Alison Saar - Rise, 2020
Linoleum print | Sheet: 11 × 8 1/2in. (27.9 × 21.6 cm) Image: 9 3/16 × 7in. (23.3 × 17.8 cm)

Alison Saar is the daughter of Betye Saar, who I have featured on BLK ART BITES.
On the backstory of Rise
You recently made a benefit print honoring Black Lives Matter, titled “Rise,” which shows a woman making a power fist. Was there a particular source for your image?
I looked at a lot of images of women from the Black Panther movement with their Afros and fists raised and then contemporized the hairstyle to say we’re still fighting the same battle. I didn’t want it to be one woman. I love Angela Davis, but there are a lot of other women that don’t get recognized, and I’m paying tribute to them all. Some people see the Black Panthers as militant and frightening. To me, the women were very much involved in education, free food, taking care of the elderly, these incredible community practices that are always being erased by the image of the guy holding the rifles.
Alison Saar around the web: IG | Alison Saar on Transforming Outrage Into Art