Do Lord Remember Me II by Kenneth Dames

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Description During the 1930's Great Depression, among the projects began by the federal government in order to put people to work was one that was of particular interest to the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. It was The Federal Writers' Project. One FWP sub-project was The Virginia Negro Studies Project, designed to give work to educated African Americans and record the history of slavery from the perspective of those who had been slaves.

Now housed in the United States Library of Congress, these transcripts are the living tales of slavery in the narratives, rhymes, songs, folktales and humor of those who lived through that perculiar institution, slavery in America. <

James De Jongh's play, 'Do Lord Remember Me', is a medium for the voices of these former slaves. The manuscript in its entirety was written by them, as they poured out their memories to their interviewers in the 1930s. All quite aged and most near death, the former slaves often noted that others, all white, had asked them to talk of their experiences as slaves. All had refused; one ex-slave noting that he was scared of making enemies, another declaring that he wouldn't tell white people nothin'. Most poignant, to me, was the often made inquiry by the former slaves to their young black decendent interviewers: 'What took you so long to ask me?' They thought they would take their stories with them to their graves, not to be shared with those whom they felt needed to know.

The impact on me of the voices of those former slaves, told through the De Jongh play, still resonates. I saw the play twice in a single week. Artistically, I have been moved to do this diptych, 'Do Lord Remember Me'.

See the companion 'Do Lord Remember Me I'

'Do Lord Remember Me' (18'x24' each, Oil on Canvas) is included in the Africans In America Series.

Kenneth Dames, St Augustine Florida
Member Since December 2006
Artist Statement Dr. Kenneth Dames is a New York State licensed doctor of clinical psychology and an artist of 25 years. After leaving New York City’s School of Visual Arts, Ken continued to develop his art while living in the Dominican Republic. There his drawings gained national artistic recognition when he became the first foreigner to win the prestigious Philip Morris Corporation National Art Contest. Ken’s art remains a permanent part of the Corporation’s National Cultural Center and Museum of the Dominican Republic.

Through the years Ken has participated in expositions and shows in New York City, Philadelphia, Miami, St Louis, and the Dominican Republic, while being represented by the Bratton Gallery of Soho in New York City. He is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America and the National Association of Independent Artists.

“The human form is visual theatre. The human drama, with its full spectrum of emotions, can be witnessed in the lines, postures and movements of the body. We all reflect and instinctively react to its visual expressions. Perhaps it is for this reason that the human body occupies a central place in every form of art. This is to differentiate between the simple reproduction of the human body in art and the use of the human body as emotional expression in art.

“My perception of the human form as theatre, as visual expression, comes to me naturally and is something I have spent two professional careers articulating. It is basic to my art. Come, let me share it with you.”