Anne Braden - Speak Out

Linoleum Block Print

Caligo oil-based ink on BFK Rives 250gsm paper 9”x12”

Portrait in black and white of Anne Braden, Louisville-based antiracist leader and pioneer of showing up for racial justice while white. I carved Anne based on a photograph I found of her sitting in an attic room at her typewriter, smiling her broad, swooping grin over her shoulder at the photographer, probably her husband Carl. I love the image for its casual joy. And I love Anne for her model of steadfastness in some of the most difficult and necessary work a person in our society can do: name the racist forces who strive to separate and dominate us, and work to dismantle them.