Basic Black: How can murals reflect communities of color?

Mural painitng of a person of color wearing a green Roxbury jersey

Alexi Cohan is a producer on Greater Boston. She is from East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and currently lives in the Boston area.

Kenrick Mercado is the Associate Producer for Basic Black at GBH.

Produced live at WGBH Studios in Boston, Basic Black is the longest-running program on public television focusing on the interests of people of color. The show, which was originally called Say Brother, was created in 1968 during the height of the civil rights movement as a response to the demand for public television programs reflecting the concerns of communities of color. Each episode features a panel discussion across geographic borders and generational lines with the most current stories, interviews and commentaries.

November 18, 2022

Updated August 28, 2023

Beautiful murals are popping up in Boston and surrounding areas, giving muralists of color a way to display their talent while also capturing the stories of residents and archiving their history.

Painting a mural brings up feeling of pride, legacy, empowerment and freedom, artists on Basic Black told Callie Crossley.

Murals can serve as a direct reflection of the people who live in a neighborhood and help to translate their everyday reality, said muralist Rob “Pro-Blak” Gibbs. Gibbs is also the cofounder and director of artist fellowships at Artists for Humanity.

"We've all had a magic trick that turns murals into mirrors, and people see themselves in it. So that's like the direct connection to how we speak visually," Gibbs said.

Gibbs added that art has helped him to become a "visual ventriloquist" by allowing him to project his voice through his work.

Public art is also an important means of preserving and protecting the history of communities of color and also amplifying what is happening in the community now, according to Marquis Victor, founder and executive director of the organization Elevated Thought in Lawrence.

Victor said public art can also be preserved by having artist talks, field trips and other activities that get neighbors engaged.

"Creativity begets creativity. So I think preservation is part of that process and preservation is also inextricably linked to exposure," Victor said.

Sometimes murals and other forms of public art can be tools to gentrify areas where people of color live, which is the opposite of the artists' intent.

Silvia López Chavez, a muralist and artist-in-residence at MASS MoCA, said art can be used to beautify a space and bring forth economic opportunity without pushing residents out.

"I think that there's a need to be able to acknowledge that we all have to be part of the conversation and that everyone needs to be able to come to live together in this place. And I think art can do that and can help do that," Chavez said.

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