A Remarkable Story Worth Telling:
Stories about the Black Experience are appearing as never before and this one is exceptional in several ways. Not only does it explore Black Americans’ search for a life of equality and fairness beyond our borders, it has the additional facet of a dazzling work of art that adds luster and mystery. What's more, a living descendant of the subject of this portrait lives in Washington, DC.
Patterson and his fellow troupe members left America in 1932 and entered a startlingly new environment. At home, the Scottsboro Boys’ trial was at its height and Jim Crow reigned; in Russia, people of color were treated with kindness and decency. To a person, the members of the Moscow movie group said they had never felt as free and respected in their lives as they did in Russia.
For thirty years, I have answered questions from curious observers of this painting. From house guests, to museum curators, to a University of Virginia-sponsored symposium inspired by the portrait, to museum exhibitions, people from all walks of life have endless questions about the many stories contained in this painting. Few Americans know anything about the small group of African-Americans who went to Moscow in hopes of changing the world, let alone the story of one man who lived out his life in a foreign land so different from his home country.
For me, discovering this remarkable portrait was a stroke of luck that continues to resonate. It has enabled a reexamination of Lloyd Patterson's remarkable life even as it reframes the African-American search for a better life with a dazzling and unexpected depiction of a man of color.
As I see it, seismic shifts in history have rearranged maps and many minds so that we can all finally see an image of an African-American that is no longer a shock or a surprise, but a fitting representation of a man of color in 21st century America.
Stories about the Black Experience are appearing as never before and this one is exceptional in several ways. Not only does it explore Black Americans’ search for a life of equality and fairness beyond our borders, it has the additional facet of a dazzling work of art that adds luster and mystery. What's more, a living descendant of the subject of this portrait lives in Washington, DC.
Patterson and his fellow troupe members left America in 1932 and entered a startlingly new environment. At home, the Scottsboro Boys’ trial was at its height and Jim Crow reigned; in Russia, people of color were treated with kindness and decency. To a person, the members of the Moscow movie group said they had never felt as free and respected in their lives as they did in Russia.
For thirty years, I have answered questions from curious observers of this painting. From house guests, to museum curators, to a University of Virginia-sponsored symposium inspired by the portrait, to museum exhibitions, people from all walks of life have endless questions about the many stories contained in this painting. Few Americans know anything about the small group of African-Americans who went to Moscow in hopes of changing the world, let alone the story of one man who lived out his life in a foreign land so different from his home country.
For me, discovering this remarkable portrait was a stroke of luck that continues to resonate. It has enabled a reexamination of Lloyd Patterson's remarkable life even as it reframes the African-American search for a better life with a dazzling and unexpected depiction of a man of color.
As I see it, seismic shifts in history have rearranged maps and many minds so that we can all finally see an image of an African-American that is no longer a shock or a surprise, but a fitting representation of a man of color in 21st century America.