A vivid portrait collection of past and present Americans speaking truth to power The first volume of Robert Shetterly's Americans Who Tell the Truth portrait series, Portraits of Racial Justice takes a multimedia, interdisciplinary approach, blending art and history with today's issues concerning social, environmental, and economic fairness. Shetterly's paintings, as well as profiles of those portrayed, illuminate a community of people not only willing to recognize the shortcomings of America's history, but most importantly, individuals who offer their visions of a better world moving forward. Starting with Michelle Alexander and ending with Dave Zirin, the diverse array of fifty full-color portraits spans multiple generations and struggles. This volume also includes four original opening essays on racial justice in the United States by Ai-jen Poo, Dave Zirin, Sherri Mitchell, and Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., which provide an intersectional response to the long-term goal of diversity and inclusion. As Shetterly says, "without activism, hope is merely sentimental." Portraits of Racial Justice, Shetterly's homage to transformative game-changers and status-quo fighters, provides the inspiration necessary to spark social change.
Robert Shetterly is an artist based in Maine whose paintings and prints appear in collections across the United States and Europe. He is best known for his Americans Who Tell the Truth portrait series, which he began in 2002, during the run-up to the Iraq War, in an effort to surround himself with people who made him proud to be an American.
I'm lucky enough to know some of these great heroes, and can testify that Robert Shetterly has captured not just their likeness but their essence. These portraits inspire and comfort, reminding us of how many fine people have built our history, and how possible it is for the rest of us to emulate them.--Bill McKibben If you want inspiration in these challenging times, you could do no better than the portraits of patriots in Americans Who Tell the Truth. From leaders in the early days of the civil rights movement to the heroes and heroines in the current fight for racial justice, Rob Shetterly brings to life people whose work has been to build a more just world, and to whom we are all indebted.--Cecile Richards Situated powerfully and beautifully at the intersection of art and history, Portraits of Racial Justice: Americans Who Tell the Truth inspires, teaches, and captivates. The visually spectacular work highlighting the courage of Americans past and present who dared to advocate for a more just world serves as a reminder of the roads we have traveled and offers hope for future generations in the ongoing struggle for justice, human rights, equality, and equity. The individuals featured in this series and book demand integrity and compel us all to carry forward the work of past generations.--LaVonda N. Reed Teachers: Introduce your students to Robert Shetterly's magnificent portraits of racial justice and invite young people to join the current of conscience that flows through our history. How can one not feel hope when surrounded by these defiant truth-tellers--painted by Shetterly with love and respect. This book is a gift to educators; it belongs in every classroom in the United States.--Bill Bigelow This book is a fierce concentration of moral truth. It breaks down the borders of false supremacy--white, male, and otherwise--that too many people too easily accept as 'reality.' The heart of a sane future beats within.--Bob Koehler What history do you stand on? What future do you stand for? Robert Shetterly's dazzling portraits cut through the gauzy cotton wool that entangles us, shake us awake from the deep American sleep of denial, and invite us to question the taken-for-granted as we rise up and move beyond the United States of Amnesia. Here are the peace-makers and the freedom fighters, the dissidents and dissenters, the loving rebels and the justice-seeking radicals--those who know that in an era of 'alternate facts, ' duplicity and fraud, the simple truth can itself be revolutionary, and the fundamental, first questions can become our guide: Who are your people? Who do you claim? Where do we want to go?--Bill Ayers The work of Robert Shetterly is the work of a brilliant artist who cares about a living, breathing democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people--and not being saddled to a brittle history of the past. Inspired by vibrant paths of engagement, Shetterly's Portraits of Racial Justice is a loving chronicle of charismatic change in the name of transformative and passionate leadership across disciplines, race, gender, and beliefs. This project is more than a series of spirited portraits, it is a masterpiece of revolutionary ideas.--Terry Tempest Williams
