Berry, King, Terkel, Baldwin, and...

November 6, 2004 11:30 AM

Americans who tell the truth.
posted by moonbird (7 comments total)

Thank you, moonbird. I know what I'm getting some family members for Christamas.
posted by tayknight at 12:28 PM on November 6, 2004

thanks moonbird, this was uplifting to look at.
posted by t r a c y at 12:57 PM on November 6, 2004

Thanks, moonbird. I've been thinking about posting this for the last few years. (I think this is a better place to start than the home page, to get the idea.) Robert (the artist) is a great guy, and I've been working on the project as well; I've written 25%-30% of the mini-biographies for the site (a lot of those that are done haven't been posted yet).

To me one of the best things about the project is that Robert is actually going to meet the people he's painting (obviously, the ones still alive), so it has been quite an educational experience for him as well. Plus he's reading books by and about them, as am I. I actually volunteered to help him out while at a party people in this area were throwing for Studs Terkel, who is a terrific person to hang out with.

I think this portrait of (the aptly named) Sojourner Truth is my favorite of the bunch, although Helen Keller is also good. (I wrote all three of the Terkel/Truth/Keller bios, but only one is posted so far.)
posted by LeLiLo at 1:36 PM on November 6, 2004

Oh that truth tellin stuff is like so last century. ;>)

Thanks for the post.
posted by thedailygrowl at 2:40 PM on November 6, 2004

For a minute there I read "Kathy Kelly" as "Kitty Kelly".
posted by orange swan at 2:58 PM on November 6, 2004

This is very good.
posted by jb at 5:56 PM on November 6, 2004

Wow, breathtaking! Thanks for the link, moonbird. Randomly, the first portrait I clicked on was Noam Chomsky, and whatever you think of the man himself, I thought the quote was especially apt:

"“…jingoism, racism, fear, religious fundamentalism: these are the ways of appealing to people if you’re trying to organize a mass base of support for policies that are really intended to crush them."
posted by somethingotherthan at 9:28 PM on November 6, 2004