Generations to come had no recollection of their lost past only giving them the strength to build a new history. African-Americans have been struggling for over 100 years to rebuild and prove their artistic abilities that were lost during slavery. They are continuously fighting back to build a new future, one with history, culture, and power for their new world.
Lost but not hopeless, African-Americans have been able to prove their artistic ability after the end of slavery. This was a time when the world seemed to be moving forward and opening doors for the great African-American artists that we know of today. The hardship and pain many slaves had to endure influenced much of the early work of African-American artists.
“What does the Negro want? His answer is very simple. He wants only what all other Americans want. He wants opportunity to make real what the Declaration of Independence and Constitution and the Bill of Rights say, what the Four Freedoms establish. While he knows these ideals are open to no man completely, he wants only his equal change to obtain them.” Mary McLeod Bethune (Madyun, P.p.29).