If you could spend hours detailing the face of one famous African American, to who would it be?
Rakeela Biggers, a senior at Metro High School, chose to draw Jill Scott, a soulful R&B singer-songwriter. Scott is an icon for unconventional beauty, Biggers said.
“She’s a plus-size woman, and nowadays a lot of black women like to straighten their hair,” Biggers said. Although Scott has relaxed hair now, she had natural hair when she first came on the music scene, Biggers said.
“To me, I feel like when I’m natural, I’m embracing my culture and not necessarily conforming to a type of societal beauty,” she said.
Biggers’ charcoal and colored-pencil drawing will be displayed in the St. Louis Public Schools’ “Famous African-Americans’ Portraits Art Exhibit and Competition” at the Missouri Botanical Garden through Sunday, Feb. 27.
It is the district’s 17th exhibit and competition to honor Black History Month, but it’s the first time that the Garden will host it.
To enter the show, high-school art students researched the backgrounds of famous African Americans and depicted their personality and determination in original artwork.
Jestin Kusch, a senior at Cleveland High School, chose two people – Billie Holiday and Martin Luther King Jr. – and did both portraits in pencils.
The two historical figures are connected, because Billie Holiday’s music was often played during the Civil Rights Movement, he said.
“Her songs like ‘Strange Fruit’ – they all have a lot to teach people like me, so I can know what happened in a song,” Kusch said. “Martin Luther King created such great speeches. It teaches me how important it is to make a change in my own era.”
If Kusch, who is bi-racial, could make a change, he would rid the world of animosity. He would like “America and other countries to realize that regardless of what race, regardless of what culture, regardless of what religion you represent, you are still a human.”
Asim Manuel, a junior at Metro High School, entered a pencil drawing of Denzel Washington into the contest. Manuel is an entertainer himself, he said, and Washington’s movies inspire him.
Maria Vallejan, a sophomore at Cleveland, chose a guitar player who inspires her – Slash (Saul Hudson), from the rock band Guns N’ Roses. Slash’s African-American mother was a costume designer for David Bowie, and his English father designed album covers for people like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
Vallejan was born and lived in Mexico until she was 10. For her, Black History Month is a time to remember the struggle.
“It’s a time to remember how things used to be, and we can’t let that happen anymore to any race,” she said.
Benny Nguyen, a sophomore at Cleveland, drew Nelson Mandela giving a fist pump. Nguyen’s family is from Cambodia, but he said his dark skin most likely comes from African ancestry.
The process of detailing Mandela was a lesson in patience, he said.
“I learned that if I take my time and focus and just go with every single detail – just like life – take it piece by piece, time by time, and eventually you’ll come up with a masterpiece,” Nguyen said.
For him, Black History Month is a reminder of endurance. Every day, children endure poverty and danger. Yet no matter “what time throws at them,” they have the strength to keep going, he said.
“Black History Month is a way to make it evident, but it’s something that’s known to everyone all the time,” he said.
The public has the opportunity to vote on their favorite portrait while the exhibit is on display, which is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends at Monsanto Hall, 4344 Shaw Blvd. It closes on Sunday.
