Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America

Feb 28, 2022, 12:00 PM

In this bonus episode of Critical Reads, we will be discussing Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America by James Allen. With essays by Hilton Als, John Lewis, and Leon F. Litwack. This week's "Musings of Tired Black Social Worker" segment topic is 'Racism isn't a touchy subject if you're not a racist' from an Instagram post by @wearthepeace.

In this bonus episode of Critical Reads, we will be discussing Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America by James Allen. With essays by Hilton Als, John Lewis, and Leon F. Litwack. Here’s a brief summary of the book courtesy of the publisher: "The Tuskegee Institute records the lynching of 3,436 blacks between 1882 and 1950. This is probably a small percentage of these murders, which were seldom reported, and led to the creation of the NAACP in 1909, an organization dedicated to passing federal anti-lynching laws. Through all this terror and carnage someone -- many times a professional photographer -- carried a camera and took pictures of the events. These lynching photographs were often made into postcards and sold as souvenirs to the crowds in attendance. These images are some of photography's most brutal, surviving to this day so that we may now look back on the terrorism unleashed on America's African-American community and perhaps know our history and ourselves better. The almost one hundred images reproduced here are a testament to the camera's ability to make us remember what we often choose to forget. "

This week's "Musings of Tired Black Social Worker" segment topic is  'Racism isn't a touchy subject if you're not a racist' from an Instagram post by @wearthepeace.

To purchase the book, visit: Without Sanctuary via Twin Palms Publishers

Other sources mentioned in this episode include:
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