A Brush with History

Artist George McCalman's recently released book paints history in new light. |

From Emily Hofstaedter via Mother Jones /

"It is fitting that I interview illustrator and designer George McCalman on All Saints’ Day. When I flip through his new book, Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and Unseen, I cannot help but think of the children’s hagiographies of my youth. But rather than Joan of Arc in her armor or Sebastian’s arrow-pierced torso, I see James Hemings in a tall white chef’s hat, with Mona Lisa eyes that follow me as I study the page; and Sister Rosetta Sharpe with her guitar, surrounded by pulsating rainbow soundw aves that threaten to make me dizzy. McCalman’s book is the carving on the cathedral wall, and I am the peasant hungry for a world of knowledge I am embarrassed to know too little about." | Read the FULL ARTICLE.