Originally a screen print created for the the 90th birthday of midwestern working class writer Meridel LeSueur (1900-1996), we have re-issued this illustration as an 11×17 digital print on textured cream-colored stock. The illustration depicts a crowd of African women, whose speech bubbles further show scenes described or alluded to in Meridel’s poem, “Arise!”: environmental destruction, war and hardship, but also resilience and collective power. An excerpt of the poem wraps around the top of the poster:
“They came in the thunder, carrying their dead children.
They drummed and danced and shook the gourds in flesh and power and survival.
Don’t stop me, the Sudan woman cried, I came to speak of hunger.
Don’t stop me, I appear at last.
I am not supposed to be here, I was not supposed to survive.
We are supposed to be gone.
But we appear in the thunder of our solidarity.”
The art and words remind us to hear the echoes of our ancestors’ struggles.
Read the entire poem “Arise!” by Meridel LeSueur here, written after she attended the UN Conference on Women in Nairobi in 1985. This poster is re-issued with the blessing of her family.
| Print Type | Digital (Union Printed at RLM World Headquarters) |
|---|---|
| Poster Dimensions | 11×17" |
| Year Created | 1990 |
| SKU | p1035 |
| Categories | Global South: Africa, Home Planet, Music, Culture & Arts, Posters, Recent Work, Sisterhood, Spirit & Wisdom, Vintage |
| Tags | africa, gourds, meridel lesueur, poem, poetry, resilience, solidarity, sudan, survival, thunder, war |
To buy this print or many others on canvas, metal, acrylic, or as a tapestry in your choice of sizes, visit our page on Fine Art America. (Fine art prints are purchased from and shipped by Fine Art America rather than RLM Art Studio.)
