Written by: Lauren Davis | June 14, 2022
– Art Critique/Analysis –
“MLK Drum Major for Peace” by Joe Minter
As an intern working on this project to catalog and record the works of Joe Minter, I found myself fascinated with several of his works, leading to a desire to try and understand their deeper meaning. I decided to consider one of these pieces more in depth by offering critique and analysis about it. I selected Joe Minter’s “MLK Drum Major for Peace” as a final installment for my work on this project over the past four weeks.
“MLK Drum Major for Peace” reflects Joe Minter’s feelings and ideas about Martin Luther King Jr. as a representative and leader during the Civil Rights Movement. The title itself helps reveal these facts, as a Drum Major is a likely reference to a drummer in a battle playing drums of war. The individuals often helped lead marches and lift the morale of the other soldiers with their music. This draws the comparison then to Dr. King and his role in fighting for justice for Black lives in America, as he was looked up to as a leader in the movement. The second part of the title that Minter also includes reflects on the ultimate goal of that struggle–to attain peace.
When discussing his reasoning for creating such works of art, Minter brings up the concept of agape, which is the Greek word used in the Bible to denote the strongest form of love between God and man. Minter stresses the fact that the struggle of Dr. King is related to the need of mankind for agape to achieve and maintain peace between races.
To look at the more formal aspects of the work, the use of red, yellow, black, and green recall inspiration from African art and flags, which represent Minter’s feeling of connection to his ancestors from Africa–something he showcases in a majority of his works. Minter often speaks of how close he feels to his ancestors, and that is in no small part due to his close proximity to the cemetery where his father worked for thirty years and where his family and wife are buried. He often says he can hear his ancestors in the wind, so it is no wonder they are a major inspiration for his art. Minter is both inspired and frustrated by the cemetery so near to his home.
As a historically Black cemetery bound up with segregation and racism, it still struggles with that history to this day, not being as well maintained as the nearby white cemetery. Minter is very vocal about the uncut grass and toppled headstones within the place where his parents and wife lay to rest. He makes it a point in this piece, and all of his other pieces, to point out the inequality present in America’s history.
The words that Minter paints onto “MLK Drum Major for Peace” carry their own meaning as well. “Free at last. Thank God we free at last,” is inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I have a dream” speech, given at the March on Washington. In this piece, Minter has inscribed these words onto the doors he uses as his medium. This quotation is used express the relief and joy Minter feels by taking steps towards a better world after the Civil Rights Movement, and though there is still very far to go, Minter acknowledges that there is progress to celebrate. However, Minter makes clear in his work adjacent to “MLK Drum Major for Peace” that steps are still needed to grant true justice and equality with the words “Black Lives Matter” written on it. The two pieces can really be viewed in conjunction with one another as the meaning of one adds to the other. Both reflect movements fighting for civil rights and equality for Black lives in America, only separated by time, but what has represented an on-going struggle existing since the time of slavery. While celebrating the progress made thus far. Minter’s work addresses the need for change, and the injustices enacted.
I feel that that represents the significance of this piece, and a recurring theme in his works as a whole, as gathered through formal analysis and more contemporary analysis of subject matter. Joe Minter infuses into all of his works with meaning and passion, and through that he moves the world.