Walking

Walking is an energetic oil painting by Charles Henry Alston, depicting a group of unidentified African American women walking forward. This painting uses an abstract style in the delineation of walking women in the group. Without any reference to the marchers' personal traits, the painting emphasizes the collective power of black women's activism. Walking was painted to reflect the time of the civil rights movement in the 60s. Massive numbers of black people responded to civil rights leaders Dr. King and Rosa Park's call by refusing to take the segregated bus. While we remember the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Park as courageous leaders, we shall not forget that these common citizen's walking practices are also heroic acts at the time. Through peaceful walking, they protested against the segregated bus company and injustice rules towards African Americans. As Alston mentioned, the walking "was a very definite walk—not going back, no hesitation".