Janet Braun-Reinitz (1938 – 2023) was a muralist, painter and activist committed to social justice. Her ongoing involvement in civil rights activism began in 1961 when she was a Freedom Rider. During one incident in Little Rock, Arkansas, she was arrested and was jailed from July 8 to 15. She subsequently worked at the national office of CORE and was the head of the CORE chapter in Rochester, NY in 1962–3.[1] She was the subject of the documentary, Interview with Janet Braun-Reinitz for the Freedom Riders 40th Anniversary Oral History Project, 2001, published by the University of Mississippi,[2][3] excerpts are included in the film, The Children Shall Lead (2001).[4]
In 1983, she co-founded Tasteful Ladies for Peace of Ithaca, New York. This organization was involved in peaceful protests promoting reproductive choice and protesting against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.[5]
Braun-Reinitz then worked as a muralist and studio artist based in New York City.[6][7][8] Since she began creating murals in 1984,[5] Braun-Reinitz had painted more than 60 murals in seven countries, including India, Ghana, England, Georgia, Italy, Nicaragua and the United States. Her 3,300-square-foot mural titled "When Women Pursue Justice"' can be found in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. This mural was created in collaboration with 12 other women artists and Artmakers Inc. (see documentary films, The Women of Nostrand and Greene, Dave Reinitz, H2F Productions, 2006; Beyond the Walls, Gail Embrey, Power Surge Productions, 2014.)
^Institute, Winter (2018-03-20). "Janet Braun-Reinitz". Vimeo. The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
^"The Children Shall Lead". Winter Institute. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
