By Carlena Knight-Humphreys
“It is important for all of us to appreciate where we come from and how that history has really shaped us in ways that we might not understand”.
Those were the famous words of US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the mantra that several students across the island upheld last Friday during Heritage Day.
The students of the TN Kirnon Primary with the help of their teachers mainly Teacher Mills also joined in on the festivities with an art exhibition paying homage to our Egyptian links and to the history of the arts and black culture.
From Kindergarten to Grade 6, students participated in various art projects, learning about the ancient kingdom and its pharaohs.
Tributes were also made to two famous black artistes.
Lois Mailou Jones and Jacob Lawrence.
Jones was famous for painting African and Caribbean themes and became one of the first African American to have her work on display in the US’ prestigious art exhibits. Due to racial divides at the time, African Americans could not have their work featured with ‘whites’.
Learning about her illustrious career, the TN Kirnon students saw it fit to pay tribute to her.
Lawrence on the other hand is among the best-known twentieth-century African-American painters, known for his modernist illustrations of everyday life as well as narratives of African-American history and historical figures.
