Elegba Folklore Society’s voting-rights focused exhibit offers unique look at 50+ years of civil rights

by | Dec 23, 2016 | RICHMOND POLITICS

Showcasing photographs of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, “Foot Soldiers: Voting Rights. Civil Rights. Human Rights” is a call for action against inequality and violence.

The exhibition is on display, with free admittance, in the Elegba Folklore Society‘s main building on Broad Street until December 31.

Theodore Holmes, the photographer who created “Foot Soldiers,” wanted to commemorate and give a voice to the activists at the march. “I always try to stand apart from the crowd,” he said. “I try to find the proper perspective- I’m trying to tell their story.”

While curating his photos for the exhibition, a certain narrative thread emerged more strongly than others. “I wanted to have people look at the photographs of the children,” said Holmes. “That’s our future. Children should be protected, and Tamir Rice- when the police rolled up on him like they did and just- shot him. Killed a twelve year old. And that really affected me.”

The Elegba Folklore Society, as a cultural arts and education nonprofit, strives to provide educational opportunities through the arts and to re-instill cultural foundations in the African American community.

Besides its exhibitions, the Society also offers African Dance classes, cultural heritage tours following the trail of enslaved Africans in Richmond, and seasonal events, such as its Kwanza Festival.

“Foot Soldiers” is firmly in keeping with the Society’s focus on education through the arts. “Not to sound corny, but that adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, can be beneficial,” said Janine Bell, President and Artistic Director of the Elegba Folklore Society.

“The photographs play out the title of the exhibition because you see people standing as foot soldiers, carrying the banners of these messages,” said Bell. “That’s important.”

Historically, though, a control on images and control over perspective can be difficult to confront. “African Americans, before we were Americans, as Africans and slaves, we were always in opposition to those who were hired to protect White people’s property,” Bell said. “We were on the other side of the equation, from slave catchers, to, as our ancestors would say, the paddy rollers, the patrollers, to the police. And this rash, if you will, of state sponsored violence may be new to you, but it’s not new.”

The visibility and acknowledgment of violence has been critical to Civil Rights movements through the years. “The Black Panthers were started in Oakland simply because police in Oakland had a habit of telling people to raise their hands, and when they’d raise their hands, they’d shoot them in their arm pits,” Holmes said. “So nothing’s changed, everything’s really the same. Just, now, thanks to [cell phones], people can record some of these things.”

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place on August 28, 1963, when 200,000 Americans gathered for a political demonstration in Washington, D.C. The March culminated in Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and became an iconic moment in the Civil Rights Movement of the time.

For Holmes, seeing the original March on Washington was a demonstration of the power of visibility. “Having been a child, I saw the original march on television,” he said. “I was really amazed at that- that people came out to support that cause, it really gave me a good feeling just to see people like Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Charlton Heston. Those people actually came out and stood and marched.”

“I was really attracted to that, because of the fact that, as a black kid running around Richmond, I was like, ‘somebody actually cares about us.'”

The event aimed for a reincarnation with a 50th anniversary return to DC. Tens of thousands of men, women and children took returned to the Lincoln Memorial where King spoke. Taking photographs of the March in 2013 gave Holmes a chance to bring forward his perspective on the same event that he saw on TV 50 years before.

“I wanted people to look at the flow, of course,” he said reflecting on what was important to catch and display in the new exhibit. “But I wanted them to look at the children and think, yes, our children are important, we need to protect our children. I can’t emphasize that too much.”

This desire to inform people and to make the world a little bit safer meant that “Foot Soldiers” also gives people access to helpful information. At the end of the exhibition, on a small table, Holmes has included a set of pamphlets on voting laws and advice on what to do when stopped by the police.

He hopes people can unite around a principle of equality and compassion. “The struggle is ongoing, the struggle has always been ongoing,” he said. “My work is not just about black people, my work is a human struggle… All people need to come together as they did in the original March On Washington. It was all people.”

The Elegba Folklore Society will continue to showcase “Foot Soldiers: Civil Rights. Voting Rights. Human Rights,” with free admittance, until December 31.

The Society’s building will be open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to six or seven. Individuals and groups can also make an appointment to see the exhibition with a guided tour.

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner




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