20 Odd

In 1619 the crew of The White Lion brought 20 enslaved African people to the British colony Jamestown, Virginia. This marked the start of 250 years of slavery in North America. The 20 silhouetted figures in the center of this quilt are cut from different fabrics with African countries printed on them-- a signal that although their individual identities have been lost, these men may not have all come from the same place. 

Using commercial, contemporary fabric to depict a historical subject, Sara Sonié Joi Ruffin stitches together the present and the past. Her art shows the legacy of the slave trade and its effects on our present moment in the United States as we continue to confront violence against Black people.