For this assignment, I chose the piece “American People Series #20: Die” by American artist Faith Ringgold. The piece was composed using oil on canvas as the medium and has an overarching theme of conflict. The title “Die” conveys a sense of urgency and crisis. This piece is indubitably a call to action. Ringgold was able to illustrate chaos in this scene. “American People Series #20: Die” is profoundly political and has a somewhat persuasive tone stringed inside of the art itself. The work was published in 1967, and Ringgold herself said that the work was an encapsulation of her perspective on social protests during the 1960s. 

The political commentary woven into the art mirrors the era the art was created in. During the 1960s in America, “race riots” occurred. These riots were incredibly violent and deadly. This marked the beginning of a revolution for black Americans. Ringgold painted this work directly from her perspective as a black woman in America. The work can be loosely interpreted as being inspired by African art, evident in its color schemes, particularly the use of yellows and reds, and style. This interpretation could provide a window for us to better understand the artist’s ethnicity.

The characters she depicts are surrounded by blood and are wielding weapons. The group includes thirteen characters. Seven of the characters are white, and six are black. We can assume that five of the thirteen characters are female, based on their clothing. Ringgold was able to display all of this clearly by painting her background quite plainly. She uses tones of gray in an almost checkerboard pattern to keep our attention on the brightly colored characters in the foreground– who act almost as game pieces. Now that we can also assume this artwork represents some sort of game, we can begin to unfold what the game is. Among these characters, we can also see that three of the thirteen are children. In this bloodbath, it is unclear what exactly it is the characters are fighting over. The goal seems only to kill and survive. It is difficult for us to tell who is dead, who is alive, and ultimately, who will win. The characters all have bags around their eyes and look crazed. These details further our understanding of the turbulence and upheaval during the aforementioned “race riots”. We know that the race of the characters is important, but it still is curious as to why it is. We don’t know who is supposed to “die”.

While the adults fight, the children, unscathed, hold onto each other for safety. The children, while not exactly the focal point, are almost centered between the two canvases the entire piece is on. They are alone and scared, and practically disregarded by the adults. We can imagine the children representing civilians, or those who just want peace. They can perceive the violence around them but are weak, fragile, cannot fight or maybe are just caught in the crossfire. They hold on to each other to reinstate a sense of hope or support. They understand through their fear that their lives are at stake, and this does not have to all be a dying battle. 

Faith Ringgold’s “American People Series #20: Die” is a powerful work of art that encapsulates the revolutionary period of the 1960s in the United States. Ringgold used her personal experiences and artistic expression to convey her form of political activism. The painting serves as a call to action and continues to remind us that social justice and equality are not guaranteed to this day.