Johnson C. Smith University professor Hasaan Kirkland stands next to his artwork. The piece is untitled and is inspired by Lois Mailou Jones artwork "Ubigirl" and "Meditation." (Photo: Tonya Jameson for Qcitymetro.com)

I went into the Mint Museum to learn about artist Lois Mailou Jones, whom I had never heard of before. I left with a renewed appreciation of who we are – as women, as men, as African Americans, and as Americans.

During a lecture at the Mint on Tuesday, Johnson C. Smith University professor Hasaan Kirkland explained the importance of artists such as Jones, who documented our presence – our existence. Listening to Kirkland, I realized how much we still need artists such as Jones, Romare Bearden, and even the young Kirkland, to preserve our stories.

Jones flourished at a time when blacks were fighting to be acknowledged in American culture. Today black culture permeates pop culture, but it is often ghetto culture repackaged as authentic blackness. A nuclear family, such as the Obamas, is seen as unusual rather than the norm. We have gone from being invisible to being marketable caricatures.

“(Art) is about the human condition,” Kirkland said during his lecture. “It is about our lives.”

Jones was black. She was a woman. She was an artist. She was an anomaly. After all, black women of that era were domestics, teachers and nurses. They weren’t painters. Blacks were called colored, negro, or worse. In the narrative called America, we were devalued or ignored, which is why the Harlem Renaissance was so important.

“The recognition of our existence was sorely missing from the social order of America,” Kirkland said. “It is important to learn the history. If you see enough art, you will see yourself.”

These days it feels as if so few of us know who we really are, which makes it impossible to see ourselves. Rather than documenting our existence, many of our popular artists depict who they think we ought to be. And many of our youth and too many adults emulate that imagery.

Kirkland explained how Jones was part of a lineage of black artists who depicted our reality. They showed our resolve and resilience. They reflected our pain and joy. They captured what it was like to be a black American.

Jones painted our lives in vivid hues, showing people with strong faces and settled spirits. In her art we were a man at peace with his fate at the hands of a lynch mob. We were the large African masks. We were the vibrant colors of Haiti. We were the fisherman providing for our families.

“As African Americans we are not one,” Kirkland said. “We are not typecast into one particular role.”

Kirkland use Jones not only to illustrate his point about portraying the complexity, and yet simplicity, of our lives, he also gave us a history lesson in black art. His presentation included a portrait of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members taken by James Van Der Zee. He was a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Van Der Zee was a photographer known for capturing the lives of black New Yorkers.

Kirkland mentioned painter Archibald Motley Jr., best known for capturing black life in Chicago. The JCSU professor told us about painter Aaron Douglas, best known for his murals at Fisk University, and another seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Kirkland referenced Ernie Barnes, of Durham, who was the actual painter of J.J.’s art shown on the sitcom "Good Times." Barnes’ work “Sugar Shack,” depicting a dance scene, closed the show and was also featured on Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” album cover.

All of these artists had their own styles. Some sought inspiration from black life in America. Others, such as Jones and Kirkland, also found inspiration outside our borders. All used their eyes, their souls and their love of black people to capture our stories.

“When we fall or when we pass away, we still have these images to acknowledge our existence,” Kirkland said.

Not all of us are artists, but we have stories to share and legacies to pass on. Kirkland ended his lecture with a question that I will leave with you:

“What are you willing to do to make sure that your presence is recognized?”

(Kirkland will moderate a discussion with other JCSU faculty and local hip-hop visual artist John Hairston Jr. The discussion, “Portrayal of the African-American Male Part II,” will be a town-hall style meeting discussing Michael Jackson’s “Man In the Mirror” and Lois Mailou Jones’ “The Meditation” and “Negro Youth.” If you have a chance to go, you should. Bring a pen and paper because Kirkland will school you and pique your curiosity about other artists. 7 tonight, Biddle Hall, JCSU.)

Editor's Note: “Lois Mailou Jones : A Life in Vibrant Color” includes 70 paintings. It will be at the Mint until Feb. 29. The exhibit, organized by the Mint, will then go to other museums.

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