Roger J. Carter: Rebel Revolutionary

The New Yorker

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.

Transcript

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]

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