Black motorcyclists have built a distinct and resilient culture in the Carolinas and across the country, which is the focus of a new book launching in Charlotte this month.
Photographer Alvin C. Jacobs spent two years traveling to more than a dozen states, including Florida, Ohio and California, capturing images for his book, “Chrome.”
“It’s really just translating what I’ve seen over the past couple of years into black-and-white, highly contrasted, vibrant, rich photographs of individuals who may have gone overlooked over the years in the culture,” Jacobs said.
The book expands on Jacobs’ “Black Behind Bars” exhibit, which was shown last year at the Harvey B. Gantt Center. Both projects spotlight Black motorcyclists and their longstanding presence within biking culture.
“That we are in this culture, right? We are here, we’ve always been here,” Jacobs said. “Sometimes you can tell politically there’s been some erasures of certain nationalities, of certain racial demographics, like they didn’t exist.”
Jacobs said documenting the community is essential to preserving its history across generations.
“So part of it is really documenting and shining a light on the individuals who’ve been doing this their entire lives,” Jacobs said. “Some of us are third-generation, fourth-generation — at the very least second-generation — bikers and motorcycle riders. Unless this culture is documented carefully and creatively and intentionally, it could be another 10 or 20 years, and they’ll say we were never here.”
“Chrome” will launch June 30 at the Gantt Center in uptown Charlotte.
