Kadir Nelson’s “Say Their Names”

Kadir Nelson is a Los Angeles–based painter, illustrator, and author. He is best known for paintings that features on the front covers of the New Yorker Magazine. He has also created the artworks for the album covers for Michael Jackson and Drake.

In the months after the murder of George Floyd by a policeman in America he created a powerful piece of art that featured on the front cover of the New Yorker magazine.

The following is an analysis of the front cover, in which the murder of George Floyd embodies the history of violence inflicted upon black people in America. Read it carefully paying particular attention to how the writer moves from one part of the image to another explaining what each little detail means such as the significance of the blue flowers. You may need to read it twice.

Kadir Nelson’s “Say Their Names”