During these painful times, of resilience and resistance, we have testified many of the deaths and cases of violence towards black Americans. The presence of white supremacism is visible and tangible. But so is the Black Lives Matter movement, especially after responding to the last seen case of police bloodthirstiness— I’m restraining myself from saying “brutality” since it is only a euphemism—. The fight is for what the murder of George Floyd represents: a white supremacist state, the targeting of black people, the dismissal of the needs and struggles of a community, and the unnecessary power granted to law enforcement authorities.

People have shown solidarity in many ways: donating to the families of the victims, sharing and posting on social media, or protesting in the streets of Minneapolis and other parts of the country.

Artists from Mexico, Latvia, Germany, Canada, Greece and different locations in the United States have shown their outrage and support to the movement. Here are some of their words and works:

Trinity, a German artist and activist shared an illustration with a poem she wrote after the death of George Floyd. She shared about the symbolism in her piece:

“The Black Power fist is a symbol of resistance, of solidarity and unity, that we do not support what happens to us black people”

Trinity also criticized the unperturbed sentences that are given to perpetrators, when the victim is a black person.

Mathew Nacho Ward is an artist from Los Angeles. His illustrations and tattoos usually include Buddhist imagery. This portrait carries a message of compassion, love, awareness, protection towards the most vulnerable and an invitation to unite against injustice. Ward states:

“I feel now more than ever it is imperative that artists wield their art as a weapon to destroy these systems of oppression, and if we don’t fight to end injustice, we are no better than the ones inflicting the pain.”

Paige Ingram, is an artist from Minneapolis. This piece was part of an influential spiritual experience, she mentioned that creating this piece was her way of showing devotion and offering a prayer, the stories from the people that knew George Floyd personally, also influenced her piece.

“After having a powerfully transformative experience fasting the month of Ramadan and celebrating Eid, I saw the about the murder of George Floyd ”

She expressed her discomfort about how the media managed the information initially by not mentioning his name, she saw it as “stripping of his humanity and his spirit”.

Thanasis is an artist from Greece. Her profile features portraits of American celebrities; but on her last post, things turned political. She showed a video of the process of her watercolor portrait of George Floyd. Thanasis stated:

“It’s really sad that we live in 2020 and still happen incidents like this...”

Art by Crystaldrawsstuff @crystaldrawsstuff

Crystaldrawsstuff, from Los Angeles is an artist and mental health advocate. Her art is vibrant and features positive messages. The artist added her optimistic touch to George Floyd’s illustration.

“Silence is not an option and we all have to step up and do what’s right, now and forever if we want a real change in the world.”

In her post from May 28th, she mentioned she usually keeps distance from political matters, the caption also includes information about ways to support the movement, and highlighted that her duty as an ally is listening to the black community's needs, opening her ears and asking how she can help.

Manal Mirza, is a Pakistani-American artist from Chicago. Her art focuses on Islamic Culture, featuring women surrounded by red, green and pink hues, also inspired by South Asian traditional paintings.

The piece she posted on May 25th, depicts people of color protesting with masks on. The caption for this post narrates briefly what CNN posted about the protesters in Minneapolis.

Chloe’s art is heavily influenced by punk and postpunk subcultures. And this piece was particularly political, she communicated concern regarding ways people can support the family of George Floyd. In the caption of her portrait, she invites people to comment petitions and resources. She also indicated that:

“We need this rage so we can stop the terrorism in this country ”

Chloe called artists and social media users to use any platform possible to inform their audience.

Talya is an artist from Alabama. Her paintings and drawings are full of vibrant colors, harsh lines, and relevant figures in the black community and pop culture. On May 26, she posted a colored pencil portrait with her signature style on her Instagram. The caption includes her thoughts about people who don’t understand the importance of the BLM movement and offers condolences to Geroge Floyd's family.

Talya mentioned his death has affected her deeply, and art has helped her to process the emotions. She emphasized how by creating a portrait, she develops intimacy with the person she draws:

“In George Floyd’s felt a profound kindness and gentleness. I wanted to look at him in a way that I can only do when I’m creating. For me, it felt like the best way to pay my respects”

Talya also talked about how art is a language by itself, that when there are no words for an emotion or a situation, consuming and creating art play a therapeutic role, especially in the black community:

“The outpouring from the Black community really highlights our resilience and beauty and adaptability ”

Olivia is a self taught artist from Poland. Her drawings are colored pencils on paper. This portrait was inspired by the illustration by digital illustrator Stratidiblu (@stratidiblu).

In the caption for this drawing she quotes George Floyd’s last words and expresses: “it’s really heartbreaking to even think about that”.

Justīne made a digital portrait of George Floyd. This portrait stands out from the rest of her drawings that contain anime-like characters and soft colors, as well as some recognizable people in American culture. The artist from Latvia posted about George Floyd’s undeserving death. She also shared:

“I don’t live in America and I am not black but I grieve with all of you. That is murder and nothing less [...] your life matters, it always has and always will”

Ana Paula Castro is an artist from Mexico City. Her art displays her involvement in feminism, immigration and human rights activism. Ana Paula indicated she has relatives from Mexico living in the United States that are outraged by the situation. For her, art is a way to being present in the protests:

“I believe in the power of imagery. Even though I can’t be there in Minnesota protesting and burning down racism, this image is a way for me to show my stance against racism and to support the acts of resistance”

Nashid Chroma is a digital illustrator from Canada, his creations include portraits with a chromatic effect on each facial feature, giving it various colors in every section of the person’s skin. In the caption of his portrait of George Floyd he expresses:

“Painting this was hard... he has so much life and happiness in the image.”

As well as the finalized portrait, Nashid Chroma attached a time-lapse video of the process of his illustration.

Strati Di Blu's illustration has been going around on social media. The majority of his illustrations depict social criticism and satire. This illustration posted in May 27th, includes a caption with George Floyd's words when he pleaded for his life.

Mahala Preudhomme, is an artist from North Carolina. She calls herself “self taught, queer and liberal”. Mahala has been in the field for 4 years, her specialty is portrait painting and photography. As part of her passion of capturing facial expressions, she did a painting of George Floyd titled “I Can’t Breathe”, she included a video of the portrait and herself next to it, holding a sign where she names other victims. Her comments on what it represents were:

“Is the trauma all POC especially black people in the United States suffer through on a daily basis [...] The recent murder of Geroge Floyd has personally triggered me and everyone in my community ”

She added that art has always been relevant in political situations, and that it has the unique power to draw attention to social issues.

Art by Marcus Kwame Anderson @marcus_kwame

Marcus Kwame Anderson is a painter, graphic novelist and illustrator. He created this piece in 2012 to honor Trayvon Martin — the 17 year old high school student, who was unarmed, and fatally shot —, as well as Emmet Till, who also appears in the painting, the artist mentioned that the other shadow like figures represent the lesser known victims of racial violence. Marcus decided to repost the photo of this painting on his Instagram profile and honor the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Walter Scott, Fred Hampton, “and countless others”. In the caption he quotes:

“I go through life everyday knowing that my life and the life of my brothers and sisters is seen as disposable in this country. A lot of non-black people would crumble if they had to carry that weight around all the time”

Marcus stated that he’s always felt connected to social justice and arts, his influences are poets, musicians, visual artists that incorporate social commentary into their works. Marcus believes art is a way to inspire others and call attention to what happens in the world, as well as to honor the victims.

He also highlighted his views about the current situation of the manifestations:

“The continued cycle of over-policing and murder of Black people has resulted in protest and unrest across the country [...] Black Lives Matter, this is not negotiable”

He finalized: “to paraphrase Muhammad Ali, ‘none of us are free until we're all free”.

Many of the artists changed the focus of their creations to raise awareness among their followers and show their support, others are known for permeating their work with messages about social justice; some have traced a career as artists and have gained recognition as such, while others are starting their path.

Nevertheless, they all accentuate an inherent feature of art beyond aesthetic: it presents what an era is going through, collecting the generalized emotion, needs and desires of a society.

If you want to support:

Minnesota Freedom Fund:

https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/donate

George Floyd memorial fund organized by Philonise Floyd:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

I Run With Maud Fundraiser:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud

https://www.change.org/p/andy-beshear-justice-for-breonna-taylor

National Bail Out Fund:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/freeblackmamas2020

Artists of the world unite for Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter: Documented by Black Lives

Local hikers concerned about illegal dumping in Horseman Center