Images Assisting Wor[l]ds : Black History Murals in South and West Philadelphia

ABSTRACT Black history murals are often understood as examples of state or corporate obfuscation of racial inequality, sometimes known as “artwashing”; or, conversely, as “insurgent” political interventions. Focusing on murals in historically Black neighborhoods in South and West Philadelphia, this article instead highlights the processual, but no less political, relations involved in the production of Black history murals. Departing from “presentist” politically driven accounts that privilege “contemporary concerns and dispositions,” our objective is to offer a cultural and urban sociological analysis that highlights the anteceding words (texts and narratives), urban lifeworlds, “art worlds” and supply of meaningful urban locations that make Black history murals possible. We argue murals not only consolidate “the past” but contribute to the making of Black urban historicity.