Picturing the Struggle for Justice

Rosa Parks in limewood sculpture

From the days leading up to the American Revolution to today's various Occupy movements, a crucial focus of the American experience has been political, social, and economic justice.

In its exhibit The Struggle for Justice, the National Portrait Gallery employs portraits, pictures, and sculptures to portray the ongoing fight in 6 areas: They are

• Civil Rights
• Labor Rights
• Women's Rights
• American Indian Rights
• Disabled Rights
• Gay and Lesbian Rights

The largest item in the exhibit is a huge photo of a well-dressed black man in the 1960s carrying a sign reading "If we must die, let us die as free men, not Jim Crow slaves."

Of course, all the familiar faces - Martin Luther King, Betty Friedan, Ceasar Chavez - are on display. But lesser known figures such as Fred Karamatsu, a Japanese-American victim of America's dark  decision to intern thousands of loyal Japanese-Americans during World War II, is also pictured. When their family was finally released, the Karamatsus returned to their East Oakland, California, home to find that vandals had smashed the glass in their greenhouses and all their nursery plants had been sold off. It took years for the family to recover and Karamatsu was active in demanding justice for his people. Finally, in 1988, the U.S. Congress formally apologized for the internment and each detainee was awarded $20,000.

Another face which might not be familiar to all visitors is Larry Kramer, a gay rights activist and playwright. Kramer is probably most known for starting ACT UP (Aids Coalition to Unleash Power) which employed confrontational techniques used during the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City which first shone a light on the gay movement.

Several quotes are included in the ongoing exhibit, as well as 6 video shorts on the 6 different struggles.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
One of the greatest things about living in the DC area is the amazing amount of things to do and see daily. Of course, sometimes event times clash. Today was such a day. In addition to the Oscar preview and the Struggle of Justice exhibit, my college alma mater, Villanova, was playing arch-rivals Georgetown in Big East basketball at the Verizon Center. We opted for the exhibits over the game for 3 main reasons:

1. There will always be more Villanova-Georgetown games
2. The cheapest seats for the game were $40 each and the exhibits were free and
3. I figured the Wildcats would lose to the Hoyas and I really didn't want to witness that. I was right. The final score was Georgetown 64, Villanova 47.