'That's who I'm looking at when I look at these grimaces and eyes that are bulging. 'It reminds me: This is Bigger,' she says. Visitor Kidogo Kennedy pondered one of Johnson's recurring images, a square, black skull scribbled with big, swirly eyes. He mixes media: shea butter, potted plants, stacks of books, vinyl records. His work explores cultural identity and race. It was a packed house and featured live music, poetry, paintings and sculpture. You know, I feel like the black man walks around with an anxiety because of the way that America views him, the world views him, you know? And so yeah, it's still very relevant, because this is still kind of the same America.' 'You know, there's always pressures that are put on us. 'It's always been rough for a black man living in America,' Sanders says. The character Bigger Thomas still resonates, says Ashton Sanders. Author Richard Wright himself played Bigger Thomas in the 1951 movie. Over the years, it's been adapted for stage, and also made into a movie twice. Novelist James Baldwin once wrote a critique: In his 1955 book Notes of a Native Son, Baldwin blasted Bigger's portrayal as stereotypical and unsympathetic.īut Native Son remains popular. That characterization has been controversial. In Wright's bestselling novel, Bigger was a rapist and a murderer - portrayed as a victim or product of his environment. So immediately I said: Well we've got some parties that are also relevant, like Occupy or the anti-fascist movement, that a young person might want to join in that might cause some consternation in the hearts and minds of progressive wealthy parents.' 'So the Communist Party these days is not the same kind of party as it was back in the day. 'In the original novel, Jan was a member of the Communist Party,' Parks says. At the movie's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, writer Suzan-Lori Parks talked about how she updated their story.

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