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                                                                  TITLE: “INSIDE OUT”

                                                                    by Ronnie Williams

 

Media:  Oil On Canvas
Size:  40″ x 30″ 
Hue: Color

Copyright 2021
Price: $3,000.00
 

 

Artist Statement:

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We, as African Americans, have for many years fought to be at the very least fully included as American citizens.  It seems, however, that we’ve only achieved the illusion of full citizenship.  We have always thought, according to our US Constitution, that we deserve full participation in all the things that this country has to offer.  For a short period of time after the Civil War, during Reconstruction, we did believe that we had been given the full citizenship that should be ours but, instead, we found that we were given only the illusion of true ownership of our destinies in this country.

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We were just beginning to understand that true freedom is not something that could be given to us by someone else.  It is something we would have to claim for ourselves.  I know we feel we should claim our rights to ownership in this country, but we must remember that with personal ownership comes personal responsibility.  Therefore, if we want to come “INSIDE,” it will be our responsibility to uplift those who choose to stay “OUT”.  I am afraid that some of us have become comfortable with the positions we have been assigned to in the “shadows” of our society.

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Therefore, we are African Americans and in this country we have earned the right to come in through the front door of our new home and claim ownership the same as anyone else who has made this their home.

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                                                                                               RONNIE WILLIAMS