Warning Signs
Reading is important. Read between the lines. Don’t swallow everything.
— Gwendolyn Brooks
Ms. Brooks was never one to pull a punch; she faced and shed light on the most uncomfortable truths with bravery and eloquence. In tribute to her courage, our eleventh broadside is a riot of color, glowing like an urban beacon. Flashing neon and spattered graffiti confront us, sounding the alarm with every word. Beneath the current of fluorescence runs a blood-red calico pattern of violence and cruelty—a tapestry that forms the unfortunate warp to the weft of our culture’s past and present. And behind the graffiti reads an excerpt of Brooks’s poem, “A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon,” about the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till.
You can learn more about this piece on our blog.
Year created
2011
At issue
Persistent racism, violence and stereotypes in American culture
Edition size
113 prints
Significance of edition number
Brooks published her first poem at age 13
Special printing techniques
Warning Signs is printed using special fluorescent inks.
Donation
In hopes of encouraging the youth of Brooks’s home city, we donated a portion of our proceeds to 826CHI, which offers writing programs to inner-city Chicago teens.