Charlotta JanssenThe Freedom Riders 1961: Celebrating the 55th Anniversary of an Economic Movement

Dr. Martin Luther King: "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored."

A strong content enmeshed with a striking visual is what I seek to express. That is how I came to a narrow color spectrum as well as to collage: something I call augmented portraiture.

When I came across mugshots of the Freedom Riders I was in awe of the moment of confrontation captured in each image: the system was challenging each individual and each individual was challenging the system. The more I studied the history surrounding the Freedom Rides the more I was compelled to paint these images and capture each individual's moment of confrontation. This wasn't just a modern miracle. It was a well organized, well thought through economic movement with a great ideal. When Obama was elected I felt the want to celebrate the tribe of the open minded that got us here. Then I met Freedom Riders. I have never been the same. There is more to this lesson and this movement isn't close to done.

There is a direct connection to Occupy as well as Black Lives Matter. Great ideals are often a burden and you won't always have success, but you have to keep trying. The 403 members of the tribe of the open minded who caught the bus between May and December in 1961 are a constant reminder that you can bring about change.

I paint what moves me, I paint through what frustrates me. - Charlotta Janssen