POUR, TEAR, CARVE

And She Was Born

By Mama Sallah

—after Janet Taylor Pickett’s And She Was Born, 2017

Sarah Jane’s my name.

Uh, that’s me.

I’m no slave, I hope you see.

My tribe adorns my face.

I’s proud as can be.

Ain’t letting nothing make a fool outta me.

Hands on my hips, my black dress stretched wide,

Rared back and breathing pride.

I ain’t looking at you.

And yes, I’m looking to the side.

Oh honey, you may wonder why.

One thing is for sure, I ain’t scared.

I just don’t want to!

*Janet Taylor Pickett,* And She Was Born, 2017. Acrylic on canvas with collage, 30 x 30, The Drier Fund for Acquisitions, courtesy of The Phillips Collection.

Mama Sallah is a native Baltimorean born in 1958. She is a multidisciplinary artist inspired by historical events and communing with the spirit. As an open vessel, she consistently moves from “unknown discomfort to known vision” while creating. Her use of materiality is regenerative. She attends the Rinehart School of Sculpture, creating Assemblages and writing poetry. Her latest exhibit is entitled Unimaginable Pain. It is a commemoration of the historical erasure of Emmett Till’s death.