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Local
Artist Portrays History Using Unique Style
CARLOS WALKER ... Aspiring Artist
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Carlos Walker has al- ways known he had a talent for drawing. But, about two years ago, he began committing the images of his imagination to paper. The end result was a look at history in a new and unique fashion.
Walker’s renditions cap- ture his visions, but in reverse. Many of his paintings capture history as if it were in a paral- lel universe --- in reverse. One portrait shows slaves on the auction block. But, the slaves are white and the slave owners are Black.
Another painting revisits the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. Prior to a decision by the U. S. Supreme Court, Blacks were not allowed to sit in the front of the bus.
The arrest of the late Rosa
This painting portrays Black slave owners holding an auction of white slaves.
The famous bus boycott is shown in this painting, banning whites from sitting in the front of the bus.
Parks on December 1, 1955 set off a bus boycott that lasted 13 months. Walker’s painting shows whites being banned from sitting in the front of the bus.
And, another focuses on more recent history and the number of African Americans being killed by police officers throughout the country.
A native of Halifax, Vir- ginia, Walker said he began drawing at the age of 8. After high school and as a young adult, Walker didn’t pursue his talent, but became a drug dealer. This decision landed him in prison at the age of 24.
Attheageof35,hehas served more than 10 years of a 20-year sentence. “I’m hoping to receive clemency. I’m one of the 8,000 prisoners still under the old law.”
His fiancée, Ms. Washika Arnold said, since his incar- ceration, Walker has put to- gether 3 exhibits. “One was a 43-piece entitled, ‘Walk A Mile In our Shoe And You Will Understand From Whence We Came.’”
In this exhibit Walker at- tempts to show a mirror effect of what the Black Experience looks like. It is designed to evoke thought and understand the plight of Blacks from slav- ery until today.
Walker can be contacted by writing: Carlos Walker 12223-084, P. O. Box 52020, Bennettsville, SC 29512.
This painting reflects modern times with the shooting of a white citizen by Black police officers.
Caravan To Bring White
House Bounce House
To University Of Tampa
A caravan that in- cludes an adult-size bounce house in the shape of the White House will visit the University of Tampa in the Vaughn Courtyard, Wednesday, No- vember 2nd, from 12 noon until 4 p.m.
The purpose of the
visit is to engage voters
on issues of extreme
poverty ahead of November’s election. The caravan is sponsored by ONE, a non-partisan organization of 2.5 million Americans working to ensure that the next president has a strategy for fighting extreme poverty, especially in Africa.
The caravan will visit key Congressional districts and battle- ground states to engage voters with a virtual reality experience de- picting a day in the life of Doris, a woman living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.
Because ONE Vote ’16 believes that it’s crucial that the next president has a plan for fighting extreme poverty around the world before they get into the White House, participants will be invited to cast their “vote” to end extreme poverty before entering an adult-sized White House bounce house. Their “ballots” will then be shared with the Clinton and Trump campaigns.
Co-founded by U2 lead singer Bono, ONE is a global nonprofit organization of nearly 7.5 million people taking action to end ex- treme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Not politically partisan, it raises public awareness and press political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase invest- ments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater trans- parency in poverty-fighting programs.
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