Recalling her motivation for making this work, Ringgold has explained, I became fascinated with the ability of art to document the time, place, and cultural identity of the artist. How could I, as an African American woman artist, document what was happening around me? Ringgold's American People Series confronts race relations in the United States in the 1960s; this work, the mural-scale painting that concluded the series, evokes the riots that were then erupting around the country. On the canvas, blood spatters evenly across an interracial group of men, women, and children, suggesting that no one is free from this struggle. Their clothing-smart dresses and business attire-implies that a well-off professional class is being held accountable in this scene of violent chaos. By Faith Ringgold Paperback 48 pages Mo MA