FOREWORD | DR. LESLIE KING HAMMOND “It’s important…to use art in a manner that incites people to look and then carry something home even if it’s subliminal - that might make a change in them.” Joyce J. Scott, Mobilia Gallery
“But we must tell our stories, and not be ensnared by them.” Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Water Dancer
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rtists, as creative makers in today’s world, find themselves with complex, nuanced challenges to construct and design images of critical relevancy to African American, Black, Diasporic and BIPOC communities, however they define themselves. Whether visual, written or spoken word, dance, performance or music, the artistic intent is weighted with an urgency to be a catalyst for social change, explore narratives that are truth telling, revealing, affirming, and positive, poignant portrayals of Black life in America. This publication is an insightful focus on Larry Poncho Brown as an artist and designer through a conversation, his own evolutionary story and decades of an expansive range of imagery he has created. This has been a project, years in the making, that is a testament to his artistry and commitment to the communities he holds in high regard. It is also a pivotal historical contribution that begins to address the critical void in the recognition of creative makers in the ‘Up South’ Middle American region of Baltimore City. Caught between the rural agricultural South and the industrialized urban North, Baltimore
as a crucial contributor to the legacy of an American cultural heritage, has been under represented in the annals of historical documentation. Poncho is Baltimore born and educated as are MacArthur Fellows, mixed media glass sculptor Joyce J. Scott and renown author Ta-Nehisi Coates. They each share different provocative views of Baltimore, and as such represent an intellectually rich - yet, geographically under recognized potency of this locale. This publication is one of many forthcoming initiatives to redress, reveal and elevate the legacy of Baltimore City, its creative artistic makers, designers, artisans, tinkerers, doodlers who believe that the arts are fundamental to the quality of all lives. Larry Poncho Brown has thoughts, a story to tell and a robust proliferation of empowering, positive, beautiful representations of Blackness, that need to be studied for the clarity and agency he instills in his subjects, in this community that is his home. Leslie King Hammond, PhD
Photo by Kirth Bobb
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