Bro. Ron Herd II aka r2c2h2 tha artivist (Wash U, Class of 2002) presenting framed prints of "The Brotherhood" to the widows of Dean James McLeod (Sis. Clara McLeod, left) and Dr. John B. Ervin (Sis. Jane Ervin, right) @ The 25th John B. Ervin Scholars Banquet Celebration (The Marriott @ Union Station Banquet Hall, St. Louis, Mo, 9/15/2012).
The Meaning Behind "The Brotherhood"
The Meaning Behind "The Brotherhood"
"The Brotherhood" (2012) by r2c2h2 tha artivist aka Ronald Cortez Herd II
An original work of art created by r2c2h2 tha artivist (Ronald Cortez Herd II) to honor the incomparable late great Dean James McLeod and the league of extraordinary gentlemen he now finds himself in, true pioneers of education and empowerment in Black St. Louis History in particular, the St. Louis community in general and beyond...
Pictured from Right to Left Bottom:
Pictured from Right to Left Bottom:
Dean James McLeod (the former director of The John B. Ervin Scholars Program and former Vice Chancellor @ Wash U.).
Dr. John B. Ervin (the first Black dean @ Washington University aka Wash U in St. Louis and Dean McLeod's mentor).
Walter Moran Farmer (the first Black graduate of Wash U., Class of 1889---he received a law degree and became one of the first Black lawyers to practice before both the Missouri and U.S. Supreme Courts respectively)...
Vashon High School graduate Lloyd Gaines sued University of Missouri for entry into their law school in the Gaines v. Canada case that went before the U.S. Supreme where he was represented by Charles Hamilton Houston (Dean of Howard Law School and Thurgood Marshall's mentor) and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund...Ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor stating that the separate but equal doctrine required that Missouri either admit him or set up a separate law school for African American students...However, Mr. Gaines disappeared on March 19, 1939, before he could enjoy his victory...
Prominent St. Louis Lawyer Homer G. Phillips led a successful grassroots effort in the 1920s that forced the city of St. Louis to allocate funds to build a respectable hospital for Black St. Louis...He paid for the efforts with his life being assassinated on June 18, 1931, by two Black assailants who were never charged for the crime...As a matter of fact no one was ever charged or tried for the crime…However his namesake, Homer G. Phillips Hospital which opened in 1937 by 1961 had trained more Black doctors and nurses than any place in the world...By 1948, its medical residents included more than one third of all graduates from the two American black medical schools, and in the 1940s and 1950s it was a leader in developing the practice of intravenous feeding and treatments for gunshot wounds, ulcers, and burns. Not only did it house a nursing school, but also schools for training x-ray technicians, laboratory technicians and medical record-keeping…It also began offering training and work to foreign doctors who were being denied by other hospitals because of their race...
Pictured from Top Left to Right:
Vashon High School graduate Lloyd Gaines sued University of Missouri for entry into their law school in the Gaines v. Canada case that went before the U.S. Supreme where he was represented by Charles Hamilton Houston (Dean of Howard Law School and Thurgood Marshall's mentor) and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund...Ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor stating that the separate but equal doctrine required that Missouri either admit him or set up a separate law school for African American students...However, Mr. Gaines disappeared on March 19, 1939, before he could enjoy his victory...
Prominent St. Louis Lawyer Homer G. Phillips led a successful grassroots effort in the 1920s that forced the city of St. Louis to allocate funds to build a respectable hospital for Black St. Louis...He paid for the efforts with his life being assassinated on June 18, 1931, by two Black assailants who were never charged for the crime...As a matter of fact no one was ever charged or tried for the crime…However his namesake, Homer G. Phillips Hospital which opened in 1937 by 1961 had trained more Black doctors and nurses than any place in the world...By 1948, its medical residents included more than one third of all graduates from the two American black medical schools, and in the 1940s and 1950s it was a leader in developing the practice of intravenous feeding and treatments for gunshot wounds, ulcers, and burns. Not only did it house a nursing school, but also schools for training x-ray technicians, laboratory technicians and medical record-keeping…It also began offering training and work to foreign doctors who were being denied by other hospitals because of their race...
Pictured from Top Left to Right:
During the 19th Century, pre-Civil War, when Missouri law forbade Black people from learning how to read or write, Rev. John Berry Meachum came up with an ingenious loophole: He turned a steamboat into a school house, called it the Freedom School and perched it on the Mississippi River which was neutral ground or should I say waters to the Missouri Law...
Henry Hampton Jr., a Wash U. graduate (Class of 1961), created the award winning and critically acclaimed ‘Eyes On The Prize’ documentary series which beautifully and exhaustively chronicles the American Civil Rights Movement…His film production company, Blackside Inc., became one of the largest minority-owned non-theatrical film production companies in the U.S. during the mid-1970s and until his death in 1998…Henry Hampton made a commitment to social justice with his documentaries which include Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965); and Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads 1965-mid 1980s; The Great Depression (1993); Malcolm X: Make It Plain (1994); America's War on Poverty (1995); Breakthrough: The Changing Face of Science in America (1997); I'll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Arts (1999); Hopes on the Horizon: Africa in the 1990s (2001); This Far By Faith: African American Spiritual Journeys (2003)…Mainly because of Dean McLeod’s tireless efforts, The Henry Hampton Archives are now prominently housed in Washington University in St. Louis Film and Media Archives. In addition to Hampton's films, the collection contains all of the elements that went into the production process such as interviews, stock footage, photographs, research, producer notes, scripts, and Hampton's personal papers…On another note, Henry Hampton Jr.’s dad, Henry Hampton Sr., was the chief surgeon and director of Homer G. Phillips Hospital for a number of years…
The Sankofa bird is flying forward while looking backward with an egg in its mouth. The egg symbolizes the future. "We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today." "We should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated."
The arch represents the gateway to opportunity that a real education (built upon a true knowledge of self) provides and is a reference of course also to the prominent Gateway Arch of St. Louis, Missouri.
Own ‘The Brotherhood’ Today!!!
For Just $25 plus $6 shipping and handling ($31 total) this commemorative piece of history can be yours…All 11" x 17" prints (10.5" x 14" in actual image size) are signed by the artist and are limited edition…
You can buy by using this PayPal link:
You can send a money order for $31 to the following address:
Attn: Ron Herd II
Brotherhood Print
P.O. Box 752062
Memphis, TN 38175
Also if you are interested....
Own 'The Legacy' Today: An Art Tribute To Dean McLeod & Dr. John B. Ervin
http://weallbe.
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