Racism Is a Sickness: Revisiting Image, Memory, and Message is a commemorative monograph rooted in the original 2015 Philadelphia-based art and community engagement project #RacismIsASickness, sparked by the viral video of Dajerria Becton’s brutalization by a McKinney, Texas police officer.

At its center are the original color portraits of 14 individuals who courageously allowed themselves to be seen and heard during a moment of national and local unrest.

In 2016, the portraits were installed at The Art Church of West Philadelphia, the Community College of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Ethical Society—each site offering a unique approach to audience interaction through wall text, ephemera, and participatory elements.

This monograph is not an update or retrospective in the traditional sense. Instead, it is a return. Through high-resolution reproductions, installation documentation, and a re-engagement with the project’s original visual language, this publication serves as an archival offering—honoring what was seen, said, and felt at the time.

It is not a book about change. It is a book about what was true, what was named, and what still matters.

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