REPOSSESSIONS: An Interview with Randy Quarterman
Randy Quarterman and Sarah Eisner are the co-founders of The Reparations Project, a multifaceted redress initiative created by the Quarterman & Keller Fund that seeks to narrow the wealth gap and promote equity by centering descendants of those who were enslaved and supporting descendant families of enslavers to pursue ancestral healing through repairing generational harm.
Repossessions is a group exhibition inspired by the concept of reparations: the effort to repair the economic and psychological devastation caused by slavery for descendants of enslaved African Americans. It presents the work of five Black artists commissioned to create artworks based on documents from the enslavement and sharecropping eras in the United States. Chelle Barbour, Marcus Brown, Rodney Ewing, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle (Olomidara Yaya), and Curtis Patterson each offer insightful ways to understand the significance of the original documents, which were offered to the artists by white families working toward
repair through an initiative of The Reparations Project in collaboration with Reparations4Slavery and date from the 1860s to the early 1900s. Using a variety of visual strategies, the newly produced artworks contribute to viewers’ understanding of the long aftermath of enslavement and the need for reparations.
"The idea of Repossessions is to give objects of ephemera from the enslavement or Jim Crow eras to Black artists to transform. For instance, we currently have a plantation map, a plantation ledger, a sharecropping photograph, and Confederate money, just to start with this first group of five artists."
Bridget R. Cooks, Curator
"What reparations means to me is truth-telling, acknowledgment, and repair."
R4S:
Welcome Randy! First, before we get to the art, what does the idea of reparations mean to you?
Randy:
What reparations means to me is truth-telling, acknowledgment, and repair. The list could go on and on for Black folks like me, but Black art is a powerful tool to use to educate and open the minds and imaginations of both Blacks and whites. Seeing how a Black artist views the ephemera in a white family’s collection, that’s powerful.
You know, I always thought every white person was the descendant of enslavers; whether they were an overseer, a slave owner, or whatever, they were part of the Holocaust of Black people. We never discuss these things, but we think about them.
"Repossessions, the artwork in the show, will open the minds of both Black people and white people to the truth. Even just looking at the descriptions of the artwork could result in an open discussion."
Randy:
Repossessions, the artwork in the show, will open the minds of both Black people and white people to the truth. Even just looking at the descriptions of the artwork could result in an open discussion. Yes, this show is bold, but that’s what’s needed, especially in this climate now where DEI is being put away. If people don't talk about this history, it gives them the excuse to erase this history, right? As the Germans have said, if we learn about our history, we can make sure we never repeat it – but only if we tell the truth about it. I think this country needs that healing.
R4S:
In addition to an element of healing, is there a sense of empowerment in the way these artworks are created? What feelings do these elements invoke in you?
"I had never seen Confederate money, I didn't even know it existed. But to see it on display, to see a Black artist use their imagination to transform this piece of Confederate money, that gave me a feeling of self-confidence. We are not scared anymore."
Absolutely. The first piece I saw was the Confederate money Sarah brought to our screening of The Cost of Inheritance in her hometown. I had never seen Confederate money, I didn't even know it existed. But to see it on display, to see a Black artist use their imagination to transform this piece of Confederate money, that gave me a feeling of self-confidence. We are not scared anymore.
Another piece that moved me was based on a photo of a cotton field - and there's a bunch of aliens! That's the white people, in my eyes. Just imagine what those Africans were thinking when they arrived – “They’re out of this world!” Just seeing that was healing for me.
R4S:
How does the exhibition relate to the concept of reparations for you?
Randy:
I wasn’t really involved with art in the past, but when I started researching it, I saw that Montclair University featured a show about Black Tulsa. And that art exhibit started conversations about reparations for the Tulsa victims. So, I think Repossessions could have a lot of impact on that conversation if the right people see it.
R4S:
Is there a type of object that you would like to see a Black artist respond to?
Randy:
Yes. There's a picture, a horrific picture that’s always shown about the hanging of a Black man. Children are there, and a bunch of white people just pointing….
Knowing that these things were used as postcards…I would like to see that picture reimagined.
"Our projects are about touching and minds. And that's the main thing, that we touch hearts and minds. ”
R4S:
Thank you. Randy. Is there something I haven't asked you? What's in your heart as you think about this exhibition?
Randy:
What's in my heart? Just a lot of appreciation for the effort and hard work that’s gone into the vision for this show. I'm so honored and proud to be part of it. All our projects are about touching and minds. And that's the main thing, that we touch hearts and minds.
I want to also emphasize that it was not only slave labor that we need to visualize but the genocide of humans that were considered property and the acts of horror that came behind that mind frame of owning a human being. It was a war against a nation of people that were removed and displaced from their homeland to serve for the greed of individuals that wanted to establish a “New World” which is called AMERICA!