"Amani Lewis echoes a similar sentiment, but suggests a change is in the air with her graphically powerful Fight Back."

While artists have strong points of view about the governing abilities of our politicians on both sides of the aisle, the most thought provoking section of works revolves around how we as individuals define and uphold the sanctity of our very bodies.  This push for dignity of personhood is at the center of a woman’s right to control her own body and has gained new traction with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.  Baltimore artist Kelly Burke’s third place winner Black Lives Matter is an historical primer in flag form that delineates for the uninformed why exactly our brothers and sisters of color sometimes fear for their very lives.  This sense of dread is echoed in two other works which received honorable mentions:   Ann Stoddard’s installation Black Angel gives new meaning to the chant “hands up, don’t shoot!” and Janathel Shaw’s sculptural work Still a N____/No Entry, revisits Jim Crow era barriers to full participation in national life.  Amani Lewis echoes a similar sentiment, but suggests a change is in the air with her graphically powerful Fight Back. Cathy Wilkin brings a feminist perspective to this issue with Help Yourself, inviting the Supreme Court, including Justice Scalia in ghoul form, to weigh in on her self-determination.