The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

Analysis & Response 105 Family is Forever Mackenzie Pike Mackenzie is a criminal justice major with a passion for the corrections system in America. Along with a love for reading and writing, Mackenzie loves to make people laugh, which is why she loves being part of DTR, the improv comedy group on campus. A fun fact about Mackenzie is that she went skydiving and would recommend it to every single person. There are thousands upon thousands of differences among the human race. Wars have been fought and lives have been lost over these differences. Yet, something transcends between race, age, gender, and culture. That something is family: family. No human being on Earth will go an entire lifetime without family ties. Even the child orphaned at birth had a mother for a few moments, and could very well go on to build a family of his own. While walking through the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, I came upon the exhibit entitled Beyond the Roots of the Ghetto. Omar Shaheed addressed this ever relevant topic in the form of a brass bronze sculpture entitled The Family. , which is contained in the this exhibit,Beyond the Roots of the Ghetto.In this piece he uses ambiguous figures, varying texture, and a unified layout arrangement to portray the dynamic of family. Upon entering this exhibit full of Omar Shaheed’s sculptures and colored pencil drawings, I noticed the dimly lit environment and clean lines of the display area of itself. In contrast, many of the sculptures and drawings have flowing, smooth lines and intense pops of color. The floor is home to dozens of brassbronze and limestone sculptures, while the walls display vibrantly colored pieces that recount the hip hop era of the 1980s and 1990s, like the Dope Dog series that shows the harmful nature of drugs and recounts the movement to prevent youth from using these drugsThe Familylies in an exhibit that is all dedicated to African American history. Beyond the Roots of the Ghetto aims to present African American history