What inspired you to work on this piece (not sure of name so I'm referring to it as the Smith Brown piece or is this piece called Wake up)?

The title “Whose Blood?” actually came from some captions in Southern University’s 1973 “Red Black and Green Yearbook” that recaptured the 1972 Smith and Brown Incident through pictorials.

Well I consider myself a student of the Civil Rights/Black Power Movements.  A lot of my work, be it visual or literary, focuses around that time period and parallels it to events and problems of today.  I am also a proud alumni of Southern University; a Fine Arts major.  While enrolled at Southern I would go into the Smith-Brown Memorial Union and pass by the painting of Smith and Brown and wonder what happened to them. 

A combination of different things went into the drawing “Whose Blood?”.  The central theme is the November 16, 1972 Smith and Brown incident which happened on the grounds of Southern University after a student protest and a series of events preceding it. It also connects other events during the Civil Rights/Black Power Movements where innocent people where caught in the crossfires of oppression and killed; and also where influential people were targeted…and killed.

It also attacks, on a subliminal level, the blood that is on the hands of those who directly or indirectly had many leaders and innocents killed.  In the drawing I have Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr.  Among those leaders was Fred Hampton, the Chicago leader of the Black Panther Party who was assassinated in his sleep on December 4, 1969.  Others leaders were Black Panthers Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins.  As far as the innocents: Cynthia Wesley, Carol Robertson, Denise McNair and Addie Mae Collins, which are the four little girls killed in the 1963 Birmingham bombing.  Of course bringing the piece full circle are Leonard Brown and Denver Smith, who were, according to research about the 1972 incident, were innocent bystanders who had nothing to do with the protests at Southern University on that day.  According to sources, it was an assassination attempt gone wrong.

This is why you see the large assassin’s crosshair. Embedded in the crosshair is a confederate flag with is a representation of “southern oppression” that resonated metaphorically all over the nation, especially during the 60s and 70s. On the left side is certain political and non-political figures that had direct or indirect hands in the deaths of the aforementioned leaders/innocents. Those are of course the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Department, J. Edgar Hoover—the first director of the FBI, Richard Helms—director of COINTELPRO (Counter-intelligence Program), Richard Nixon, Bull Connor, Governor George Wallace, and the Klu Klux Klan. 

Two more figures are Edwin Edwards, who was the Louisiana Governor during the 1972, and Dr. Netterville, the president of the SU system during the protests.  Upon both their faces I have a “?”.  Behind Netterville there is also a $20 bill, which represents that many people were probably paid off to stay quiet about the situation.

Splashed throughout the 30 x 40 Inch horizontal piece is bits of red paint which represents blood.  Whose Blood?

How many hours did it take to create it?

It took about 30 hours to complete. The longest process was the line drawing to make sure everyone looked like they were suppose to look. 

Many of the images, as far as Southern University is concerned, came from the 1973 “Red, Black and Green” Yearbook which has many photos of the 1972 incident, including one of the victims being loaded onto a gurney.   I believe that victim to be Denver Smith (as I was told, because Leonard Brown allegedly had his hair braided).  That image became the central focus of the drawing. Instead of drawing what may have been paramedics loading him onto the gurney, I instead replaced them with Malcolm X, MLK, and Fred Hampton.  Directly below it is the actual drawings of Smith and Brown’s faces.  After drawing that, everything else fell into place on its own.

Give me some insight on the history of the event because we are looking at its anniversary this month.

Well, based on the information I have and from the perspective of various people I had interviewed, the students on Southern University of Baton Rouge and New Orleans as well, presented a list of grievances that included better education that was reflective of them (Black people), better learning facilities, books, etc… I believe it also had something to do with the resignation of a certain psychology department chair—that is taken from one of the acquired chronology files.  This was also during the time where many Historical Black Colleges were not only protesting for better learning rights, but also was the breeding grounds for many revolutionary movements.

To make a long story short, many of the demands were not met. According to one of the chronology break-downs, a series of events occurred which included facilities being destroyed, a riot—speculations—and the arrest of four students.  On the morning of November 16, 1972 students marched to the old Administration Building (which isn’t there anymore) to further discuss the unanswered demands, as well as the arrest of four students of Students United that occurred 4 A.M. that morning by Sheriff’s Deputies . Phone calls were made between the University president and the director of Campus security, James L. Hunt.  Hunt was kept informed that “the students were walking peacefully over to the administration building by radio communication from Campus Security officers.”  According to a chronology, after receiving these reports, James Hunt contacted the Sheriff’s office to inform the Sheriff on what was occurring on the Campus.

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