{"id":257,"date":"2019-01-31T13:10:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T21:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999937052"},"modified":"2019-01-31T13:10:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T21:10:12","slug":"not-to-be-forgotten-images-black-history-exhibit-leaves-jarring-indelible-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/not-to-be-forgotten-images-black-history-exhibit-leaves-jarring-indelible-mark","title":{"rendered":"Not to be forgotten images: Black history exhibit leaves jarring, indelible mark"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some of Sharon and David McLucas’s \u201c Forgotten Images: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, \u201d a large collection\u00a0of artifacts depicting the struggles of African Americans in the United States.\u00a0Photo by Stephen Carr \/ Long Beach Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you want a PG version of Black History and the African-American experience, then \u201cForgotten Images,\u201d a traveling exhibit owned and curated by David and Sharon McLucas may not be for you. For instance, when Sharon offers a full tour of her exhibit, she often shows a recent painting by local artist Cory Bilicko that represents the torso of a man in front of an American flag. The silhouette has three sections, symbolizing the evolution of the black man\u2019s experience in the United States. On one side are chains and shackles, in the middle a hangman\u2019s rope and, on the other side, bullet holes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur exhibit is very emotional,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

David adds: \u201cMost exhibits are politically correct; our exhibit is in your face.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit, in all its raw, unvarnished power will be unveiled again, Thursday, Jan. 31 through Saturday, Feb. 2 at the Expo Arts Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave., in conjunction with the 7th annual \u201cCaribbean Heritage\u201d event. It will also be featured in various iterations throughout the month.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Oxnard, David Lucas, 70, said he didn\u2019t have to experience many of the dark episodes on display in his exhibit. When he began collecting African-American historical pieces and images, he was shocked at the pervasive images of racism through the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found it\u2019s vast,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are literally millions of symbols and images that are out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A depiction of President Barack Obama is one of the more positive images of Sharon and David McLucas’s \u201c Forgotten Images: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. \u201d Photo by Stephen Carr \/ Long Beach Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They insist that their exhibit is about much more than just the morass of racial brutality that has defined more than 300 years of black history in the United States. The exhibit honors Barack Obama and his ascendance to the Presidency as well as black successes in all walks of American life.<\/p>\n

But, they also acknowledge that the darkness is what gives the exhibit an emotional punch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still get emotional,\u201d David says about narrating tours. \u201cI have to keep myself straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

For sheer shock value, perhaps nothing is as jarring as \u201cAlligator Bait,\u201d featuring a stuffed alligator and historic advertisements and artwork that show black babies being used as bait to catch gators. One ad for licorice features a baby, an alligator and the slogan \u201cA dainty morsel.\u201d<\/p>\n