Flag Story Quilt, Marquetta Johnson (active late 1900s); Faith Ringgold (1930–2024)

Faith Ringgold’s work has been a powerful force in American culture for the over fifty years. She pioneered the artform of story quilts for the modern era alongside other Black women. Centered on a Black male tragic hero, “Flag Story Quilt” alternates hand-written text in the white stripes with tie-dye fabric made by Marquetta Johnson to narrate the wrenching tale of a quadriplegic Vietnam War veteran wrongly accused of the rape and murder of a white woman. The work plays on the political and textile characteristics of the American flag and the tensions between the traditional quilt medium and contemporary violence and racism.