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Blood, White and Blue

Blood, White and Blue | Bryan Robinson, 2018

Materials: Cotton, Batiks
Techniques: Raw-edge appliqué, hand embroidered, machine quilted
Finished Size: 60" x 80"
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The American flag has historically stood as a symbol of freedom and patriotism for our nation. It is the relic we are asked to pledge allegiance to and is flown at half staff to communicate mourning, distress, or respect. In making this quilt I wanted to highlight and acknowledge the hidden and often dismissed history of our American flag - one where the stars and stripes that connote freedom cover the blood of my ancestors, people of color, and indigenous people who gravely suffered, gave their life, or were exploited while building this nation. In present day, our country still suffers from the residue of slavery and unaddressed centering of white normative standards and systems of power and privilege. I represented the dichotomous history of our flag by maintaining the structure of the flag while making key design choices that highlight injustice - the red stripes appear as dripping blood to recognize the blood on our hands as a nation in systematically and violently oppressing people of color, the white stripes show hanging bodies to represent a stark contrast to the perceived “purity” of the color, and the stars represent outlines of killers and their victims. You’ll notice one body that is hanging has a graduation cap, that is me. I chose to put myself in the quilt to acknowledge that no matter how much I push against the system of oppression to defy the low expectations and stereotypical narratives of black men and boys - I am always going to be left unprotected and at-risk to being seen as a dangerous threat and that the reality of this is painful, unfair, and unjust. ​

Address

Social Justice Sewing Academy
​PO Box 2473 
​Antioch, CA 94531

Email

info@sjsacademy.com
  • HOME
  • Shop
  • ABOUT
    • THE MOVEMENT >
      • WHAT WE DO >
        • Quilts of Remembrance
        • The SJSA Remembrance Project >
          • Remembrance Project Page
        • Block of the Month
        • SJSA Business Incubator
      • TESTIMONIALS
      • OUR COMMUNITY QUILT PROCESS
    • MEET THE TEAM
    • SJSA AMBASSADORS >
      • Audrey Bernier
      • Bryan Robinson
      • Cecilia Charney
      • Kailah Foreman
      • Ann Guiam
      • Carina Cabriales
      • Chloe Gorski
      • Fia Carlone
      • Yohana Tecleab
  • DONATE
    • SPONSOR
  • GET INVOLVED
    • EMBROIDER A BLOCK >
      • Examples of Embroidery
    • HOST A WORKSHOP
    • JOIN THE TEAM
    • HOST THE ART
  • GALLERY
    • WORKSHOPS >
      • Arts in Corrections Conference
      • Alliance Gertz-Ressler High School
      • Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
      • Cambridge Rindge and Latin
      • Jefferson High School
      • Girls Garage Workshop
      • Lakota Youth Speak
      • Obama Portrait Workshop
      • Pollination Project Workshop
      • RAC x Latina Center Workshop
      • Stitch. Resist. Persist.
      • Overton High School
      • Vallejo Probation
    • PROGRAMS >
      • SJSA x SJQTM >
        • Community Action Projects
      • 2019 SUMMER INSTITUTE
      • 2018 SUMMER INSTITUTE
      • SJSA Summer 2018
      • Berkeley Summer 2016
    • Quilts >
      • Individual Quilts
      • Berkeley SJSA Class of 2016
      • Art Behind Bars Volume I
      • Art Behind Bars Volume II
      • Community Quilts >
        • 2016 Community Quilts
        • 2017 Community Quilts
        • 2018 Community Quilts
        • 2019 Community Quilts
        • 2020 Community Quilts
      • Cuba Series
      • Obama Portrait Series
    • Exhibitions >
      • Current Exhibitions >
        • UC Riverside
      • Past Exhibitions >
        • Connecting Threads: SF Jewish Center
        • Fuller Craft Museum
        • Pacific International Quilt Festival 2018
        • Threads of Truth Gallery Guide
        • Panorama Framing Gallery
        • Pick Museum at NIU
        • Mule Gallery >
          • Mule Gallery Guide
        • Museum of Design Atlanta
        • New England Quilt Museum
        • QuiltCon 2018
        • QuiltCon 2019
        • QuiltCon 2020
        • Richmond Art Center
        • Ross Art Museum
        • San Jose Museum of Quilt & Textiles
        • Utah Quilt & Sewing Marketplace
        • Voices in Cloth
        • World Quilt Tampa 2019
  • PRESS
    • ARTICLES >
      • A Stitch in Time - Fuller Craft Exhibit Review
      • Brentwood Press
      • Britex Fabric
      • BTMB Magazine
      • Chicago Tribune
      • Craftivism Blog
      • Crafty Planner
      • Create Whimsy
      • Creativity Project
      • Harvard GSE
      • Huffington Post
      • Hyperallergic Article
      • Mercery News
      • Midwest Craft Con 2020
      • Modern Patchwork
      • Quilt Trip
      • Quilting Art Magazine
      • Quilting as a Social Medium
      • Seriously Badass Women
      • Stonemountain and Daughter
      • Teen Vogue
      • Urban Plains
      • Washington Post - Injustice Block
    • PODCASTS >
      • Close Knit Podcast
      • Craft Alliance Podcast
      • Crafty Planner Podcast
      • JCCSF Panel
      • Just Wanna Quilt - Colleen Haraden
      • Just Wanna Quilt - Nancy Williams
      • Just Wanna Quilt - Sara Trail
      • Law and Disorder Podcast
      • Positively Creative Summit
  • CONTACT
  • Resources