#arth287 
Title- "BIPOC, Racial Injustice, and a Global Pandemic."
In this twitter thread, I plan to show artworks of BIPOC individuals that have showed the effects of COVID-19 and Racial Injustice/BLM/Police Brutality on these individuals. These instances have affected...

everyone in society, but have a much more compelling effect on those in our BIPOC society.

The first artist I plan to discuss is the work of Jordan Casteel. She is known for her popularity of painting people she sees out in public, with their permission. Something that Casteel has done recently during the pandemic is paint pictures of people she sees on public...

transportation. The two paintings below show the effects of people of color wearing masks on a subway/bus to protect themselves from the virus. This may symbol the effect of people not having internet at home and having to commute to work/school.

The second painting shows a woman commuting home from a grocery store with toilet paper and paper towels, two interestingly popular items during the pandemic. I found it interesting that the woman wasn't wearing a mask. I'm interested to see if she opted to not put one on the...

woman to show the divide in the country over mask wearing or if the woman wasn't wearing one to begin with.

Another artist that does a good job of depicting COVID-19's effect on BIPOC families is Clifford Owens. In the piece "Paintings in the Flesh," Owens shows a Black grandmother with her grandson. I think this piece signifies being able to see loves ones again after being...

separated for so long. I think it shows the benefits of being vaccinated and being able to hug your family again. I believe this impacts the BIPOC community more because it is shown in research that these members lack access the most to high-speed internet, so Zoom won’t work.

Alison Saar is the next artist I would like to present who has two pieces that address the issue of racial justice during the pandemic. The images come just after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. I think the first piece is really interesting because it depicts...

the arrest of George Floyd which led to his death and shows many sets of hands on his body, possibly signifying the many people (police officers) who were at fault over his death, not just Derek Chauvin. The parts at the bottom are also interesting because it creates this...

discussion of millions of innocent Black Americans being incarcerated for crimes they didn't commit, yet we have millions of guilty White Americans living freely.

The second piece by Saar shows protests after the killing of Floyd which depicts a centered, Black American protesting while wearing a mask. I think this picture signifies two events taking place in America, which is the COVID-19 pandemic and the racism/police killing pandemic.

Stat Phillips is another artist who addresses both the effects of the virus as well racial injustice against both Black and Asian Americans. One piece that addresses Black Americans and COVID-19 is titled "She the Culture." Phillips created this piece which pictures a Black...

female nurse with a mask. Phillips uses this artwork to pay respect to the many "underrepresented women of color on the front lines fighting the spread of a worldly disease." I think the key is the word underrepresented which shows that even though the number is small, they are..

still there everyday helping citizens fight for their lives just like any other nurse.

The second piece that Phillips created that I would like to touch on is a piece honoring Breonna Taylor and demanding justice after none of the officers who shot into her apartment on the night she was killed were charged with crimes concerning her death at their hands. The...

piece shows a mural of Taylor with bright colors surrounding her. I think the colors represent the presence she had in the Louisville community as an EMT. I think the piece points out though, that many in the community were unable to protest the injustice against her because of..

the virus and concern over their health and well being. I think this was an unfortunate event that took place where many people's voices weren't unable to be heard, for good reasons.

Rebecca Hayter is another artist who created a poster image which addresses how the pandemic has affected the Black community, but she also hopes will affect the society as a whole in regard to injustices in the world. The piece pictures a Black grandfather with his two...

grandchildren looking at a tablet with masks on. The wording "Let's make a world where we tell our children how bad things were before COVID-19" is swerved throughout the piece. I believe Hayter was trying to get a point of recognizing that society is bad right now because of...

the virus, but there were already inequalities and injustices happening before the pandemic started, COVID-19 just made it more clearer. I like this idea that Hayter brings up about teaching our next generation the problems that we should see, before the problems get worse.

The final artist I would like to discuss in this thread is two pieces by Stephen Hayes which address a popular motion that we see at many social justice protests, and that is the raised fist. The first piece that Hayes created shows a raised fist with other fists near the bottom.

Included in the background are black and white images of Black individuals being harassed and arrested by the police. The second piece which Hayes calls "Radiate" pictures tons of raised fists which circles an object which to me resembles a heart. I think this piece is really...

interesting in that it almost speaks that to notice wrongdoing and condemn wrongdoing, it must come from your heart a desire to want to put a stop to these injustices and hold those who inflict them accountable. Once again I think these images do an extraordinary job of placing..

things into context with the pandemic, and how we are forced to witness these injustices on a daily basis.