1996

My Country Needs Me

American, born 1964

Ewing is keenly interested in the complexity of cultural environments as they are shaped by the dynamics of race, religion, and war. The quotation used in this print comes from an essay on the origins and abuse of racial and gender-based epithets, “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe: An American Grammar Book,” by African American feminist literary critic Hortense Spillers. The words, juxtaposed with a disjointed face (a combined image of a black boxer and an African mask) and a background reminiscent of an American flag, allude to the ways in which African Americans are categorized and presented, and the resulting impact on our culture.