On View
Visual Arts Gallery
Exhibition
Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
Created by
Catlett, Elizabeth, Mexican and American, 1915 - 2012
Subject of
X, Malcolm, American, 1925 - 1965
Date
1969
Medium
ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W (unframed): 35 1/2 × 27 1/2 in. (90.2 × 69.9 cm)
Caption
“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”
—Malcolm X, 1962
Malcolm X’s oft-quoted statement underscores his profound concern for the marginalization of Black women. Created four years after his assassination, Catlett’s homage to Malcolm X employs the iconic photograph of the armed activist vigilantly watching over his family—a symbol of protection and resistance. Pictured in black near the upper right corner, the repeated image of a woman above him is drawn from Catlett’s I Am the Black Woman series (1946–47), a body of work that celebrates the resilience, strength, and heroism of African American women.
Description
A color lithograph print titled “Malcolm X Speaks for Us” by Elizabeth Catlett. Across the top, Catlett repeats the image of a woman's face from her work "I am the black woman." In the upper right quadrant is a black, three-quarter view of Malcom X, looking to the left. In the upper left quadrant is a repeated image of a child's face in a row of three followed by a row of two, varying in colors of brown and orange. This is the same image repeated in Catlett’s “Flowers for George Jackson.” In the bottom left corner is an image of another child's face, repeated three times in an overlapping, horizontal row of green, orange, and blue. The print is titled and signed by the artist in pencil in the lower right corner [Malcolm X Speaks for Us E. Catlett 1969].
Classification
Visual Arts
Type
lithographs
Topic
Activism
Art
Black power
Gender
Women
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Estate of Carroll Parrott Blue
Object number
2023.39.6
Restrictions & Rights
© Estate of Elizabeth Catlett
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd527c3eb39-86e9-4c49-9492-d7c242e081ae

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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