Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.

Reckoning is a testament to how artists and photographers have used their voice to pay tribute to those we have lost, lifting up names such as Eric Garner, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor at demonstrations and in communities online. The show journeys from defiance to resilience to grief and mourning, hope and change.

In October 2020, when Megan Thee Stallion performed her “Savage Remix” on Saturday Night Live, she interspersed her performance with excerpts for Malcolm X’s speech and had the words “Protect Black Women” as her stage backdrop. Her decision to include this content was partially motivated by the events of days prior when Kentucky’s attorney general announced that the use deadly force by the officers who entered Breonna Taylor’s apartment was “justified to protect themselves.” 

Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson reached national fame with the 1947 release of "Move On Up a Little Higher.” The composer of the song, Rev. William Herbert Brewster, was deeply inspired by the push for black upward mobility in American society and civil rights.

A look at the unique practice of artist Bisa Butler as she creates her portrait quilts. Her process draws upon her background as an African American of Ghanaian descent, evident in her choice of motifs, embellishments, and patterning in the African textiles she employs. The works transform family memories and forgotten figures in African American history into narrative social statements.

A panel of Museum docents discuss their favorite artworks in the Museum’s special exhibition Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience., sharing reflections that range from defiance to resilience, from grief to mourning, from hope to change. The exhibition is a testament to how artists and photographers use their voices to pay tribute to those we have lost, lifting up names such as Eric Garner, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor at demonstrations and in communities online.

Enjoy the tour?  Try these other tours of groundbreaking exhibits in the Reckoning With Our Racial Past family.


Make Good the Promises: Reconstruction and Its Legacy
Americans: Indians Are Everywhere
Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.