Artist
Autumn Spears
Title
A Gentle Reminder
Date2024
MediumAcrylic paint, synthetic hair and plastic beads on canvas
Dimensions52 x 30 in
Object numberDCCAH2026.006
ClassificationsPaintings
Locations
Martin Luther King, Jr. Library (901 G St NW)
DescriptionInspired by the title story in Virginia Hamilton’s beloved collection of Black American folktales The People Could Fly (1985), Spears’ A Gentle Reminder captures the tale’s epic conclusion: the moment when enslaved people reclaim their ability to fly and escape to freedom. Set against the backdrop of a cotton field at either sunrise or sunset, the artist depicts the South’s duality— its warm, comforting beauty contrasted with its painful legacy of slavery and racial disparity. Two plaits of braided curly hair frame the scene like a window, nodding to how colorism, rooted in slavery, historically created divides between domestic workers with lighter skin and field laborers with darker skin. The window functions both literally and metaphorically, offering a portal to the miraculous event unfolding outside. It raises questions about perspective—who gets to witness liberation, who is left behind, and how proximity to power can shape one’s view of freedom.
