Betye Saar; Aunt Jemima's Packin' HEAT!

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0:11This is Raquel and Chelsea, and you're listening to Baroque Bitches. Welcome to Baroque Bitches, your art history gossip podcast. I'm Chelsea. I'm Raquel. And we're going to get into the Down and Dirty Tea on this high-brow fancy art.

0:50Welcome to November. Yay! We're in it. We're locked in. Locked in for the holidays. I hope we are doing okay. Or we're just canceling the holidays altogether. I don't know. I don't know. I'm doing homemade this year, trying to, as much as possible. I get, like, an end-of-the-year gift card from work, so that's my budget for the kids. And then everything else I'm going to try and make. Baked goods? I mean, like, things like that? Yeah.

1:21Give me, like, a jam. Give me a jam. Everything is so expensive now. Like, what are we even doing? Making each other spend all this money for what? Seriously. Yeah. I've, the last few Christmases with me and my husband have, I've definitely been like, can we not? Can my Christmas present be not to get you a Christmas present? Can both of our Christmas presents be no Christmas present? Yeah. That's, like, kind of where we're at. We have too many other people to worry about. Yeah. Oh, my God. And we just have the finance.

1:51It's hard to budget it. Yeah. It's hard. It's hard out here. We can't buy groceries right now. So, presents, you're tripping. Yeah, absolutely. You're going to get a lovely little note from me. I will make you a nice picture, a drawing. Dude. Okay. Goodwill. Go to the Goodwill. Go get your frames. Go to a frame. Goodwill's expensive, too, now. Goodwill's expensive, too, now. I know. Go to the dollar store has frames, you guys. That's actually true. Go to the dollar store. Get your frames.

2:22Go on their Facebook. Print out a picture. Boom. They're going to keep it forever. Bada bing. It's good forever. Yeah. Get a little picture of their dog. People love drawings of their pets, even if they're bad. Yeah, you can draw. Objective. Not, like, you know, bad. We love bad art now. Don't make it terrible. Like, try. Well, yeah. Put some effort in. Dude. They'll keep that thing forever. I feel like even if it was, like, you know, looked like a child made it, like, people would love it. I would love it. Oh, my God. And when my nieces give me artwork, I, like, pretty much cry every time.

2:59Oh, my God. You're real emotional. I love it. Yeah. I love their creation. So much more than a fucking candle. Yes. And so Diego's birthday is coming up. Sagittarius. And there are a few things we've been doing that are creative adjacent that I want to share because I saw somebody else do it. Now I'm doing it. I love it. So after school, we do art together. And I just try to get him, like, he's not naturally interested in art.

3:33So I'm trying to do no parameters, go with the flow, just make it as fun as possible. Now he's enjoying doing it every day. And then another thing we do after dinner is we journal together. So he'll dictate a story to me, and I will write the story in the journal, and then he draws a picture to go with it. Because he can write, but he's going to be so balanced. Oh, my God. He's going to be such a good man. But it takes all of, like, 10 minutes to do this, and it's been so fun. So for his fifth birthday, I'm doing a five book.

4:08Or it's his sixth birthday. I'm sorry. But I'm doing a five book. And it'll be, like, every month of the year, photo album with drawings, his art, everything put together. And then hopefully give him one a year with, like, some of the stories, some pictures. And that'll be, like, his birthday present. Right? It's so fun. It's so good. Again, not my original idea, but we're doing it our own way. And yeah. Yeah. Whatever. No, do arts and crafts with kids.

4:39Dude, crafting, when I was a kid, crafting was kind of the only thing I wanted to do. Yeah, me too. I was that kid. And so having a child who's, like, not that kid has been interesting of, like, how do we get you to, like, access this part? Not that I want, because I don't want to force it, but I do want him to, like, feel capable of it. And he totally is. And it's so fun to see him, like, not, like, kind of, oh, you do, you can learn how to be creative, you know? Like, it's not naturally in all of us.

5:11Sometimes it needs a little push. No. Yeah. Creativity is in everybody. But we all have cool ideas, that one, that thing that you, unicorn with a cat in space going through sad, like, you've got cool ideas. It's just hard to get them out. Yeah, sometimes it is. It's hard to get them out. Yeah. And just getting into, like, a good habit of doing them, I think, can be the first step. So, yeah. I think that's probably good for anxiety and stuff like that. That's so good. That's so good.

5:42So, make your little journals for yourselves, too. I mean, why not? You could do it alongside your child, too. It was so fun. Yes. Yes. Cute. Wholesome. I am so wholesome. Well, I wanted to get into a big one today because we've had some. We have had some. I wanted to get into a solid Angelino today. California girl. She's a California girl today. I love it. I miss California. Yes, because there is. We are getting into some sexy energy right now in LA with Prop 50 passing.

6:15We're one step closer to being free from this monster. And Angelinos are fucking with ice super hard. Like, this is the flavor. Like, we've got the flavor back. One year down. Three to go. It's hot now. I don't know. It's fun. You're doing it. Yeah. And fun fact. LA itself ranks the 20th largest economy in the world. And California is the fourth in the whole world. It's a fucking big ass economy. Yeah. California subsidizes all the other states.

6:48We'll secede. Except for you. No. We'll secede. Except for New York and Illinois. We're fine with that. Yeah. Huge economy. But we're talking LA in the 20s. So we're going to get into it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's visualize.

7:09Fuck yeah. Here I stand. An object. A captive. A hearty part of a balanced breakfast. My kidnappers force me to fake this big dumb smile. And I am required to stand here and look nice. How humiliating. This disgusting little white family bought me.

7:41Took me home. And used me. I'm just so cute to them. They love my big smile. My big hips. My big everything. They especially love my sweet sugar. They can't get enough of it. They are insatiable vampires. My presence is a warm reminder of their success. They think they've conquered me. They think they can continue to drain me of my restorative essence.

8:11Once they use me up, they'll just buy another one. And another one. And another one. They'll never get enough of our rich nectar. Our maternal power. Our divine femininity. They don't have any of that stuff. They're weak without us. They don't have ancestral roots. They don't even know where they came from. They don't even know what they are. Besides parasites sucking the life out of their objects. Here I stand watching them eat their disgusting pancakes.

8:43I'll continue to humor them as I quietly wait for the right moment to call upon the angels for the strength to take out my rifle. And shoot this hateful white family down. Well, maybe I'll wait till after breakfast. Which brings us to our gossip topic, Betty Saar and Jemima's pack in heat.

9:18Yeah. Whoa. Yes. This bitch. Oh, my God. Betty Saar, this bitch. Okay, okay, okay, okay. A little tiny disclaimer, a little tiny disclaimer, but we're talking to the choir. We're preaching to the choir. We are talking about this iconic black artist that talks about black experiences as white bitches with white bitch experiences. And we're aware of that and we're still actively learning. So that's the disclaimer is over now. This bitch.

9:49This bitch. She's so cool. Do you know about this artist, Betty Saar? Yeah, so I've seen that one piece. I feel like we learned about it in art history class. Yes. The Aunt Jemima piece. Yes. But I don't know a lot about her other than like, you know, a little snippet. So I'm excited. Just a little bit of that. Usually that's the one. But she does so much more stuff. I'm excited. So we will get into it. And we'll talk about that piece today because it's so much fun. Oh, hello there, you beautiful creature.

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11:14Okay, context. A-S-L. Age. Sex. Location. Betty Irene Sarr was born July 30th, 1926 in Los Angeles. New Gemini. That's my mom's birthday. Oh, really? Yes, making her the moment, the legend, the icon, Leo. Oh, Leo, yeah, the cuspy.

11:44July 30th. July 30th. July 30th. God, I'm losing it today. All right, there's like, there's like sunscreen in my eyes. Okay, she's a Leo. She's a Leo. And I was surrounded by fiery Leos. Both my mom and my dad were Leos. So I did see both sides of the coin on these babies. You can't control them. They aren't even ruled by a planet. They are ruled by the sun. Because they're the star of their universe. Leos are extremely loyal and make confident, sometimes cocky leaders.

12:19But if you need to be like rizzed up, go to a Leo. They will lift you up. Yeah, that's true. They are very loyal. They're the kings and queens of our hearts and souls. However, they are fully aware of their value and will never accept second best for themselves or their friends. No. We love Leos here. They're fun and they're tea. They're tea. They're gossip. They're tea. And this is a perfect sign for our girl today. She is the fire that we all need right now. And we can use a little bit of this.

12:51And she was into astrology, too. So she's totally a broke man. I love her. I'm so excited to learn about her. She gets it. But before we get into our girl, let's get into our angels. Los Angeles. Now, we don't talk about our girl that much. You know, we're doing its thing. We love LA right now. We're bragging. But we're not talking about the LA of today. We're talking LA in the 20s, 30s kind of vibe. Like, what's going on?

13:22She's still developing. She's pre-Hollywood-ish, right? This bitch is coming up. And at this point, she was making 90% of all major films in the world. Wow. Yeah. Production companies and studios were all fighting for power. And Hollywood was becoming Hollywood, the place where dreams are made. And not only was there drama around film, there was drama around water.

13:53Oh, so now much has changed. Water. There was not a lot of natural water here in Southern California, right? When it was really popular to move in LA. In the span of nine years, LA grew to a population of $1.2 million. Not enough time to figure out water. 1.2 million people? 1.2 million people in the span of nine years. Wow. I think it started off as like half a million. Sure. And this drama was literally called The Water Wars.

14:24And we're not going to get into it too hard. But basically, there's a lot of corrupt leaders fucking with Owens Valley farmers and tricking them into diverging their water to LA. And then the pissed off farmers were like, fuck that. And they blew up the aqueduct with dynamite. Oh, my God. This is totally giving like Waterworld. Do you remember that movie? I totally remember Waterworld. With Kevin Costner and John Malkovich. Have I talked about this before? Wasn't that like the most expensive movie ever made?

14:56That movie is ridiculous. Yeah. Kevin Costner has gills. Yes. Yes, they can breathe. They can breathe. And John Malkovich has like a cigarette war fucking boat or something. I forget. No, I remember. We have to rewatch that movie. No, we need to watch Waterworld. Or not. Waterworld. Waterworld. Yeah. So not only is LA desperately and sometimes like illegally trying to figure out what to

15:28do with their new giant population, she's also dealing with a lot of cultural tension, segregation, redlining, violent police brutality. Right. People are coming from the Midwest, the South, and Mexico, and segregation was doing its ugly thing. Both Black American and Mexican American residents were barred from buying homes in many areas. They were forced to buy in areas like Watts, Boyle Heights, and South Central. They were forced to attend overcrowded and underfunded schools, couldn't get loans or financial aid,

16:01and barred from working higher wage jobs, making it impossible to escape the cycle of poverty.

16:10There were mass deportations of Mexican Americans, many of them citizens, Mexican and Mexican Americans, and many of them deported without due process, so history repeats itself. Literally, you guys. Literally. Look a couple decades back, you guys. We were doing this. This is literally a hundred years ago. Same bullshit. It didn't work. But despite all the racism and redlining, Black and brown artists were popping the fuck off culturally. While Mexican and Mexican American artists were painting radical Diego Rivera-inspired murals

16:44on the walls of Oliveira Street, Black artists on Central Avenue were performing in poetry and jazz clubs, so they were popping off. And while there were challenges in terms of Black and brown community ties, most to do with evil white people trying to pit them against each other with housing redlining, Black and brown communities did engage in shared spaces, similar spiritual backgrounds, and similar forms of resistance. And you'll see this unity and solidarity between the two communities more and more as time goes

17:16on. And you can today see what these communities and their allies can do with solidarity against our common enemy, bitch. And our girl is all about this energy. Let's get into the fam. Yes. Mom. Who is she? Mom was Beatrice Lillian Parson, and she was a seamstress and mother of three kids. Yeah, another seamstress like Louise Bourgeois. Yeah. And this would definitely influence our Benny. She would take discarded scraps of fabric and make clothes for the kids, and she was also

17:51highly educated. She went to UCLA, which was a huge accomplishment for a Black woman in the early 1900s. Wow. She is determined. And that's where Beatrice met dad. Okay. Dad. Dad was Jefferson Maze Brown, another smarty pants Black student whose superior academic background got him through all of the racist red tape to get him into UCLA. Wow. So these guys are really cool. Yeah. These guys are revolutionary. Yes.

18:21And Jefferson and Beatrice met, married, and had their three kids. And it's gone. Oh, no. Dad died of kidney failure at 27. Oh, my God. Dad was really young with kidney failure. He passed. Damn. And Betty was only five years old. Oh, my God. That's awful. This was, this was, yeah, this was, uh-oh, uh-oh, fuck. So Beatrice was stranded. She luckily was able to move her and her kids in with her aunt, Hattie Parson Keys, who

18:58had a house in Pasadena. So they moved to Pasadena. And Hattie was chill as fuck. So dad dying does suck. Yes. But to me, this was, like, a good move. Blessing in disguise. Yeah. Blessing in disguise. Yeah. Silver lining. Yeah. Silver lining. Hattie was the source. She had all the tea on their ancestors and their cultural and spiritual background. She's spilling all the family lore, which we do on Patreon on our family tea episode.

19:31And our family lore is fucking insane. So I'm like, get into it. And we would have vibed so hard with Hattie. She was really into collecting and spiritually activating everyday objects, which I like to do, too. She collected handkerchiefs, letters, photos, scraps of fabric, and gave them reverence. Right. So everyday objects become relics when they're charged. Right. She's really woo-woo. She's woo-woo. Woo-woo. She's woo-woo. William Blake. We love a woo-woo. Yeah, William Blake would have liked her.

20:03So Hattie is scrapbooking hard, not only for fun, but for necessity. It was necessary for them to archive their family history because they're black. They're used to white people taking and taking and taking, but they can't take your history. Even if you try Smithsonian. Do better. Do better. Yay, yay, Smithsonian. So we're looking at you, Smithsonian. Thank God we have people like Hattie that will tell the real truth.

20:34And Betty is soaking all this up. She, too, had a case of the woo-woo. She's into tarot, palmistry, astrology, and anything metaphysical. Yes! She's one of us. And why can't we have magic, guys? Fuck. On top of that, she's also Christian, but like the fun kind. The fun that's into blending religious practices, which we will see in her work later. And of course, Betty's mom and aunt were totally into her going to art school.

21:04So she's fine. She went to UCLA for design, thinking it's like an art degree, but like with better chances of making money later. And as a black woman in the 40s, we have to secure that bag. Yes. You're not privileged enough to go to school for art and float around like white people can. And her time at UCLA was good and bad. And she's learning the basics of interior and commercial design, all while fighting to be included in the conversation altogether because of her race.

21:38Yeah. So this is, it's starting. She's radicalizing. But not yet. First, she met a boy. Oh, it happens. So it starts. She met Richard Sarr at a craft show, and he was a highly skilled ceramicist who was a part of the post-war ceramics movement. We do like Richard. Okay. And it's another medium that we don't talk about a lot. So we're sorry, ceramic peas. We are sorry.

22:08Oh, you're so neglected. Yeah.

22:13Clay people. We're sorry. We'll get into a little smidgen of context about this movement before we get into the boy. So, and this is another parallel to kind of what's going on today with the art world, with AI and everything. So this is something that we can kind of look back on. The post-war studio pottery movement in California was a direct rejection of mass production and in favor of handcrafted pottery. And in California, specifically, we've got Mexican pottery influence, Chinese and Japanese pottery

22:47influence, and Ohio pottery influence. Major, major shout out to Ohio for being the center of American pottery in the early 1900s. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. However, Ohio ceramicists needed to migrate to California for her clay and her creative freedom. So there's lots of resources in Ohio, more in California.

23:19There's really not a lot of people who can afford to buy pottery here. Yeah. But yeah, Ohio, center of ceramics. Interesting. And our boy was one of those migrants coming from Cleveland to Los Angeles to pursue his ceramic art career, even opening his own pottery studio, SAR Ceramics, which became a hub for the studio pottery movement in California. Cool. So cute. Yeah, he's totally cute. They fell in love, got married, which was radical because Richard was a white dude.

23:52Damn. This is 1952. Yeah, that's not, yeah, so that's, she's radicalizing, she's radicalizing. Wow. This is 1952. An interracial marriage was legal in California, but still illegal in many states, which is crazy. That's not that long ago. So while their relationship was legal, it was still stigmatized, but none of that seemed to affect them. They moved to Laurel Canyon, like basically the house, which was a super cool bohemian artsy

24:24community. So they were essentially safe within their art community as an interracial couple. They're like, we'll just stay here, these people get us. Yeah. And they did end up having three daughters. I believe most of them getting into the arts and helping her legacy and all that stuff. Sure. And at this point, she's freelancing, designing greeting cards and ads here and there, and Robert is selling ceramics out of his studio. But dude, three kids, LA, can't be easy.

24:56No. So Betty decided to go back to school for a teaching credential to get like a more secure job. Sure. She enrolled in Cal State Long Beach, an iconic art school even today. And this is where she joined the dark side. Printmaking. Yes. After her first printmaking class, it was decided. She said, quote, I took a printmaking class and I was hooked. I love the process, the layering, the textures, the way you could tell stories with symbols.

25:31Basically, she was like, fuck commercial design. Fuck a stable career. I gotta do this. Yes. Locks in. Locks in. She experimented with soft ground etching. What is soft ground etching? What's the soft ground? You're totally asking. You're totally asking. You take a copper or zinc plate and coat it with this waxy stuff. Then you can take different textured materials. You can use anything, textured paper, fabric, leaves, anything that's like flat and has texture.

26:03Your butt. You can press it on the plate. And the material will lift up the wax, leaving the texture on the plate. Then you put the plate in acid. And once the texture is sketched, you apply, is etched, you apply the ink and roll it through a press with paper. And the image can be printed and reprinted. Yes. And in 1960, she created her first major fine art print. Check out to catch a unicorn. Unicorn.

26:33So this one, this was kind of a turning point for her. It's a black nude woman standing alongside a white unicorn, surrounded by moon, sun, and trees. Now in pagan mythology, to catch a unicorn, I did not know this. To catch a unicorn, you need to put a pure virgin girl in her path. And she will lay her head in the virgin's lap and fall asleep, giving hunters the opportunity to capture her or kill her. So later, the unicorn became a symbol of Christ.

27:06And Mary, of course, is the virgin. And medieval manuscripts, you will sometimes see Mary holding a unicorn. However, Betty flipped the script, making a black woman the virgin that tames the unicorn. So many things. Oh my God. So good. Let's talk about the woman in the prints. You wouldn't, you wouldn't necessarily look at her and think, you know, weak little virgin helping hunters to pacify a beautiful animal. No.

27:36Uh-uh. Her statue and power and confidence is what makes her beautiful. I mean, and obviously she has a hot body.

27:45Nothing. Yeah. So it's just not something you men would associate with submission. No. For hundreds of years, white people mocked and still mock, especially right now, the black female form. Yeah. And it was a weapon for racists to degrade black women. And still today. And she's not using her virtue to conquer the unicorn. She's aligning her power as they both look forward into the future.

28:15Yeah. They definitely look aligned for sure. We're deconstructing. We're creating new mythology. We're radicalizing. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Evil, evil, evil. She entered the print into a student show and... Rejected. People got it. Okay. People get it. People got it. They're into it. They're into it. They're into it. But this positive recognition was the real turning point for her. She said, quote, that's when I was... That's when I decided I was going to be an artist.

28:48Oh, my God. Thank God. People light. People finally light. You just never know how it's going to go for these guys. You never know. She continued to take design and printmaking classes at USC in Cal State Northridge to further her skills. And now she's a full-blown fine art printmaker. Yes.

29:07And then Betty saw... And then Betty saw an artist work that, quote, opened up a whole new world. And this was another turning point. Seeing another one of my favorite artists, this little boy, this little weirdo, Joseph Cornell. This boy was interesting. He was a very reclusive, self-taught artist who took care of his mom and disabled brother and rarely left his queen's apartment.

29:45Okay. And he obsessively made these funky little shadow boxes filled with found objects. Oh, my God. I love him. So, sounds cute. But he did have, like, some weird... We should get into him at some point. Yeah. We did have, like, these one-sided infatuations with younger women. Oh, no. Okay. Okay. But, like, as long as it's not, like, you know... I don't know if they... I don't know if it got far, any of these. I think they were just obsessions. And he also had a thing about purity and virginity, too.

30:18So, he's weird. He's Catholic. Okay. But these boxes are, like, these surreal spiritual shrines for his personal memories. And they're cool. There's a lot of birds. Yeah, they're cool. They are cool. They were super cool. And she loved these boxes. His work totally sparked something with her. Fuck printmaking. Yeah. It's like these mini, like, assemblage. Yeah. Yes. I want to do assemblage now. Put your hands together. Yeah. Do it all.

30:48And this reminds me when I was in art school. When we were in art school. And I had one of my professors in my studio. Shout out. Kurt Kemp. I wanted to be this, like, big, fancy painter. I was really into it. And I would draw and collage my references for my big, fancy paintings. And he was the printmaking teacher. So, he was more interested in works on paper. And he's, like, looking at all my references. Like, I'm, like, giant painting right here I'd rather you look at. Giant, huge, giant painting I'd rather you look at.

31:18And he's like, no, no, no, no, no. Your references are more interesting than your final painting. And you should do collage and works on paper. Of, like, you know, at first I was pretty. I don't want to hear that right now. Pretty devastating. Like, pretty devastating. But once I thought about it, I was, like, these are more fun to make than the big paintings anyway. Yeah. And let me make some of these small works on paper and show them. And, like, everybody got it. It was my best critique I've ever had was showing these references.

31:51Yeah. The viewers seemed more interested in, like, my inner workings than the big, fancy, fully realized painting. So, I switched to works on paper after that. And now I'm trying to be a big, fancy painter again. It's so annoying. I don't make the rules. So, I get it, Betty. Instead of making prints with found objects, why don't you just show the objects? You don't need all the steps. No. The objects themselves are more interesting than what you're doing with them. Right. In response to the Cornell show, she made Black Girl's Window in 1969.

32:23So, this is a repurposed window frame showing some astrological symbols. We got a lion for Leo in there. We got a sun, moon, and stars, a skeleton. And at the bottom, a flat black figure with palmistry symbols on her hands. Looks like a silhouette of a little girl. She's getting there. She's using 2D imagery on a three-dimensional object. But it's looking more and more like an altar.

32:53It's not looking like she made this for art's sake. It looks like a personal shrine. Not made for a gallery, but feels more, like, personal and intimate. Yeah. But she showed it, showed it in a gallery, and people got it again, dude. Like, she keeps, do airball. Like, she keeps doing it. Right time, right place. And that's what makes, I feel like, assemblage interesting, though, is how personal they can feel.

33:24Like, somebody's letting you into something that's really private and secret, and that's why they become intriguing. So she has this really nice way of, like, it doesn't just look like hodgepodge, I guess. You know? Yeah. It looks, like, really intentional and unique and, like, specifically her. Not just some shit she threw together, right? And remember that her aunt is collecting, she's seeing her aunt giving, like, this reverence

33:55to everyday objects of, why don't we just show the everyday objects? And, okay, yes. But, so people got it, but it's not the people that we think we needed approval of at the time. Okay. Her work isn't even being considered for mainstream galleries. Sure. But don't worry about that, because this is the 60s and 70s. The underground art scene is so much more interesting than at Reinhardt squares. Right. And I'm sorry, Reinhardt fans. I think 70s mainstream art is squares, dude.

34:28It's square. And Betty is so much more than squares. So, like, the underground art in the 70s, like, in America was so much cooler than what was happening in the mainstream in the 70s. Yeah. The mainstream art is just, like, okay. It's not boring. It's boring. We're still, we're in, you know, we're in minimalism at this point. We're a little kind of stepping outside of minimalism. And it's, we're still figuring out expressionism, I think, at this point. Yeah. I mean, minimalism is not my strong suit, but I have watched, I think I've mentioned this

35:03too many times, but we're re-watching Mad Men. And you watch them go from, like, the, you know, 1960 to the late 60s, and it all shifts towards that, like, really boring architecture that you would walk in today and be like, ugh. Ugh. Yeah. Like, we pick and choose what we like from mid-century modern. But this is so much more interesting than what was, like, you know, all that just, like. Yeah, the different movements that were happening, especially around feminist movement, civil

35:35rights movement, that's where we're getting our cool art. Yeah. What's going on? What's selling right now isn't really that inspiring. It's more of a, like, designer pieces that look good in spaces. Designing. We're trying to do something else with abstraction here. I think we've gotten through abstraction at this point. There's nothing really else to do with abstraction at this point. Everybody's over it being messy, right? And then they make it really clean. And now we're shifting back to, like, we got to find something new to do. We need to have messy again. And, you know, and people are, people are creating.

36:07Yeah. People are, people like Betty are creating these, like, oh, maximalist pieces with all this little stuff in there. You know us. We're definitely maximalist people. Yes. But she is showing. She's showing in galleries like Gallery 32, founded by iconic Black artist Suzanne Jackson. She was a gallery. This was a gallery space that she ran in her studio near MacArthur Park and showcased underground Black artists who are excluded from the exclusionary white institutions.

36:39She's also showing at the Watts Tower Center in Watts. This is where she would meet the legendary Noah Purifoy, this guy totally up my alley. So if you ever find yourself in Joshua Tree in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the desert, he has a giant installation that you can still visit. And I highly recommend, especially if you like to do desert activities, if you know what I mean. And Noah Purifoy, outdoor desert art museum, where he created this eerie, uncanny, dystopian

37:13world out of the debris from the uprising at the 1965 Watts Rebellion. This is, like, a very iconic thing to see in California. So if you're going to Palm Springs, you might as well go over to Joshua Tree, get freaked out, do some stuff, and check out this thing. You could go and play in these little, you can play all on his, you can hang out there and eat lunch if you want.

37:43It's crazy. You've got to get into it. Get into it. Get into it. And I might as well get into, this is the time of the Watts Rebellion. This was a huge moment in Los Angeles history and civil rights history as we know it. The rebellion was sparked by a police officer stopping Marquette Fry, a young black man suspected for drunk driving. The cop began beating him. Fry's family came out and started fighting the cop back. This was the straw that broke the back of the decades of police violence, discrimination,

38:19redlining, and all the bullshit white assholes do to keep black and brown people in poverty. This was the straw. And this is what happens when you keep violating civil rights. This was not just a riot. This was years, decades, and centuries of frustration and rage against racism. And this was not just an L.A. thing before Watts was ignored. Now it's on every American's TV screen. And showing America that racism is not over. And civil rights are not just a Southern thing.

38:50Black and brown communities continue to struggle because of racism and white supremacy. And they're pissed off. Yeah. Not only is Watts on the map now. I mean, Martin Luther King Jr. even came out and made a speech after the Watts Rebellion. This was a huge deal. It was 34 deaths, $40 million in property damage, 4,000 arrests. This was huge and still talked about in L.A. to this day. And shortly after this, this was a huge, this was like an insane time.

39:23Shortly after this, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while supporting black sanitation workers in Tennessee. The death of this revolutionary civil rights icon not only changed the civil rights movement, it changed America. Everyone was affected by this and it showed. Yeah. And his murder ended up sparking hundreds of riots all over America. And everyone is involved now, including our girl. So after MLK's murder, she said, quote, I had to do something.

39:58And she did it. Yes! Her work shifted from personal symbolism to radical justice. So she's pissed. Which brings us to the big one. The one that we think of when we think of Betty's are. The liberation of Aunt Jemima. So this is not just an assemblage piece. This is a catalyst for a whole art movement. So our Betty liked to shop around antique shops like I do.

40:33Especially, and you know, if you know, if you like colonial primitive Americana as much as I do. So you're walking around the antique mall, checking out all the cute folk art and old stuff. Then you see a sneaky little super racist doll or something. And now you feel weird. Now you're weird. Now it's weird. Now it's weird. I thought this was cute, like old wooden furniture. Nope, nope, nope, nope. I gotta get out of here. And Betty felt weird, too.

41:04Duh! I mean, you'd feel weirder. And would buy these racist dolls and figurines and use them in her art like the liberation of Aunt Jemima. So a little tiny disclaimer. I am preaching to the choir, but just in case. I am going to say the word mammy in an art historical context. It's not necessarily a word that you should keep in your regular vocabulary. Unless you want to be an asshole, I guess. Disclaimer over. Because I want to talk about the mammy figure in history to give you a little context. Because it's important to know so we don't do this shit anymore.

41:36It's really mean. The mammy figure is a stereotype that started around the 1830s as pro-slavery propaganda in the South. She is usually shown as a dark-skinned large woman wearing a scarf and apron with cartoonish smile who would be seen as a loyal, happy, maternal, domestic servant for white families. Yeah, I think Gone with the Wind, right? Gone with the Wind. I watched Gone with the Wind the other day. That movie's so good. That's a little weird.

42:07That movie's so good. It's a good one to, like, look back on. I think it's a good one to, like, okay, okay. A million percent. And the image, this image of a jolly slash mindless maid was used by white supremacists to attempt to justify slavery. It's really fucked up. And this image was used in branding all over the place. It's from literal restaurants to coffee tins to tobacco products to breakfast staples like the polarizing Aunt Jemima pancake syrup.

42:43It's now called Pearl Mining Company as of 2020. Oh, is it? Yep, they officially, finally got rid of, because at first they switched the bottle, because the bottle was, you know, it's objectifying. And then they, but they kept the face of Aunt Jemima. And now they've changed it to Pearl Mining Company. I'm like, you'll never, we'll never have an issue. It's just syrup. It's just, I'm sorry. That's like, okay, in Mad Men. I gotta watch Mad Men again.

43:14I think I've watched a couple little episodes. But they, like, that's exactly what they do. They talk about, like, if you don't like what's being said, just change the name. Like, if it's too polarizing, like, whatever happened to the brand to just change it. And that's exactly what they've done. So don't buy Pearl Milling Company. Company. Same brand. Yeah.

43:38And our Betty is going to have a lot of fun with this image. So we'll get back to the piece. Okay. And Betty used the racist mammy figurine that she found in an antique shop and gave her some updates. So she holds a broom in one hand and a rifle in the other. So yes, yes, yes. And behind her, the fist that she has behind her is a black power fist, a symbol of resistance and solidarity.

44:08She's standing on a pile of cotton that symbolizes the horrific labor that her ancestors endured, her grudge against the violence of slavery. And I didn't even notice this before, but she has a grenade clip under her arm. Yeah. Like, let's go. And the figure is wearing another mammy figure. She said she thought it was like a, like, the figurine was like a, like a, like a, like a notepad, like a to-do list kind of a thing. And the figure is wearing another mammy image carrying a screaming white baby.

44:44Yeah. It's giving, like, bitch, try me. I got this baby right now. I would kill it. Like, the figurine before is smiling at nothing. She's just a happy maid taking care of her family. But Betty changes the context. She's happy because she's, like, rolling dirty on these hoes. It's, like, she's looking kind of manic, and I really love it. Yeah, she is definitely looking, like, unhinged. And, like, I'm about to lose my ish at any fucking moment. About to kill this white baby. Of, like, it's so good. It's so freaky.

45:15So, like, her face isn't cute. It's terrifying. Yeah, no, it's absolutely terrifying. Yeah, she's going from domestic servant to soldier fighting a revolution. What are you going to do with that baby? So, I just watched this movie with Anne. We went to a theater. It's called Die My Love with Jennifer Lawrence and the Twilight guy, Robert Pattinson. Robert Pattinson. And if you're in the OC, go to the Frida. It's a nonprofit movie theater, and they show all kinds of stuff. Old movies, silent movies, all kinds of stuff.

45:48And they need funds. Okay. And they sell booze there, too. That's cool. And Jennifer, okay. So, Jennifer Lawrence is having these manic episodes throughout. She's dealing with, like, some mental health stuff. And she has this baby. And the whole movie, you're like, girl, what are you – where are you taking the baby? What are you going to do with the baby? The baby ends up – I don't want to, like, do any spoilers. So, I'm not going to do anything of what's going to happen to the baby. The baby's fine. The baby's fine. Okay. Okay. Thank God. It's giving that of, like, what are you going to do with that baby? Like, the whole time, everybody's nervous for this baby.

46:20Oh, my God. I cannot watch it. I feel like it'd be so stressful. Oh, yeah. It's stressful. It's like, okay, you're having an episode. I can't do it with the baby. She's taking the baby. She's taking the baby. No, not the baby. She's taking the baby to the woods. But, yeah, it's kind of like, I don't know, white people are scared now that we're rising the fuck up. We're fucking with you. Well, and it's like, let's take this image back, right? Take the image back. And it's like, you weren't worried before when you forced all of these women to be mothers

46:50to your shitty kids, and now you don't want that. Now you're scared of it. Like, yeah. Well, it's like, it also is a plan. Like, this image has been weaponized against us, and now we're weaponizing it back. Now it's going to be our symbol for a revolution. Fuck yeah, dude. People got it. Yeah. People got it. I love it when they get it. She's doing this work exactly when she needed to. This is her timeline is timelining. Yeah. She's timelining. We very, very rarely get a right place right time.

47:21We rarely get a right. This, she was in the right place. I'm like, she was in this fucking liberation shit. She liked it. Good. She exhibited the piece at the Black Contribution Show at the Rainbow Sign Cultural Center in Oakland. This was the hub of the Black Panther movement at the time. And she said, quote, I decided to make a Black heroine. So this is their hero now. You, you were using, you guys were using this image to disgrace us and embarrass us.

47:53And we're going to use it as our hero now. Like this, this figure is our bitch now. We're going to use her. I love it. Okay. She, she was it. She was it. She was it. So much so that iconic Arthur and activist, Angela Davis, who we should totally be talking