Antoine GHOST Mitchell Explains the HERO Series

Hero is a special project in so many ways. It first began as my senior project when in my very last semester of Southern University of Baton Rouge. However, when starting the project and when working on it, it became something spiritual to me. The project served as a connection with many ancestors and movements throughout African and African American history. The model used consistently throughout the series is my beautiful wife Erica (Ayxa) Williams. The colors Red, Black, and Green were also used consistently to represent Black liberation, for main purpose of the HERO series is to tell the stories of African and African American heroes and their (our) movements toward freedom.

HERO I: Throne of Fidelity

This is the first of HERO. Throne of Fidelity captures a symbolic scene of Nzinga, queen of the Matamba. She is considered one of the first Africans to lead a rebellion against the Portuguese to thwart the African Slave trade. The scene depicticted in Throne of Fidelity captures the famous incident when Nzinga and her people were to have a meeting with Portuguese councilors. They didn't see fit to offer her a seat because, of course, many Europeans saw Africans only as savages and sub-human. Nzinga's men already anticipated their attitudes, so they rolled out a beautiful rug and one of the queen's warriors offered himself as a throne. This is my personal representation of how I feel Black men should treat the sisters.

 

 

HERO II: Go Back and Fetch It

The second of the HERO series, Go Back and Fetch It is a depiction of an Ashanti queen mother Nana Yaa Asantewa. This beautiful queen led a rebellion against British colonist after the Ashanti king Prompeh I was exiled. As Nana Yaa Asantewa and her men were being pursued, her warriors guarded her until all of them were taken down one by one. The saying "Go Back and Fetch It" is from the Akan word Sankofa. The stool that the model (my lovely wife) sits upon is a stool popular in Ghana. I designed the stool after the sacred golden stool only sat upon by the king.

 

HERO III: Power to the People

Power to the People is actually the concept that HERO evolved from. Where Throne of Fidelity and Go Back and Fetch It depicted actual people, Power to the People depicts the Black Liberation movement using the very symbolic pose of Huey P. Newton in the wicker chair. Although part III, this was actually the first one of the HERO series completed. All of the rest basically took on the same pose but with different concepts. I tried to add certain symbolic elements of the 60s and 70s with the inclusion of the beret, afro, and buttons.

HERO IV: Redemption Songs

Redemption Songs is the final installment of HERO. The last three had the model sitting on symbolic items of their respective movements: a human throne of fidelity, a golden Ashanti stool, and a wicker chair. Redemption Songs shows the model sitting on a conga drum holding not a shotgun, but a guitar instead. The final installment of HERO shows how we use music and art as a weapon against oppression and injustice. Bob Marley and Reggae music has always played a huge role in using my art as a way of Black Liberation.