The Power of Portraits

Have you ever walked through grandiose buildings with walls adorned by portraits of people you don’t know?

Eda Wade, Portraits from the Wall of Dignity, paint on panel, 1968, Mack Avenue at Fairview, Detroit.

Photo credit: Mark Rogovin, ca 1970, gift of Michelle Melin-Rogovin to the South Side Community Art Center, Chicago

Has your school building ever put on display a large portrait of a seemingly random historical figure? Do the walls in your home contain photos of your family or relatives? Portraits are found, large and small, on buildings, in paintings, or on the Black Power murals in 1960’s and 1970’s Detroit. The important role of portraits seems like common knowledge, but what is the actual meaning behind portraits and what are the effects of seeing portraiture?

As the essayist Cath Pound has argued, “Portraiture has a unique place in the history of art. By looking at who was portrayed, and how, we are able to gain insights into social, cultural and political history that no other type of painting can offer.” While having many purposes, portraits are a historical tool. They show nuances and aspects of history by connecting us to our past selves. However, the effects of these tools also take many different forms.

When discussing the importance of portraits in regards to the missing history of women in science, a representative from the US National Science Foundation noted that, “increasing representation through portraits is about more than just finding works of art; it's about rewriting the historical narrative, and naming and crediting those who contributed to the most important discoveries of history.” These historical tools not only give us intricate insight about the past, but also highlight the importance and the achievements of whoever is being depicted.

William Walker had this exact mission in mind when working on the Black Power murals. In his words, the murals, “helped broaden the visual language of street murals from affirmation to resistance, from pride to militancy.” These outdoor works helped to call those who viewed them into action in the fight for Civil Rights, each mural doing so in its own way by displaying different faces important to Black history and culture.

A front-page article in the East Side community newspaper, The Ghetto Speaks, quoted Toni Campbell, who wrote one of the poems inscribed on the Wall of Dignity mural. Campbell explained the importance of seeing portraits on the mural: "there IS no dire need for white people to grasp a more prideful image of themselves…but for the Black man today, Our Wall of Dignity fulfills that need." Other Detroiters quoted in the paper shared their opinions:

“The ‘Wall’ means that we, Afro-Americans, really have something to be proud of.”

The Wall, according to the artists and viewers, was meant to invoke a sense of pride in the Black community. Its portraits of, what Walker termed, “historical and contemporary heroes” included the faces of icons like Marcus Garvey, Sojourner Truth, H. Rap Brown, Muhammad Ali, Stokely Carmichael, Mary McLeod Bethune, Carl Stokes, Amiri Baraka, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. These significant figures of African American history made revolutionary contributions and left enduring legacies. They made their community proud, and were thus included on the Wall of Pride mural. Illustrating these figures through detailed portraits on a public, highly visible surface exposed their accomplishments and their lineage to a greater multitude of people.

The Wall of Pride depicted African American heroes for a different reason. According to Walker, those depicted on the Wall of Pride highlighted, “contributions of Black people, whether they be controversial or well-liked.” This wall also featured a multitude of faces. These portraits were of African and African American people who made remarkable contributions to whatever field they were in. There were political figures such as Malcolm X, Dr. King, and Jomo Kenyatta; cultural or revolutionary figures such as James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Stokely Carmichael, W.E.B. DuBois, and Nat Turner; and entertainers like Bill Cosby and Aretha Franklin. All of these figures had an impact in their respective communities or fields. Featuring them emphasized the contributions of, not only Black Americans, but Black people as a whole.

Taking another route, the Harriet Tubman Memorial Wall mural was said to draw a connection between, as Walker recalled, “the Black freedom struggle with that of the Israelites in bondage in Egypt.” Allen J. McNeeley, a commissioner of the mural, said that “there was so much similarity between the flight of the Israelites for freedom and that of Black Americans that we used it as a base for teaching history.” Unlike the other two Black Power murals, the Harriet Tubman Memorial Wall alluded to the bible story of Moses delivering the slaves in Egypt and equated it to the religious aspects of Black Americans’ fight for emancipation from slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Black American experience of the mid-twentieth century.

The right panel featured the portraits of more contemporary Civil Rights leaders including Dr. King, Malcolm X, and Elijah Muhammad. U.S. Representatives Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Charles Diggs Jr., and Shirley Chisholm were also featured. These portraits highlighted politicians, ministers, and “separatists and advocates for self-defense… integrationists and advocates of nonviolence.” While illustrating both militants and advocates for nonviolence within a single mural may seem contradictory, all of the figures listed above fought for and were integral parts of the Civil Rights Movement. Their depiction solidified their contributions to this movement as well as their lineage.

Written by Talise Bivens

Works Cited

Cath Pound, “Why Portraits Have Fascinated Us for Millennia.” BBC News, February 24, 2022. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220204-why-portraits-have-fascinated-us-for-millennia.
Grace Malato, “The Power of Portraits.” National Science Foundation, March 10, 2022. https://new.nsf.gov/science-matters/power-portraits.
“ESVID Builds a New Wall: Detroit’s Wall of Dignity.” The Ghetto Speaks, April 22, 1968.
Jeff W. Huebner, Walls of Prophecy and Protest: William Walker and The Roots of a Revolutionary Public Art Movement. (Northwestern University Press, 2019).
“News and Views,” The Ghetto Speaks, 1968.

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