Akinsanya Kambon: The Hero Avenges

The first monograph on Vietnam veteran, Black Panther Party member and griot Akinsanya Kambon, whose paintings and sculptures sing with revolutionary history

Published with Hammer Museum.

Born Mark Teemer in Sacramento in 1946, Akinsaya Kambon has led a radical, revolutionary and artistic life. Drafted into the Marine Corps as a combat illustrator, he served in Vietnam, and upon his return joined the Sacramento chapter of the Black Panther Party. Enrolled at Sacramento City College, he learned the raku ceramic firing process and thus formally began his artistic practice. After nine years of travel and study in Africa, he was given the Yoruba name Akinsaya Kambon, meaning "the hero avenges." This first book on the artist surveys his painting and sculptural practice that centers narratives of the Black diaspora, including African histories and mythologies, as well as stories of violence and revolution from Africa and the Americas. With his art and community work, Kambon seeks not only to provide in-depth history lessons on Black and Brown communities in the United States, but also to chart new visions for the future.