During the civil rights movement, art became a platform for protest for artists Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold and Elizabeth Catlett. Elizabeth Catlett Sharecropper (1970) Related Artists: Romare Bearden Faith Ringgold Elizabeth Catlett Images of the civil rights and black power movements, depictions of important African American leaders such as Malcolm X, and racism's effect on America were all important subject matter for African American artists in the 1960s. These artists, who experienced racial prejudice by the white male dominated museum world, wanted to document the social issues affecting their community and also contribute in their own way to the civil rights movement.