfolio.com.
If you live in North Carolina, book a photo session with LYTM Photography.
Spread the word about this campaign any way that you can - Share! Share! Share!
