This was a national invitational show, orchestrated by Rainbow Sign, that featured paintings, drawings, sculpture and photographs of important Black figures in history.

Artists represented included William Artis, Leslie Price, Samella Lewis, E.J. Montgomery, Arthur Britt, the Black Panther Party-affiliated Emory Douglas, David Bradford, James Lawrence, Rosalind Jeffries, Suzanne Jackson, Mary Washington, and Betye Saar. Saar’s landmark piece “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima” was created for this exhibition, and first featured here.

The opening of the exhibition on January 29, 1972 was timed to coincide with the national conference of the College Art Association, held in the Bay Area that year: in this way, the opening brought together “nationally famous” Black artists with “local artists, students, teachers, art patrons, and community people.”

From 10 am to 10 pm, Rainbow Sign hosted a “Black Arts Day” that was organized around the theme of “Black Contemporary Art & Philosophy.”