Sharif Muhammad - digital artist.
“I’m supposed to show pride in my flag because it represents my home, but I cannot until I feel that my people matter under that flag. As it stands, the flag is an assault on black and brown bodies.”
“My recent works have been a reflection of my complex relationship with the American flag. I grew up being told that I should solute, respect, and pledge my allegiance to the flag (by my teachers and other white people). As an African American boy, I didn’t have a sense of what the flag meant to me personally. As an adult, I’ve come to realize that this country was stolen, then built upon the backs of my tortured ancestors, who were eventually freed, but still live like third world citizens or are trapped in the world’s largest prison system. We have been generationally impoverished, treated as the other, and blamed for their condition. Our smartphones have finally brought to our living rooms the fact that has been there all along: that the black body is not valued and can be openly destroyed.”
“The flag is supposed to represent freedom, liberty, and justice.
However, our flag has different meanings for different people, depending on their position in the American caste.
Instead, when I see a flag flown outside of a home, I wonder if I would even be welcome inside. Given our history, it is outrageous to expect black and brown people to stand, solute, and show allegiance to it until our racist institutions are dismantled.
My recent works are a release of my emotions and frustrations around the subject of race and the flag itself. It’s revisiting the symbol of the flag and the racist legacy of the country it represents.”