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Sylvia (Laini) Abernathy was an American artist and activist. She studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology, located in the South Side of Chicago. As a young artist, Abernathy was commissioned by Delmark Records to design album covers for jazz records, producing at least four album covers in the late 1960s. She was an important figure in Chicago’s Black Arts Movement, often working in collaboration with her husband, the photographer Billy (Fundi) Abernathy. In 1967, she joined the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) and designed the “Wall of Respect,” a street mural that featured African American leaders, including W. E. B. Dubois Malcom X, Sarah Vaughn. After changing her name to Laini, she designed the1970 experimental photobook “In Our Terribleness (Some Elements and Meaning in Black Style)” featuring poetry by Amiri Baraka (born LeRoi Jones) and images by Fundi.
