Now that we all have this knowledge and a language to manage it visually, it's time to start tackling some of the more fun stuff. We have accepted the privilege, we are aware of all these major issues posed by the generation that preceded us. — Rashid JohnsonSweet Sweet Runner, a short video by Rashid Johnson from 2010, begins with an image of a middle-aged black man in glasses. The viewer receives momentary flashes, accompanied by the sound of sirens, that quickly define what he is wearing (a cool red jacket and running pants), the type of environment he is in, as well as his expression when he looks at the city streets (fig 1). The video then cuts back in time, showing him emerging from behind the glass of a door of a building in New York. We are voyeurs who observe him from behind a tree, then from behind a window on the other side of the street. After a brief warm-up period in which he raises and lowers his shoulders, rotates his neck and throws a few punches into the cold air, he bends down, touches his toes and takes off running. The video alternates between shots of New York architecture, our runner, and various activities taking place in the streets. We hear the wail of an ambulance, then see it speed by. A couple walks an excited dog, and another duo speeds along on expensive bikes dressed in skin-tight racing gear. It quickly becomes apparent that it is a cold morning in an affluent Manhattan neighborhood. At different times he is jogging in the middle of the street (fig 2) as well as on the sidewalk, and the images go from single to superimposed, showing him in different moments of his run at the same time. Sweet Sweet Runner with its title, layered video effects and borrowed soundtrack, directly references Melvin Van Pe...... middle of paper ......Message to Our Folks. MCA monographs. Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2012.Images fig 1Rashid JohnsonSweet Sweet Runner, 201016mm film on DVD with sound, 3:19 minfig 2fig 3(Sweetback gets its name)Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, 1971Directed by Melvin Van Peeblesfig 4fig 5Sweetback, dwarf and on the edge of townfig 6Sweetback looks back to check the policefig 7Sweet Runner looks back to check the trafficfig 8Sweet Runner sees his doublefig 9Sweet Sweetback flees the law in an extravagant outfitfig 10(Jeff Gerber wakes up black)Watermelon Man, made in 1970 by Melvin Van Peeblesfig 11Jeff Gerber in his office before the transformationfig 12 a white Jeff Gerber looks at the bus he is riding infig 13Rashid JohnsonWalking in Magdeburg, 2008Dust and dirt on a black fabricfig 14