For example , German ’ s Lessons On How to Ride the Eagle , the secret of charm is color , The Greater ( 2016 ), a mixed-media installation from her
“ i am armed . i am an army ” solo exhibition at the Pavel Zoubok Gallery in New York , displays three power figures in chariot-like fashion , garnished in various multicolored hues , ripe and ready for battle , is very reminiscent of Yaa Asantewaa ; the Queen Mother of the Edweso tribe of the Ashanti people in Ghana , who would lead an army of 5,000 women and men against the British .
Her power figures — especially those holding guns like in her dynamic piece pistol unwhipped — conjure up spiritual manifestations of Harriet Tubman , in all her courageousness , guiding slaves to freedom with a gun loaded , cocked and ready to use on those who considered returning to the bondage of slavery while on the Underground Railroad . A counter to white supremacy , an ode to racial pride and gender equity , and a mantra for justice , German ’ s work details both the strength and resiliency of Black women , who , in spite of chronic marginalization , endure and flourish .
THE FACTS : BLACK WOMEN AND GUN VIOLENCE
22 % of homicides for Black women are outcomes of domestic violence and intimate partner violence , making it one of the leading causes of death for Black women between the ages of 15 and 35 .
Of the 21 reported homicides in the transgender community in 2016 — many by gun violence — 95 % were people of color and 85 % were women . Black transgender women continue to be murdered at disproportionate rates .
However , to be a Black woman in America is more than living in a state of weariness . There is glory ; a resilient glory that transcends from the spirit of Black women who are alive and from those who are no longer in the physical . Learning from mothers , sisters , friends , lovers and partners , being a Black woman , there is always room for celebration . Because in spite of the violence enacted on Black women , even in physical demise , they cannot kill the spirit — the spirit of resistance . Whether through political mobilization , spoken word , or art , there are Black women around the world who are ensuring the memories of Black women and girls lost and the presence of those who are currently here , are not overlooked or in vain ; as they celebrate daily through their various mediums that in wake of any outcome of police brutality , racialized state violence and gun violence , something has tried to kill the spirit of Black women and failed .
“ The power of femininity and the power of being a creative is something that has been a part of my entire life ,” German says , who was raised in Los Angeles , California and Loveland , Ohio . “ My mother was an artist and from a very young age , I understood that your life is in your ideas and you are able to negotiate anything through the resource of your creativity , your brain , your body , and your imagination .”
“ I try to take it as personally as I can ,”
German says , reflecting on nationallevel , police shooting deaths of Black women . “ I have such a vivid imagination . I imagine places , I imagine sites , [ and ] I imagine sensations . I superimpose those times when police have banged on my door with sounds of police banging on
Korryn Gaines ’ door . I am also tired of the push narratives and comments that Black folks are worthy of the terrorism perpetrated on them .”
While German is gravely affected by racialized state violence , she has also experienced gun violence face-toface in her neighborhood of Homewood . She offers that the encounters are anything but glamorous .
“ There is sorrow and trauma . Street death is not romantic and I think it has been romanticized ,” German says . She sighs . “ It is very difficult to watch a person die in the street . It is not a trauma that is treated like a trauma ; we don ’ t treat victims of trauma with the care that research
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