Dublin Core
Title
Joy Kang creates a picture with 272 words
Subject
Georgetown University--History--Slavery; Georgetown University--Art
Description
This drawing was composed by Joy Kang (GU SFS '24) in Professor Adam Rothman's History 099 Facing Georgetown's History class in the Spring 2021 semester. It features Georgetown's Healy Hall adorned with the names of the GU272. The trees surronding Healy Hall are also composed of GU272 names.
Joy Kang created this magnificent drawing for Facing the history of Georgetown History class in May 2021. She wanted to do something that would connect the university's past to the events that were happening around her. Much like the image created when Qatar was blockaded of Sheikh Tamim she saw images of George Floyd being painted all over the US. One of these images of Floyd that she saw was painted on a background of names. The names in the Floyd picture were the names of people who had endured or died due to police brutality. Kang used this image as her inspiration to create Write their names.
Joy Kang created this piece because the #Black Lives Matter Movement inspired her. She was also inspired by the #Say her name movement. Kang has taken Georgetown's past and put a modern twist on it. By using the graffiti art of George Floyd, she used the names of the forgotten victims of Georgetown University in her expression of protest in this drawing.
The piece's title is essential "WRITE THEIR NAMES" if we record something and write it down, it remains even after we are gone. According to Trouillot, there is "an uneven contribution of competing groups and individuals who have unequal access to the means of such production" (Trouillot, xxiii). Kang wanted to find a way to place the names of the slaves sold to provide finance for the university into something tangible that could be looked upon in generations to come and honor their memory. She wanted to ensure that the 272 people that the university sold would never be forgotten. Their names are written. Like many from Africa, the slaves that were sold relied on oral tradition to pass down their stories, but as their world was destroyed, they were not given access to education so that if not by storytelling, then by writing, their history could be remembered. Kang has not only visually created something that can commemorate these souls but has also written down their names. They are recorded in history by writing the names down; they are no longer invisible. This should also be a reminder to Georgetown students that we are privileged to study here and that these people sacrificed their lives so that we could be part of the Georgetown legacy- we are indebted to them.
Joy Kang states:“…writing…out loud…the names of enslaved people can give them humanity once stripped of them.”
This piece shows Healy Hall as an iconic part of Georgetown's history. Healy was the first black man to become president of a major American university even though he was born into slavery (Rothman & Mendoza, 78). She chose this architectural structure because it is first easily recognized by Georgetown students and second because it is named after an African American slave owner. However, Healy seems to have managed to succeed because he could pass as 'white' and, despite being a slave himself, was a slave owner. Healy represents the fact that race in itself was a dilemma faced by many Americans even in those days.
The irony of statues and buildings that represent oppression worldwide is highlighted. E.g., statues of Columbus, which are now getting taken down. People no longer wish to honor what has caused so much suffering in the world. We are made aware of the duality of truth in history. As Trouillot states, we should" reveal the past to discover or at least approximate the truth." (Trouillot, 5)
The building in this drawing seems to be made up of bricks from a distance. On closer inspection, each brick is the name of one of the university's 272 slaves sold at auction.
Kang did this deliberately because she wanted us to remember that 'it was through a violation of human rights today's Georgetown was founded"-(Kang & Rothman, 1). The 272 slaves sold did not only physically work to build the university, but it was by the university selling them that secured funding for the institution. Their blood, sweat, and tears were the foundation of what the university is today. The names are not apparent at first, and this is done deliberately because many people do not know about the 272 slaves sold to save the university. It is a subtle reminder as history students that we have to look deeper into source interpretation.
There is no use of color in the piece as the artist chose to only work with pencil and outline with markers. The reason for the latter was because she wanted to show how somber the history of the university is. The lack of vibrant paints and bright hues is a reminder that this is a part of history that needs to be solemnly remembered not because of its beauty but because of the lesson that needs to be learned.
The picture speaks to hope, though, because she incorporated three trees in front of the building. The trees symbolize the descendants of the slaves that were sold and represent GU272, an organization from the university that helps these descendants and tries to find ways to compensate the next generations for the atrocities committed in the past.
Slavery is an intrinsic part of the history of the Atlantic world. Slaves were fundamental in building the colonies of the Americas. All these lives were stolen from Africa, robbing the continent of some of its healthiest and strongest men and women for centuries. The damage done by slavery is embedded in the modern world, and it is up to us to change it. The most important aspect that we need to address is that we are allowed to have honest and deliberate conversations about the past and how it was shaped. We need to find a way to make amends for what has transpired and move forward. History is a clock that cannot be moved back but can teach us lessons about how to move forward.
Works Cited
Kang, J. (2021, May). Joy Kang, "write their names," 2021. Georgetown Slavery Archive. Retrieved November 25, 2021, from http://slaveryarchive.georgetown.edu/items/show/516.
Rothman, A., & Mendoza, B. E. (2021). Facing Georgetown's history: A reader on slavery, memory, and reconciliation. Georgetown University Press.
Trouillot, M.-R. (2004). Silencing the past: Power and the production of history. Beacon Press.
Joy Kang created this piece because the #Black Lives Matter Movement inspired her. She was also inspired by the #Say her name movement. Kang has taken Georgetown's past and put a modern twist on it. By using the graffiti art of George Floyd, she used the names of the forgotten victims of Georgetown University in her expression of protest in this drawing.
The piece's title is essential "WRITE THEIR NAMES" if we record something and write it down, it remains even after we are gone. According to Trouillot, there is "an uneven contribution of competing groups and individuals who have unequal access to the means of such production" (Trouillot, xxiii). Kang wanted to find a way to place the names of the slaves sold to provide finance for the university into something tangible that could be looked upon in generations to come and honor their memory. She wanted to ensure that the 272 people that the university sold would never be forgotten. Their names are written. Like many from Africa, the slaves that were sold relied on oral tradition to pass down their stories, but as their world was destroyed, they were not given access to education so that if not by storytelling, then by writing, their history could be remembered. Kang has not only visually created something that can commemorate these souls but has also written down their names. They are recorded in history by writing the names down; they are no longer invisible. This should also be a reminder to Georgetown students that we are privileged to study here and that these people sacrificed their lives so that we could be part of the Georgetown legacy- we are indebted to them.
Joy Kang states:“…writing…out loud…the names of enslaved people can give them humanity once stripped of them.”
This piece shows Healy Hall as an iconic part of Georgetown's history. Healy was the first black man to become president of a major American university even though he was born into slavery (Rothman & Mendoza, 78). She chose this architectural structure because it is first easily recognized by Georgetown students and second because it is named after an African American slave owner. However, Healy seems to have managed to succeed because he could pass as 'white' and, despite being a slave himself, was a slave owner. Healy represents the fact that race in itself was a dilemma faced by many Americans even in those days.
The irony of statues and buildings that represent oppression worldwide is highlighted. E.g., statues of Columbus, which are now getting taken down. People no longer wish to honor what has caused so much suffering in the world. We are made aware of the duality of truth in history. As Trouillot states, we should" reveal the past to discover or at least approximate the truth." (Trouillot, 5)
The building in this drawing seems to be made up of bricks from a distance. On closer inspection, each brick is the name of one of the university's 272 slaves sold at auction.
Kang did this deliberately because she wanted us to remember that 'it was through a violation of human rights today's Georgetown was founded"-(Kang & Rothman, 1). The 272 slaves sold did not only physically work to build the university, but it was by the university selling them that secured funding for the institution. Their blood, sweat, and tears were the foundation of what the university is today. The names are not apparent at first, and this is done deliberately because many people do not know about the 272 slaves sold to save the university. It is a subtle reminder as history students that we have to look deeper into source interpretation.
There is no use of color in the piece as the artist chose to only work with pencil and outline with markers. The reason for the latter was because she wanted to show how somber the history of the university is. The lack of vibrant paints and bright hues is a reminder that this is a part of history that needs to be solemnly remembered not because of its beauty but because of the lesson that needs to be learned.
The picture speaks to hope, though, because she incorporated three trees in front of the building. The trees symbolize the descendants of the slaves that were sold and represent GU272, an organization from the university that helps these descendants and tries to find ways to compensate the next generations for the atrocities committed in the past.
Slavery is an intrinsic part of the history of the Atlantic world. Slaves were fundamental in building the colonies of the Americas. All these lives were stolen from Africa, robbing the continent of some of its healthiest and strongest men and women for centuries. The damage done by slavery is embedded in the modern world, and it is up to us to change it. The most important aspect that we need to address is that we are allowed to have honest and deliberate conversations about the past and how it was shaped. We need to find a way to make amends for what has transpired and move forward. History is a clock that cannot be moved back but can teach us lessons about how to move forward.
Works Cited
Kang, J. (2021, May). Joy Kang, "write their names," 2021. Georgetown Slavery Archive. Retrieved November 25, 2021, from http://slaveryarchive.georgetown.edu/items/show/516.
Rothman, A., & Mendoza, B. E. (2021). Facing Georgetown's history: A reader on slavery, memory, and reconciliation. Georgetown University Press.
Trouillot, M.-R. (2004). Silencing the past: Power and the production of history. Beacon Press.
Creator
This drawing was composed by Joy Kang (GU SFS '24) in Professor Adam Rothman's History 099 Facing Georgetown's History class in the Spring 2021 semester. It features Georgetown's Healy Hall adorned with the names of the GU272. The trees surronding Healy Hall are also composed of GU272 names.
Publisher
Georgetown Slavery Archive
Date
May 2021
Contributor
Joy Kang, Adam Rothman
Rights
Joy Kang
Format
JPG, PDF
Language
English
Type
Drawing
Identifier
GSA437
Hyperlink Item Type Metadata
URL
http://slaveryarchive.georgetown.edu/items/show/516