The Little Prisoners- Hank Willis Thomas
I chose “The Little Prisoners” because of the strong impression it left on me during our first visit. Thinking about to our first visit to Smack Mellon, it definitely wasn’t something I expected from our first class. However, it fit with our title, Conflict and Coexistence, and it was something that I wouldn’t have seen on my own time. When I first saw this piece, I was a bit uncomfortable because I don’t usually expect to see myself in the art I came to see. Thinking back, the uncomfortable-ness that I felt looking at this piece mimicked a lot of what we feel during these incidents. Some of it may be from the shock of seeing these incidents of police brutality, but it is also the discomfort of just seeing oneself this kind of situation. There is a difference between seeing it and being in it. This piece serves as a reminder these issues such as racial tensions and police brutality aren’t just contained within what we see. It’s something that’s all around us and as uncomfortable as it is, it’s not something that we can or should ignore but should respond to.
