Subtly visible in Dobson’s “Flags, Fences & Faith” is a repeating silhouette of a burdened Black man, emblazoned in a houndstooth pattern, ascending the segregated stairs of a southern theater. He frequently appears in her works as a symbol of ascension amidst unfathomable challenge and as a reminder that when divisive taxonomies recede, community, in its broadest and truest sense, will emerge.
