Amanda Barnes Drops Downloadable Poster Art on Inauguration Day
A Pretty Lie in the Mirror (We’ve Only Just Begun) is an original artwork created by Amanda Barnes, Arts Alchemist with Initiatives of Change USA and inspired by the work of Emory Douglas. Download the free piece here.
January 20th marks a highly historical turn for our country and world. Today’s inauguration of a new presidential administration includes the installation of Kamala Harris, the first woman Vice President of the U.S., born to Black Jamaican and Indian immigrants. This moment is sacred for Black and Brown peoples not only in the U.S. but across the world, and signals the possibility of fuller representation and social transformation.
Simultaneously we are enveloped in a current of historical reckoning, where deep-bellied truth telling of experiences with racist injustice and systemic violence are taking front and center. It is from this current that Amanda Barnes, an imaginative artist, shares her latest artwork.
A Pretty Lie in the Mirror (We’ve Only Just Begun) is a reflection piece on 2020’s multiple pandemics of COVID-19 and racism, a muse on the magic of inter-community movements building change in real time, and a stark warning that history often repeats itself.
“There’s so much to be done, so much history to be addressed. For so long we’ve operated under this false sense of peace. Operating under the delusion that ‘America is the greatest country in the world’. A pretty lie that really cannot hold up if lives are to be saved or if any progress is to be made. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and really face the truth that we’ve only just begun.
What will you choose to see when you look at ‘America’ in the mirror?”
The artwork above was created by Emory Douglas for the Black Panther Party newspapers, September 20, 1969 & October 30, 1971.
Amanda details below how she developed this original artwork:
“I was inspired by the work of Emory Douglas, Revolutionary Artist and Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party. His piece is a response to the mask of 'America'. By taking current day imagery of unrest and civil protest today, combined with artistic visual commentary, I ask what will you choose to see when you look at ‘America’ in the mirror?
In reflection of this year's National Day of Racial Healing and Inauguration Day, I look to 2020 - the different pandemics, events, and responses that happened. Today we are in a state of limbo where our country is facing this renewal of self, of looking in the mirror. For so long we've operated under this false sense of peace. Operating under the delusion that 'America is the greatest country in the world'.
But truly, 2020 is a year that provided clear vision in so many ways. Now coming into a new year, it would be easier to go back into hiding and say 'America's still great because we dealt with our issues’. This false serenity or utopia that we have no racial or ethnic issues or anything wrong with our country because they were mended with a newly elected administration.
In truth, this doesn't change anything. There's so much to be done, so much history to be addressed. We're operating under this false sense of security that now that this one person is gone, all our troubles are solved. Hiding behind this mask of 'America' has once again redeemed itself. A pretty lie that really cannot hold up if lives are to be saved or if any progress is to be made. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and really face the truth that we've only just begun. We cannot afford at any level to become complacent again.”
Amanda Barnes’ work encourages us all to look in the mirror. Therefore, the artist has made A Pretty Lie in the Mirror (We’ve Only Just Begun) available for free download. We invite you to share this work with your networks, print and frame on your walls.