Justin Fairweather’s short film “Roger J. Carter: Rebel Revolutionary” shows how the artist arrived at his innovative way of making portraits of Black figures.
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 (soft music)
00:02 I felt like I was born to be an artist.
00:10 I don't really look at it as work,
00:15 I just look at it as me expressing myself
00:17 and in charge of my own destiny, so to speak.
00:19 There's always a battle within the piece.
00:24 There's the piece and there's a battle within the piece.
00:29 I tell people the soldiers are not really
00:31 at a fight with each other.
00:32 They're just standing on the neck of the revolutionary.
00:38 It all comes together in the end.
00:44 (soft music)
00:49 (soft music)
00:51 (soft music)
01:20 My name is Roger J. Carter.
01:21 I'm an artist here in Chicago.
01:23 Black people need some peace.
01:28 White people need some peace.
01:31 I wanted all the images to be revolutionaries.
01:34 People who did everything they could to unite the people,
01:37 even under opposition.
01:38 I really relate to that.
01:43 Growing up on the South Side,
01:45 I didn't have a lot of resources, but I had people.
01:49 I had family and we had a lot of love.
01:52 To me, that's community and that's kind of what drove me.
01:54 And in those communities, I was always surrounded by art.
02:00 I always knew I wanted to express myself
02:09 in my own unique way.
02:11 Initially, I wanted to be a professional basketball player.
02:15 It doesn't work out, it doesn't work out,
02:18 but I'm gonna put everything I can into it.
02:21 And I just fell hard into graffiti.
02:24 Probably tagged a few garages in the neighborhood.
02:28 I guess I can admit that now.
02:29 I think in a way that I carry both of those with me.
02:45 There's an element of play,
02:47 there's an element of precision,
02:48 there's this rebellious thing that anyone knows me,
02:51 they know I'm attracted to doing things your own way.
02:54 I think it all finds its way into the art, actually.
02:57 It was things that I played with as a child
03:05 to create an image.
03:06 But I'm also using the soldiers as a weapon,
03:09 as a form of protest.
03:11 The revolutionary always brings a system
03:13 trying to keep them quiet.
03:15 (dramatic music)
03:17 - This flashing battery-powered machine gun
03:37 with moving ammo belt shoots rapid fire bullets.
03:40 There's a real look and--
03:41 - I just thought it was the perfect message
03:42 to use the soldiers as muscle of the oppressor.
03:45 - People think revolutionaries
03:57 are something they can see specifically.
03:59 But anybody can be a revolutionary.
04:03 A revolutionary is anyone that sparks change
04:09 or someone who can change the dialogue.
04:11 (crowd cheering)
04:14 There's so many game changers out there
04:18 that have made real change by just living their truths.
04:21 Unfortunately, having to die for them.
04:25 I try to use the art to celebrate their memory.
04:35 And celebrate their legacy.
04:38 (crowd cheering)
04:41 I just want someone or a kid, anyone,
04:52 to see the work and be like,
04:53 "Oh man, that's kind of cool."
04:55 Then immediately it's like,
04:56 "Well, who's Breonna Taylor?"
04:58 Then that starts a conversation.
05:00 Once you understand who these people are,
05:04 you kind of get why we're doing this type of art.
05:08 Because it's gonna shine a light on the wars
05:09 some people fight just by existing.
05:11 So that's one of the things that I hope comes out.
05:18 It inspires people to say,
05:20 "Hey, who's James Baldwin?
05:23 "Who's Fred Hampton?
05:25 "Who's Breonna Taylor?"
05:26 Maybe you got a young revolutionary because of it.
05:32 (gentle music)
05:35 (gentle music)
05:37 (gentle music)
05:40 (gentle music)
05:42 (gentle music)
05:45 (gentle music)
05:48 (gentle music)
05:50 (gentle music)
05:53 (gentle music)
05:55 (gentle music)
05:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]