In “The Terrible Vision”, the eminent artist Margaret Taylor recounts her realization that the great live oaks she played near as a girl represents not just the beauty of nature but also, since live oaks commonly served as “hanging trees” in the South, the horrors of lynching. A particularly moving aspect of “The Terrible Vision” are Taylor’s etchings (reproduced in the 5 x 8 inch color facsimile) of four “visions” of a single gnarled live oak—as it harbors dead figures in its branches, as flames engulf and consume both tree and figures, as a wild rainstorm drenches and douses the flames, as the original gnarled tree standing now without its dead bodies below shows the faintest signs of a hopeful dawn. This is narrative, socially conscious, implicitly political art of a high order that reprises the consciousness-raising art of the 1960s and, as well, the legendary NAACP anti-lynching exhibition of the 1930s. Taylor urges other white people to study the history of racism in this country. Her remarkable etchings provide the inspiration to do so.
Ronald Story, Professor of History Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, October, 2020
Katika kitabu chake The Terrible Vision, Margaret Taylor anaeleza jinsi alivyoona kwamba miti mikubwa ya mwaloni ambayo alicheza karibu nayo akiwa msichana haionyeshi uzuri wa asili tu bali pia, kwa kuwa miti mikubwa ya mwaloni ilitumika kama miti ya kunyongwa kusini, ilionyesha hofu ya mauaji. "Hata hivyo, ""The Terrible Vision"" ni picha ya Taylor ya maono manne ya mwaloni mmoja aliye hai, kama inavyohifadhi takwimu za wafu katika matawi yake, kama moto unaoangamiza na kula miti na takwimu, kama dhoruba ya mvua ya mwituni inavyomwagika na kuzima moto, kama mti wa awali wa mwitu unaosimama sasa bila maiti yake chini inaonyesha ishara za giza la matumaini." "Hii ni hadithi, jamii-fahamu, implicitly kisiasa sanaa ya utaratibu wa juu kwamba reprises ""kuongeza ufahamu"" sanaa ya 1960 na, kama vile, hadithi NAACP kupambana na lynching maonyesho ya 1930." Taylor anawahimiza watu wengine weupe wajifunze historia ya ubaguzi wa rangi katika nchi hii. Michoro yake yenye kupendeza hutoa msukumo wa kufanya hivyo. Ronald Story, Profesa wa Historia Emeritus, Chuo Kikuu cha Massachusetts, Oktoba 2020