God damn... mural of lynching hidden in plain sight #FuckTheseCACs
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Lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith https://g.co/kgs/BZzpED
Lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith
Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, August 7, 1930, photography by Lawrence Beitler
J. Thomas Shipp and Abraham S. Smith were young African American men who were lynched on August 7, 1930, in Marion, Indiana, after being taken from jail and beaten by a mob. They had been arrested that night as suspects in a robbery, murder and rape case. A third African American suspect, 16-year-old James Cameron, had also been arrested and narrowly escaped being killed by the mob; he was helped by the intervention of an unknown woman and returned to jail. He was later convicted and sentenced as an accessory before the fact. After dedicating his life to civil rights activism, in 1991 he was pardoned by the state of Indiana.[1]
The local chapter of the NAACP and the State's Attorney General struggled to indict some of the lynch mob, but no one was ever charged for the murders of Shipp and Smith, nor the attack on Cameron
Lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith
Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, August 7, 1930, photography by Lawrence Beitler
J. Thomas Shipp and Abraham S. Smith were young African American men who were lynched on August 7, 1930, in Marion, Indiana, after being taken from jail and beaten by a mob. They had been arrested that night as suspects in a robbery, murder and rape case. A third African American suspect, 16-year-old James Cameron, had also been arrested and narrowly escaped being killed by the mob; he was helped by the intervention of an unknown woman and returned to jail. He was later convicted and sentenced as an accessory before the fact. After dedicating his life to civil rights activism, in 1991 he was pardoned by the state of Indiana.[1]
The local chapter of the NAACP and the State's Attorney General struggled to indict some of the lynch mob, but no one was ever charged for the murders of Shipp and Smith, nor the attack on Cameron
Elgin to examine mural that evokes lynching photo
- By Elena Ferrarin
- May 18, 2016 6:50 pm
This mural in downtown Elgin mimics a 1930 photo of a crowd that gawked at the lynching of two black men in Indiana.Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
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Should a mural in downtown Elgin -- depicting a crowd watching a 1930 lynching -- continue to stand intact?
City leaders say they were unaware of the story behind the free-standing artwork, and they plan to hold a public debate about its future.
The discussion started after two friends on Tuesday night walked by the mural by Elgin artist David Powers and realized it's an almost exact replica of a photograph of a crowd that gawked at the lynching of two black men in 1930 in Indiana.
Located along a pedestrian walkway between Spring and Grove avenues, the mural shows only the crowd, not the bloody corpses of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith dangling from tree branches, which are depicted in the original photo.
Still, that was enough to stop Alex Cokinos of St. Charles and Richard Farr of Elgin in their tracks.
"I thought, 'Wow,'" Cokinos said. " I had probably seen the photo once or twice before. It's kind of a unique image."
Farr didn't recognize it but was shocked when Cokinos pulled up the photo on his smartphone. "I couldn't imagine why that would be there in Elgin," Farr said.
Shortly after, Farr posted a photo of the mural, along with the graphic original photo, on the public Facebook page "What's Happening in Elgin?" which prompted the media to make inquiries and city officials to debate the issue.
No one at city hall knew the provenance of the image behind the mural, which had been commissioned by the city at least a decade ago, Mayor David Kaptain said.
The decision was to ask the cultural arts commission to hold a public meeting on the topic, likely early next month, Kaptain said. The commission then can recommend whether to remove the mural, replace it or add explanatory signage.
"Taking it down and painting it over was part of the initial discussion (Wednesday)," Kaptain said. "I recommended that we take the opportunity and we have an open discussion, a community discussion. I think it's healthy."
The original photograph was taken by photographer Lawrence Beitler in Marion, Indiana. Shipp and Smith, along with a third black man who escaped the lynching, had been accused of murdering a white man and raping his white girlfriend.
Cokinos and Farr said they are not advocating the mural to be taken down, but they want to know about its meaning.
"I was really asking the city, 'Why is it up and what is the whole point of it?'" Farr said. "I'm OK with it there, but there needs to be an explanation, or an artist's statement about it, so we understand the context of it."
Art can be understood only in context, Cokinos agreed. "There are a lot of stereotypes associated with that photo, and maybe (the mural) is there for a reason," he said. "Context is everything."
Powers, the artist, did not answer his phone Wednesday, and no one appeared to be at his home on the east side of Elgin.
In a 2011 Daily Herald profile, Powers was described as an artist of four decades with contempt for the typical juried art shows. Instead, he said, he favored "the open honesty, savage, uncensored idea of telling the truth in the visual arts."
A longtime Elgin resident, Powers trained at Northwestern University and the Art Institute of Chicago. His interest in visual arts stemmed from its value to society. "It really talks about who we are," Powers said in 2011. "Sometimes it explains what's going on when you can't even use words to express it."
Councilwoman Tish Powell said she'd like to hear from him. "I had never known the story behind the mural," she said. "I'm not saying it may not be offensive to some people, because it obviously is. But I am also interested in knowing what the artist's intentions were in painting this."
So had city officials known about the history of the image, should they have put a stop to the commission of the mural?
"I think that's a really good question," Kaptain said, "and I think that's a question that the community should try to resolve."
That's especially important because the city is planning to commission more public artwork in the future, Kaptain said.
"It's an artist's interpretation," he said. "That's what an artist would tell you, that it causes you to think. Is it a bad thing that we are showing it? If you don't show it, (the history) won't go away."
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Yeah shit like this pops everywhere. I remember back in '07 I worked this job for a contractor that took me to Griffin, GA about 45 min outside Atlanta, anyway went into this white neighborhood where someone had a huge display of those old darkie, coon figures in their front yard, shit was a real wake up call. I told a co-worker of mine about it, he had the nerve to say sometimes "them folks" (whites) don't what that shit means. I left that shit alone.
the Grip, where they filmed driving miss daisy. did u visit the black side of town? "the flat" be jumping off on the weekends. i love and hate that place.
Nah didn't have time to hang out there, haven't been back since.
the artist had a running joke for like 10 yrs.....hang his ass in front that bitch.....
They plan to hold a public debate over artwork commemorating a lynching. What is there to debate?
That article is 1.5 year old
Looks like the mayor Dave Kaptain rejected a motion to remove it...
He's still in office.
mayor@cityofelgin.org
847-385-4478
Looks like the mayor Dave Kaptain rejected a motion to remove it...
He's still in office.
mayor@cityofelgin.org
847-385-4478
If you’re debating your pain, maybe you’re not in pain. At what point do we admit white folks are having fun with us?
What does the artist look like...??
I'm curious as to what other murals he may
Have up....
And this country lied about how many of us were crucified by the demonic cac....
It was a thousand times more than the numbers they give.
Funny how all that murdering they did and they are the race with the negative birth rates
I'm curious as to what other murals he may
Have up....
And this country lied about how many of us were crucified by the demonic cac....
It was a thousand times more than the numbers they give.
Funny how all that murdering they did and they are the race with the negative birth rates
Indiana, home state of Mike Pence.
'nuff said.
-just turn the mural into abstract art!
'nuff said.
-just turn the mural into abstract art!
Debating your pain? Its been found out. Its an atrocity against mankind and an embarrassment to your city, remove it. Argument over close thread.
These sick mothafucka's!! They love rubbing stuff in our face!! But they really love rubbing the truth in our faces and then tell us not to believe your lying eyes!! In these days and time, our discernment game has to be at 110%!!
They aren't so much throwing it in our face as much as they are trying to hold on to yesteryear..
They yearn for those days like an ol ho yearns for her youth....
They could yearn all they want it aint never coming back
Time for it to be defaced in the middle of the night then
Would a mural of an haulocaust oven be "debated"?
Would a mural of an haulocaust oven be "debated"?
Are you going to show up to the meeting and let your voice be heard?
Indiana, home state of Mike Pence.
'nuff said.
-just turn the mural into abstract art!
community based abstract artwork. Just end the debate.
This
Get out and take over, they depend on us being dormant and docile.
That's the real reason they and we hate Obama so much... he very much so represents a mass awakening... and showed black boys n girls we could hold any office
That lynching happening in Marion, IN. I go there for work a few times a year and make it a point to visit the courthouse where this happened at as a reminder as to how evil the American cac is.
As a way of apparently trying to whitewash the situation, the city of Marion has cut down the tree where this happened and there no marker or indication of the vileness and terrorism that happened on those grounds that night.
As a way of apparently trying to whitewash the situation, the city of Marion has cut down the tree where this happened and there no marker or indication of the vileness and terrorism that happened on those grounds that night.
Indiana, home state of Mike Pence.
'nuff said.
-just turn the mural into abstract art!
Fam, this mural is in one of the main lecture halls at Indiana University:
Only this year has the university decided to no longer hold classes in the room where this is, but it will remain. Black students and faculty have been trying to get it removed for 20-30 years; proponents say it reflects Indiana’s history, good and bad, and should remain.
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Fam, this mural is in one of the main lecture halls at Indiana University:
Only this year has the university decided to no longer hold classes in the room where this is, but it will remain. Black students and faculty have been trying to get it removed for 20-30 years; proponents say it reflects Indiana’s history, good and bad, and should remain.
I love that statement..ol hoix and her youth...I swear to God..if that was my city I would burn that shit down right now!!!!! Where are all the grimy street cats at in Indiana? Brah
Nah..brah ain't no we...that man will always have my respect....only coons will coon for hate against that man.. brah
Trust, I understand
I have a older female cousin that had some on her kitchen cabinet, I asked, "why do we still keep these around?" She said, "To remember how far we've come".
I don't like em, but I wouldn't call em "coon figures".