
Offset poster
24 x 18 in.
As a form of Black feminist activism, Ringgold made four cut paper collages that were again inspired by the Kuba design with different words and in varying colors: Freedom Woman Now and Women Free Angela in the Black Nationalist colors red, black and green, Woman Free Yourself in purple and green, and America Free Angela in blue, gray, and red. All titles of these works serve as demands, but also as strong affirmations that can be repeated in different orders.
For Freedom Woman Now Ringgold divided a rectangle into 12 triangles placing the words of its title within the created triangular spaces – alternating between the standard and reversed order of the letters. Ringgold’s own typography is adjusted to the overall rhythmic pattern of the collage.
For Ringgold, feminism would include the fight for Black liberation. Even more so, Ringgold believed in responsibility and self-determination. In the collage Woman Free Yourself, the words face in all directions and the pronoun “yourself” is divided into the two words “your” and “self” emphasizing the importance of each word on its own.