All of the artists have donated the protest signs they are creating with 100% of the proceeds going to the African American Policy Forum #Sa
Alberta Spruill, Rekia Boyd, Shantel Davis, Shelly Frey, Kayla Moore, Kyam Livingston, Miriam Carey, Michelle Cusseaux.
Black women have been senselessly killed by police long before the world knew the name Breonna Taylor.
In December 2014, the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) and Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies (CISPS) launched the #SayHerName campaign to bring awareness to the often invisible names and stories of Black women and girls who have been victimized by racist police violence and to support their families as they fight for justice.
The effort will now be receiving a boost from over 100 artists who have come together for the “Show Me the Signs” benefit auction and exhibition. Participating artists include celebrities from across creative industries including Cardi B, Jim Carrey, George Condo, David Hockney, Rashid Johnson, Bruno Mars and Marilyn Minter.
All of the artists have donated the protest signs they are creating with 100% of the proceeds going to the AAPF #SayHerName Mothers Network to help the families of Black women killed by the police.
“Black women and girls do not fit the most accessible frames of anti-Black police violence, and because of that, it’s difficult to tell their stories in a way that people recognize and remember,” Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, AAPF executive director and co-founder of Say Her Name, said. “By working with the families of slain Black women, AAPF’s #SayHerName campaign resists Black women’s invisibility by telling their stories.”
Following a preview from October 30 to November 9, the auction will launch for bidding in two parts, with Part 1 running from November 10 to 19, and Part 2 running from November 21 to 30. All of the signs from the auction will be on view from October 30 to November 14 at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles.
The benefit auction will be hosted on Artfizz, a new online, community-driven marketplace for contemporary art, which is offering its platform to support the initiative prior to its official launch later this year.
“During this time of civil unrest due to the unjust killing of Breonna Taylor, I hope to see more people understand the Black diaspora and ask themselves how we can change for a better world,” Kathia St. Hilaire, a participating artist said.
“Breonna Taylor, a human being, was murdered within the cascade of circumstances that fuels a particularly deep sense of sorrow,” Nathaniel Mary Quinn, another participating artist and member of the “Show Me the Signs” Benefit Committee, said. “In 2011, she was a student at the University of Kentucky; she cared for those in need as a health care provider. In the words of James Baldwin, ‘not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’”
To see more of the signs or to bid on them, visit www.artfizz.com.
