Black List
Dublin Core
Identifier
DMM-2021-031
Title
Black List
Creator
Sydney G. James
Date
Date Created: 2016
Date Photographed: 2021-11-12
Date Photographed: 2021-11-12
Subject
Women, Black, in art.
Mural painting and decoration--Michigan--Detroit--2010-2020.
Mural painting and decoration--Michigan--Detroit--2010-2020.
Description
Depicts a woman holding a blank sheet of paper with the text "The definitive list of everything that will keep you safe as a black *woman* (*crossed out) being in America:" She has a bird pecking at her head and a mask resembling J. Dilla in her shirt pocket, likely referencing the mural located to the left of it: Tylonn J. Sawyer's "Doughnuts."
"Other notable works include the female-focused political mural Black List (2016), her second Murals in the Market composition, featuring a dishevelled and sombre-looking woman holding up a listless paper that reads “The Definitive List of Everything That Will Keep You Safe as a Black Woman Being in America.” A theatrical mask of the Detroit rapper J. Dilla pops out of her pocket while a pigeon picks at her Afro, critiquing the victimization of Black people in American society. The title takes its name from the poem, “The Definitive list of Everything that Will Keep You Safe as a Black Woman in America” by Detroit poet and writer, Scheherazade Washington Parrish."--Walls that Unite, not Divide: The Detroit Murals of Sydney G. James by Emily Burkhart.
"Other notable works include the female-focused political mural Black List (2016), her second Murals in the Market composition, featuring a dishevelled and sombre-looking woman holding up a listless paper that reads “The Definitive List of Everything That Will Keep You Safe as a Black Woman Being in America.” A theatrical mask of the Detroit rapper J. Dilla pops out of her pocket while a pigeon picks at her Afro, critiquing the victimization of Black people in American society. The title takes its name from the poem, “The Definitive list of Everything that Will Keep You Safe as a Black Woman in America” by Detroit poet and writer, Scheherazade Washington Parrish."--Walls that Unite, not Divide: The Detroit Murals of Sydney G. James by Emily Burkhart.
Publisher
Murals in the Market
Type
Physical Object
Spatial Coverage
Address: NW side of 2638 Orleans St
Coordinates: 42.34834749873615, -83.03779854693194
Coordinates: 42.34834749873615, -83.03779854693194
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
https://www.artshelp.com/walls-that-unite-not-divide-the-detroit-murals-of-sydney-g-james/
Source
The Definitive list of Everything that Will Keep You Safe as a Black Woman in America by Detroit poet and writer, Scheherazade Washington Parrish.
Format
Support: Brick and masonry
Extent: Approximately 17' 6" x 30'
Extent: Approximately 17' 6" x 30'
Has Version
Early images: instagram.com/p/BKrqohog2Rr
images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5722575bab48de9800f05a1b/1476915684056-GC2AXBKL33EO5BWW906V/Sydney_James.jpg?format=1500w
images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5722575bab48de9800f05a1b/1476915684056-GC2AXBKL33EO5BWW906V/Sydney_James.jpg?format=1500w
Collection
Citation
Sydney G. James, “Black List,” Wayne State University - School of Information Sciences, accessed March 15, 2026, https://waynestateu.omeka.net/items/show/427.