Wendy S. Walters

James Smalls

Iris Moon

Elyse Nelson

Caitlin Meehye Beach

Adrienne L. Childs

Rachel Hunter Himes

Sarah E. Lawrence

A critical reexamination of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's bust Why Born Enslaved!, this book unpacks the sculpture's engagement with—and defiance of—an antislavery discourse. In this clear-eyed look at the Black figure in nineteenth-century sculpture, noted art historians and writers discuss how emerging categories of racial difference propagated by the scientific field of ethnography grew in popularity alongside a crescendo in cultural production in France during the Second Empire. By comparing Carpeaux's bust Why Born Enslaved! to works by his contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as to objects by twenty‑first‑century artists Kara Walker and Kehinde Wiley, the authors touch on such key themes as the portrayal of Black enslavement and emancipation; the commodification of images of Black figures; the role of sculpture in generating the sympathies of its audiences; and the relevance of Carpeaux's sculpture to legacies of empire in the postcolonial present. The book also provides a chronology of events central to the histories of transatlantic slavery, abolition, colonialism, and empire.</p>

Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux's Why Born Enslaved! Reconsidered

A Touch of You and Me: The Human Journey touches upon the author's struggle to reach for the sometimes elusive meaning of life and faith, and follows the human Journey through both the joys and perils of love. It incorporates an understanding of spiritual principles articulating the link between the divine and the temporal. Each chapter of the collection focuses on a specific experience or event. The collection opens with "Life" and goes on to touch upon "Faith" with selections such as Timeless Grace and Thirsty Soul. Later, "Hope" depicts the ever-changing process through which one must journey as is evident in A Virtual World of Hope: So today, life is transformed into three dimensions. One, with irrelevance has been stilled, Another, in disgrace, sacrificed its space. And yet, with much effort, another given uninhibited wings. Under the heading "Love," similar themes are revisited while flirting with the unpredictability of love. In Love Untamed the speaker attempts to capture such unpredictability as the speaker personifies the nature of Love. So unpredictable she is, For as the curse of a queen's venom she strikes. Yet, as a prudent fool, to her, all is forfeited. A Touch of You and Me: The Human Journey, closes with "Tragedy" and "Victory," two chapters revolving around perhaps two extremes that highlight the overall theme of the volume.

The Human Journey

A Touch of You and Me

James Smalls

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