In Selah, a humanlike form holds up its arms in prayer, revealing violent tears on its quilted body. Quilts were used during the time of the Underground Railroad to hide secret messages guiding enslaved people to freedom. Sanford Biggers distorts the figure, referencing the “hand’s up” slogan associated with the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown and ongoing brutality Black Americans still face from police today. In this way, Selah, a substitute for “Amen” in Rastafarian culture, becomes a cry for help. [74]

Written by Phoenix Satterfield, Curatorial Intern ‘25