Will Brown

[EXPLICIT CONTENT]

Lynching of Will Brown. This is a visceral 8’ x 4’ panel image which hangs downstairs in WHQ Club. It is of a lynching that took place during the 1919 Omaha race riots, when many Black people were terrorised and killed, simply because of the colour of their skin. Lynchings at this time were regarded by elements of white society as social events, meant for the whole family to attend and were commonplace in parts of America.

Commemorative postcards were also often made, featuring images such as this one, which were then sold to white people in shops as mementos. Racism then, was endemic in white American culture, sadly much as it still is today. But back then, there were no laws to prevent it being prosecuted so viciously and openly. By featuring this image and it’s hard-hitting caption in WHQ Club, we wanted to achieve several thing. To raise awareness to the young people who come to our Club and make them realise that all racism has it roots in hatred this repulsive. We also want to bring to audiences attention and remind them, what society (not so long ago) accepted. Most people who come to the Club and see this panel, may perhaps have seen brutal images of the Holocaust, but may well have never seen anything like this image before. Due to societal 'whitewashing' of history, as it has been taught in the education system, are relatively uneducated to the realities, or images of Black suffering.

This image highlights the depths to which white people have stooped, in their quest to oppress and disenfranchise Black people over centuries. We hope that viewing this panel for the very first time and the realisation of just how much evil it embodies, provides both an education and a wake-up call to everyone who sees it. It also acts as a rallying call, for us all to stand together as human beings and work together to eradicate racism in all it’s forms, whenever we encounter it and in whatever form it may take.

To us, the statement written on the panel’s caption is 100% true.