A visual arts exhibit provocatively titled "Good Negroes" is challenging viewers' thoughts about racial inequality in the St. Louis region. Organizers said the show criticizes the titular concept and the notion that Black and African Americans should be happy and complacent despite experiencing racial inequalities. Featuring the paintings, drawings and photography of four local artists and educators, the show pushes viewers to confront the discomfort they feel with the idea of the “good Negro" and why they feel that way.
Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, a professor of art and art history at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and one of the featured artists, said he too responded strongly when the project was initially proposed.
“This type of shockwave went through me, which had me thinking about all the racism that we have endured in the history of this country," he said.
Show curator Terrell Carter is a former St. Louis police officer and adjunct instructor at St. Louis Community College, who wanted to address regional racial divides highlighted after the shooting death of Michael Brown by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. The exhibit was first displayed at SLCC's Forest Park and Wildwood campuses.
So far, the show has been hosted by four different venues in less than a year. It is currently on view in the halls, entryway and sanctuary at the Webster Groves Christian Church.
Abdul-Musawwir said the show's popularity stems from the same frustration with political and social circumstances that inspired the project. He said people are incredulous so little progress on racial issues has been made.
“It just don’t make any sense right now," he said. "Here we have the 21st century, and we have men gunned down in the streets in St. Louis, Chicago, all these major cities, and it didn’t just start happening."
The show also includes works by documentary filmmaker Denise Ward-Brown, who teaches at Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, and Sean Frye, who teaches at SLCC's Wildwood campus.
Ward-Brown said the show could stimulate people to talk about a topic they otherwise might be hesitant to approach.
“Art has a tendency to start conversations that might be difficult to have in normal workplaces or just casually,” said Ward-Brown. “One of the things the title does [is] it throws up a flag from the past that’s always been controversial but not necessarily talked about frankly.”
Ward-Brown said that frank talk is necessary to grow as a country.
"We have to continue to talk about these things in order for things to shift and change and for our country to absolutely meet its theoretical goals of equality, democracy and freedom. We are not there," she said.
Artist and church member John Dyess brought the show’s current incarnation to Webster Groves for an opening on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He said the church has hosted exhibits related to the holiday for four of the last five years.
“It’s important for a dialogue, for communication, for different points of view, which is what art can do sometimes — communicate various ideas and show a point of view,” said Dyess, “and what the audience receives from that is up to the individual.”
Participants, church members and Dyess said the show has been met primarily with appreciation but isn’t without incident. Dyess said the church put out “Black Lives Matter” signs on the Friday before the show opened. By that Sunday, the signs had been removed by unknown individuals.
The “Good Negroes” exhibit runs through February.
