The Artist-Activist: Centering Black Voices featuring Bree Newsome

Bree Newsome is an artist who drew national attention in 2015 when she climbed the flagpole in front of the South Carolina Capitol building and lowered the Confederate battle flag. The flag was originally raised in 1961 as a statement of opposition to the Civil Rights Movement and lunch-counter sit-ins occurring at the time. The massacre of nine black parishioners by a white supremacist at Emanuel AME Zion Church in Charleston reignited controversy over South Carolina’s flag. Newsome’s act of defiance against a symbol of hate has been memorialized in photographs and artwork and has become a symbol of resistance and the empowerment of women. Her dedication to her community work has not lessened her interest in film or music. In 2016 she wrote, produced, and directed the performance piece “Rise Up and Go” as part of The Monticello Summit, a four-day public summit on the legacy of slavery and freedom in America held at the site of Thomas Jefferson’s former plantation