Artist and Activist Keith Knight Presents Dynamic Slideshow at U of A for Black History Month

Portrait of Keith Knight by Kerstin Knight.
Photo Submitted

Portrait of Keith Knight by Kerstin Knight.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Award-winning independent cartoonist Keith Knight will perform his slideshow “They Shoot Black People Don’t They: A Cartoonist’s Look at Police Brutality” at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, in the Walton Reading Room of Mullins Library at the University of Arkansas. His performance will be followed by a Q&A session and book signing. No registration is required, and the event is free and open to the public.

Created by Knight from a selection of more than two decades of his socio-political cartoons, the slideshow takes a look at police brutality in the African-American community from the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers to the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer this past summer, and even more recently, the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by a police officer in a Cleveland, Ohio, park.

“I’ve been creating comics on these issues for over 20 years, but nothing has really changed,” says Knight. “After the events in Ferguson, I thought to myself that it might be a good idea to put a slideshow together in order to engage people in these topics, … to explore why these incidents keep happening.”

Knight’s provocative speaking engagements are a unique blend of lecture, activism and comedy. Knight addresses issues of race, politics, media, censorship and the importance of social activism.  He plans to take this presentation on tour to all 50 states over the next two years. Knight’s current U.S. speaking engagements include a recent presentation at the inaugural Black Comix Arts Festival and a civil rights panel discussion at the California School Library Association Conference.

Knight is the creator of several comic strips, including The Knight Life, The K Chronicles, and (th)ink, and his comics have been published in several monographs. Two of the titles will be available through the University Libraries this month, The Knight Life: Chivalry Ain't Dead and The Complete K Chronicles, “works that reflect the power of humor when addressing complicated current American themes such as the ones Knight will tackle during his performance,” said Martha Parker, librarian in residence at the University Libraries. 

Each year the University Libraries brings a guest to campus to help celebrate Black History Month. The Libraries have devoted February’s multicultural book display to resources that provide background on social justice and Knight’s work. Parker selected the books in the exhibit and said, “Knight’s provocative reflections are better understood through a review of social justice literature, and Black-American writers’ works and philosophical materials, all resources included in our Black History Month display. These materials support an overview of how we arrived at this trend of social injustice and provides insight into the role that social activism could play in offering viable solutions.”

A complementary Special Collections exhibit in the Walton Reading Room, titled “Arkansas’s Black Women: Making a Difference,” highlights images and materials about a wide range of women, including Daisy Bates, a political activist and mentor to the Little Rock Nine who tirelessly fought for desegregation at Little Rock’s Central High School, and Dr. Edith Irby Jones, a physician, philanthropist and pioneer in the desegregation of higher education in the South. Materials in the exhibit will provide valuable insight into these notable women’s lives.

 Additional information on Knight and his work can be found at www.kchronicles.com. Please contact the University Libraries’ Dean’s Office at 479-575-6702 or mlguirl@uark.edu for more information about the event. Metered parking is available for people attending Knight’s performance at the Stadium Avenue Garage and the Garland Center Garage. Please visit the university’s Transit and Parking website for more information about visitor parking on campus.

 

About the University of Arkansas Libraries: The library system of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, comprises the David W. Mullins Library (the main research facility) and four branch libraries: the Robert A. and Vivian Young Law Library, the Fine Arts Library, the Chemistry and Biochemistry Library, and the Physics Library. The combined holdings of the University Libraries total more than 2 million volumes of books and periodicals and 5.5 million microforms.  The Libraries received more than 53,700 serial publications by subscription and gift. Other resources include several thousand maps, numerous pamphlets, manuscripts, sound and video recordings, as well as electronic databases and journals. The mission of the University of Arkansas Libraries is to provide access to information that will support and foster creativity, study, teaching, and research.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in a wide spectrum of disciplines; contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research and creative activity; and provides service to academic and professional disciplines and to society in general, all aimed at fulfilling its public land-grant mission to serve Arkansas and beyond as a partner, resource and catalyst. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and offers more than 200 academic programs. The university maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio of 19:1 that promotes personal attention and mentoring opportunities. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas 63 among the 623 American public research universities, and the university’s goal is be top 50 by the celebration of its 150th anniversary in 2021.

Contacts

Molly Boyd, assistant to the dean, Dean's Office
University of Arkansas Libraries
479-575-2962, mdboyd@uark.edu

Kalli Vimr, public relations coordinator
University Libraries
479-575-7311, vimr@uark.edu

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