African American Artist Research- Brogdon Film & Photo

Graffiti in MS Paint: "SPRAY"

2009-11-18T02:42:00.001-05:00

Graffiti drawn on MS Paint

2009-11-18T02:39:00.001-05:00

Smart Crew paints "Wild Style" graffiti tribute in NYC

2009-11-17T00:19:00.001-05:00

Graffiti

2009-11-17T00:10:00.001-05:00

Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrested

2009-07-22T02:19:00.001-04:00

Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrested

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Henry Louis Gates Jr. is arrested for breaking into his own house

2009-07-22T02:18:00.001-04:00

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is arrested for breaking into his own house

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Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. speaks out on racial profiling after his arrest by Cambridge police.

2009-07-22T02:15:00.001-04:00

Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. speaks out on racial profiling after his arrest by Cambridge police.

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Michael Jackson -They don't care about us uncensored version

2009-07-17T05:32:00.001-04:00

This uncensored version of Michael Jackson's "They don't care about us" is by far the most engaging of the the three versions.
It speaks volumes to his social consciousness. He was so misunderstood, and he had money, which equals power. I truly believe MJ was a threat to some one and they wanted him dead. He was on the verge of doing something Huge for the world. Something no other performer had ever done, 50 concerts in one venue. That type of event would draw people from every country in the world. No other artist has ever done what he was going to do. And it was being done by a Black Man!!!

MICHAEL JACKSON - THEY DONÂ´T CARE ABOUT US (with OLODUM).fl

2009-07-17T03:22:00.002-04:00

"They Don't Care About Us"

Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, aggravation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Bang bang, shot dead
Everybody's gone mad

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

Beat me, hate me
You can never break me
Will me, thrill me
You can never kill me
Jew me, sue me
Everybody do me
Kick me, kike me
Don't you black or white me

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

Tell me what has become of my life
I have a wife and two children who love me
I am the victim of police brutality, now
I'm tired of bein' the victim of hate
You're rapin' me of my pride
Oh, for God's sake
I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy...
Set me free

Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
trepidation, speculation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
black man, black male
Throw your brother in jail

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

Tell me what has become of my rights
Am I invisible because you ignore me?
Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now
I'm tired of bein' the victim of shame
They're throwing me in a class with a bad name
I can't believe this is the land from which I came
You know I do really hate to say it
The government don't wanna see
But if Roosevelt was livin'
He wouldn't let this be, no, no

Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, speculation
Everybody litigation
Beat me, bash me
You can never trash me
Hit me, kick me
You can never get me

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

Some things in life they just don't wanna see
But if Martin Luther was livin'
He wouldn't let this be

Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, segregation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Kick me, strike me
Don't you wrong or right me

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us (Official Prison Version)

2009-07-17T03:21:00.001-04:00

George Hunt

2008-12-27T23:20:00.002-05:00

Memphis artist George Hunt was born in rural Louisiana, near Lake Charles, and his grandmother noted early in life that he had a special power to “see things.” In addition to large doses of indigenous music, one of the things he saw was the civil rights movement and that experience became a painting in 1997, which in turn, became a US Postage Stamp issued in 2005 as part of the United States Postal Service series, “To Form A More Perfect Nation.”

“America Cares/Little Rock Nine”

George Hunt was honored for his painting, “America Cares/Little Rock Nine” at ceremonies in Little Rock and Memphis. The paint was originally commissioned for the Central High School Museum, but first spent five years hanging in the White House in Washington, D.C. First Lady, Hillary Clinton, in a personal note to Mr. Hunt, wrote, “we are grateful that our visitors and staff have such a powerful image of hope and freedom to greet, inspire and inform them.”

Artist Website
Artist Gallery

"I Am A Man II"

Hand-Pulled Serigraph

Image Size: 24 x 50

In 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, the labor movement and the civil rights movement came together in a monumental struggle for human and public employee rights. On February 11, over 1,300 sanitation workers – nearly all were African American – went on strike demanding their basic rights to organize a union, to gain a living wage and to receive the respect and dignity due all working men and women. During the strike Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Memphis to support the workers but was tragically assassinated.

The above paragraph was taken from the Wayne State University website

"I Am A Man - III"

27" x 43"

A SERIGRAPH PORTFOLIO SERIES

BY GEORGE HUNT

CONTENT OF CHARACTER

"The Passage
represents a starting point for the shaping of the character of African American culture. In many African cultures, masks have been used to tell stories of historical events, adornment for warriors, and parts of costumes for various festivals. Mr. Hunt's "the Passage" embodies three masks representing the spirits of our ancestors who died during the Trans-Atlantic journey from Africa to America (The Middle (Passage). Conceptually, "The Passage" focuses on the idea that even though these ancestors did not make it to America physically, the content of their character, (hard work, love, respect, honor, and strength) survived the journey as it was passed on to their descendents born in America and other countries along the way from Africa.

"Leadership"

Leadership is a position of guidance. A leader should be honorable, trustworthy, longsuffering, service oriented and wise. Motivated by a passion and commitment to a vision, a leader inspires others to rise up, run with, stand tall, sit in, and even die for the vision of a people which emerges into a reality.

During the Civil Rights era, the Pullman Porters, the Clergy and other grass roots leaders having these traits were at the forefront of the struggle. In Mr. Hunt's, "Leadership", the Porter carries a sign with a dual message; painted right side up is the familiar slogan "We Shall Overcome"; at the bottom of the sign, there is a narrative from an African describing the pain and anguish of being confined to the cramped quarters of a slave ship. The bottom portion can only be read by placing oneself in an uncomfortable position.

The dual messages on the Porter's sign speaks loudly of the hope of a people still over coming, and the hardships suffered historically to have such a dream. One viewing does not yield the full concept of this masterful work. Each subsequent look sheds further insight into the concept of Leadership.

Legacy

Leadership is defined as that which is handed down from an ancestor or predecessor. In the African American culture, quilt making itself personifies patience, love, and concern for the comfort and care of others.

In Mr. Hunt's "Legacy", on the surface we view a grandmother passing on her quilt-making skills to her grand-daughter. However, a deeper look reveals the loving elder passing down a legacy of wisdom as she interweaves traits of the true essence of character into the heart and mind of her grand-daughter, just as Mr. Hunt has skillfully collaged the quilt representing good character onto the original painting.

An important common thread, The Word of God, links these works of art together. The cross found in "The Passage", and "Leadership", and the small blue church house in the background of the "Legacy" represent the effect God's Word had on the character of people in the struggle. Mr. Hunt has said on many occasions, "The content of good character is derived from God's perfect will."

SHAKOR (B. Cameron White)

2008-12-27T17:42:00.002-05:00

SHAKOR (B. Cameron White's) career as a visual artist spans more than thirty years. He is a brilliant painter and sculptor whose work fuses non-objective abstract and objective realism. While he draws technical inspiration from the paintings and sculptures of Michelangelo, Titan, Rodin, Frazetta, and Valejo; SHAKOR's spiritual inspiration and artistic vision is extracted from the culture, religions and traditions of New Orleans. From this unique perspective, SHAKOR creates vibrant and robustly textured images which dance,
sing, and emote a sense of culture, rhythm, and life.

A native of New York, SHAKOR attended the High School of Art and Design where he solidified a firm foundation in professional art techniques and commercial design. This training earned him college scholarships from Boston University, Rhode Island School of Design, and his alma mater the Cooper Union.

At age nineteen, while attending the Cooper Union, SHAKOR began his professional career as a graphic design artist and cartoonist with The Big Apple After Five Weekly Newspaper. In 1984 SHAKOR relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a position as graphic design artist and
cartoonist with the Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper, where he was ultimately promoted to production manager.

Blow Louis

Buck Jump

Trumpeter

Artist Website

Gallery

About The Artist

Gerald Ivey

2008-12-27T16:45:00.004-05:00

Artist Website

Artist Bio

Gerald is a native of Florida. At an early age, he exhibited exceptional artistic abilities. Throughout elementary school and high school, his teachers and schoolmates relied upon him to create bulletin boards, banners, and logos. Their approval and appreciation of his artistic acumen encouraged him to spend hundreds of hours practicing various art forms and techniques.

Later, after trying out many different mediums and art forms, Gerald decided to study at the Atlanta College of Art and Design in Atlanta, GA. Since, he has spent years perfecting multiple artistic strategies. His style is his own and incredibly colorful and unique. Ivey has been selling his work for over 15 years and is widely collected all over the world!

Ivey is an artist who is never satisfied with his creativity. He continues to surpass his skill as a master of his trade and incorporates various levels of texture, intense color, and mixed media to his canvases. He is an illustrator, painter, sculptor,designer, and artist unlike any you have witnessed. It is not uncommon to find his work on other mediums other than canvas, such as: clothing, wood, metal, paper, or even furniture!

Serenity

300 Gram Paper
30 x 40

Color Me Beautiful

300 Gram Paper
30 x 40

The Preacher

300 Gram Paper
30 x 40

Family Affair

300 Gram Paper
30 x 40

Five Rap, Hip Hop, Urban Artists

2008-12-27T13:04:00.010-05:00

Born in Massachusetts then brought by his family to live in New Jersey at an early age, Frank Morrison was reared and spent his formative years there, an affable, precocious and inquisitive youngster whose curiosity about everything around him seemed limitless. Then, as an energetic pre-teen, he was interested and enthused by the youthful fads, interests and activities which marked his world: the neighborhood D.J's with their followers and fans at neighborhood parties, the colorful ‘tags’ of local characters which were splashed across fences, parks and buildings, and the loose-jointed "B" boys and break-dancers who enlivened week-end party scenes. In this setting his world was suddenly rife with possibilities and he became convinced that he, too, could DO this! http://morrisongraphics.com/catalog/about.php

"Beat Street"
Frank Morrison
30" x 20"

Kolongi

emigrated from Barbados with a single purpose to establish himself as an international artist, with the chief focus on original artwork and prints. Kolongi's art work emphasizes the compelling heritage and culture of the African American experience. Kolongi’s interest in art started at an early age. At eight years of age he was awarded first prize in a county wide Barbadian competition. Self taught without the benefit of traditional teachers, he has forged his own style for which he continues to receive international recognition. http://www.itsablackthang.com/Kolongi-art-work.html

"Hip Hop Culture"
Kolongi
24" x 30"

"Hip Hop Evolution"
Kolongi
24" x 30"

Johnny Myers

Producing positive and motivating images is Johnny Myers way of praising God for the talents He gave him. A quiet spoken nature and deep religious convictions are poetically expressed through Myers art.

Myers demonstrated uncanny abilities at an early age, which were recognized in numerous state and national scholastic awards, resulting in his graduation with honors from the Ringling School of Art and Design. Myer's credits include many commissions by universities, as well as corporate collections. His work has been on exhibit in galleries from New York to Los Angeles.

Johnny Myers

"Hip Hop, A Piece Of History"
Johnny Myers
22" x 25"

Hang On & Have Faith
h:36 inch x w: 22 inch
Johnny Myers

Jerome Brown

"Missing You "
Jerome Brown
36" x 24"

"More Than A Woman (Aaliyah)"
Jerome Brown
24" x 36"

David Garibaldi
Artist Website
Garibaldi TV
My Space

Rhythm, Color, Culture, Energy; These Four words describe the experience viewing the creations of world renowned Artist David Garibaldi.

Born in Los Angeles in 1982, Garibaldi began creating at a young age. After relocating and growing up in Sacramento, it was not until high school, after walking away from a life of graffiti in the streets, that he turned his influences of hip hop culture into a positive direction. Unfortunately by then, it was too late to make up lost time in school, and he could not graduate. A season of hard times to come could not shake the drive of this young artist from pursuing his dreams.

STUDIO:

In 2003, David Garibaldi began to turn his illustrations on paper into paintings on canvas. Garibaldi would paint live at urban jazz sessions, nightclubs, and hip hop events for direct influence by the music, and he began to create a buzz about his work along the way.

STUDIO to the STAGE:

In 2003 Garibaldi was at a friends home and across the room hung an original Jimi Hendrix painting by performance artist Denny Dent. The painting was wildly splashed together with paint like most of Dents works. Without seeing a single video or photos of Denny Dent in action, even years after, David was inspired to create.

Dent was the first and only “Rock and Roll Painter”. Dent unarguably engaged his audiences while he created. Commanding hundreds to hundreds of thousands with his “Two Fisted Art Attack”. There will never be anyone like Dent, but other artist’s have been inspired in some way and are taking the art form to new generations, multimedia platforms, and more. Some notable artists include Brian Olsen, Michael Israel, Jean Francoise Detaille, Michael Ostaski, and Dan Dunn.

As Garibaldi has developed his performance pop art show over the years, he credits Denny Dent for not only inspiring himself, but generations before and after.

It was the defining moment of Garibaldi’s background in graffiti, hip hop dancing, playing music, painting live, and then seeing the work of Denny Dent that lead David to create a live stage show he describes and calls “Rhythm and Hue”

Movin' Strings"
David Garibaldi

20x25

Afternoon Sounds
image 30" × 17" (76 × 43cm)

David Garibaldi- Kanye West

Afternoon Urban Stroll
image 20" × 16" (50½ × 40½cm)
David Garibaldi

All Eyes On Me
Gerald Ivey
24x36

Danny Broadway

2008-12-27T12:37:00.002-05:00

Danny Broadway loved art at a very young age while drawing horses with his sister, Shuanta. He later decided to take his craft seriously during high school where he received grooming and constant motivation from a dedicated instructor. Now a young adult, Danny has earned a degree in Fine Arts from The University of Memphis where his paintings were chosen two years in a row for the Black History Month posters.

He also taught art to junior high through high school students in the Memphis City School System and at the Memphis College of Art. Danny's goal is to provide youths with the same hope he found in disciplined creativity. Always in motion, like his paintings, Broadway seeks constantly to develop his skill by exposure to new things. He's traveled to Africa & Europe. www.dannybroadway.com/about.htm

Originals

"Changing Winds"

"Still Water"

"Reflect"

"Parasol Parade"

Commissions

"Freedom & Peace Celebration"
Benefiting the
National Civil Rights Museum
Memphis, TN
2007

"My Brother's Keeper"
National Civil Rights Freedom Awards
2006

"Reaching"
The Women's Foundation

2007

"East vs West"
Major League Baseball's
Civil Rights Game
2007

"Mamma's Linens"
National Civil Rights Freedom Awards
Oprah Winfrey
2005

Artist Links
Danny Broadway.com
Saint George's Independent School's

Cbabi Bayoc

2008-12-22T21:24:00.004-05:00

Cbabi Bayoc art work is created at the Bayoc Studio which is comprised of two individuals Cbabi (pronounced KUH-BOBBY) and Reine (pronounced RAIN) Bayoc. Cbabi is the visual element of this productive union, whose style has a movement and presence expressive of someone born to be creative. His technique has been labeled "caricaturist", because he plays off faces, putting strong emphasis on lips, noses, eyes, and all other body parts. Cbabi became a full time artist in 1995, after graduating from Grambling State University. Cbabi's name, which is an acronym for Creative Black Artist Battling Ignorance and Blessed African Youth of Creativity, allows others to realize his mission and blessing in life. Through his artwork, he is able to show the beauty in black faces and black life to all faces and all walks of life. Because of his respect for his craft, Cbabi allows his style to change as “it” desires. Because of this, he asks that you memorize his signature, instead of stitching him onto a particular look and genre. heritagesart.com

Butterflies

Bus Stop

Daddy's Shoulder

The Thrill Is Gone ~ BB King

Expectin

First Step

In Daddy's Care

Serenading The Street

Shamed Face

With Love

Artist Links
Artist Website
Heritages Art Gallery

Leroy Campbell

2008-12-22T20:03:00.002-05:00

For over two decades, Charleston, South Carolinian, self-taught, mixed-media visual artist, Leroy Campbell has painstakingly captured the essence and emotion of god-fearing, self-reliant, proud, and intelligent subjects of his Gullah childhood through acrylic mix-media collage-on-canvas artworks that display a deliberate choice of vintage quilted fabrics, news print clippings, burlap, threads, and elements of southern terrain. Many call his work ‘old spirit art’ because each piece reflects community and memories of those that made a difference in his life. Fellowship and a strong community rank high in Campbell’s life priorities and he finds that powerful. In 1983 Campbell accidentally embarked upon a career as a visual artist. Campbell while in New York, visited The Studio Museum of Harlem exhibition of esteemed Charlotte, NC born African-American artist Romare Bearden whose works involved collage technique and consistently depicted African-American culture. It was then that Campbell began to reflect and appreciate his home even more. Campbell’s vision to tell his story was instilled and his first series, “The Neckbone Series” was born. His most recent series, “The Gullah Collection”, features news print as its most dominant feature. His use of newspaper signifies more than one denotation. On one hand, it represents the Gullah rituals of witchcraft to who by papering the walls of their houses with news print protected them against and rid of curses and dangerous spirits. Yet simultaneously the newspaper serves a time capsule, since upon a closer glance, the news clippings are excerpts from "The Black Chronicle" newspaper as compiled by the late documentarian Henry Hampton. Exemplified in pieces ‘Bear Paw’, ‘Endurance’, ‘Quiet Strength’, and ‘Piece of Mind’, “The Gullah Collection” triumphantly details the palpable, unwavering strength and perseverance of people of African ancestry during the late 1800's through mid 1960's. - Heritages Fine Art Gallery

Ain't That The Pot Calling The Kettle Black

Best Friends

Check Yourself

Divine Order lc

Good Hair

Griot

race matters

Release

Artist Links
The Art of Leroy Campbell
African American Art

Marcella Muhammad

2008-12-22T19:37:00.001-05:00

Marcella Hayes Muhammad showed her natural talent as an artist as a youngster, selling her first painting when she was still in Junior High School. She was so serious about art that she earned a Bachelors of Fine Art with honors from The California State University at San Bernardino. She also studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland CA. and at the University of California at Riverside. Her natural talent, training and years of experience have given her an extraordinary range of style and media few artists poses. She has nearly 1,000 original art works to her credit including oils, acrylics, paper batik, tapestry, fabrics, ceramics and more.

A Little Bit A Violin

A little Bit A Soul

Ashe

Hattitude #61

Hattitude #63

Still Life With Peaches

Two Elements: Earth and Air

Two Elements: Fire and Water

Artist Links
About Us
Original Paintings
Prints
Portraits

Synthia Saint James

2008-12-22T19:18:00.002-05:00

Synthia Saint James a self-taught artist and author was born in 1949 in Los Angeles. Saint James is an internationally recognized fine artist. You'll find her work on over 50 books covers (which includes books by Alice Walker, Terry McMillan, Iyanla Vanzant and Julia Boyd), and on many licensed products. She has 7 children's picture books currently on the market, two of which she wrote, "The Gift's of Kwanzaa" and "Sunday." She also has 2 books of poetry and prose, "Girlfriends". and "Can I Touch You, Love Poems and Affirmations", an audio book.

Precious
A collaboration by Synthia Saint James and Charles Bibbs
Lithograph
Limited Edition 1000
Paper Size : 18" x 26"
Image Size : 14" x 22"

Sisters of Courage
Lithograph
Limited Edition 900
Image Size: 24" x 18

Stiltdancers
Lithograph
Limited Edition 1000
Image Size: 18" x 24"

The Medicine Woman
A collaboration by Synthia Saint James and Charles Bibbs
Serigraph
Limited Edition Giclee
Edition size 350
Paper size: 17" x 23.5"
Image size: 20" x 26.5"

Songbird
Lithograph
Open Edition
Image Size: 22" x 29.5"

Sisters sj

Serigraph
Limited Edition
Image Size: 40" x 28.5"

Kadir Nelson

2008-12-22T17:32:00.003-05:00

Kadir Nelson began drawing at the age of three, and painting at age ten. “I have always been an artist,” Nelson explains. “It’s part of my DNA.” At age ten, his uncle Michael Morris, an artist and art instructor, apprenticed Nelson. “My uncle gave me my foundation in art,” says the artist. Under the encouragement and tutelage of both his uncle and high school art teacher, Nelson experimented with several different media and began painting in oils at sixteen. He would later submit his paintings to art competitions and win an art scholarship to study at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Upon graduating with honors, Nelson began his professional career as an artist, publishing his work and receiving commissions from publishers and production studios such as Dreamworks, where he served as a the lead conceptual artist for Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad” and “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” Sports Illustrated, Coca-Cola, The United States Postal Service and Major League Baseball, among others.

Stolen King
Paper edition
Image Size 25" x 25"

WE ARE THE SHIP:
The Story of Negro League Baseball

by Kadir Nelson

Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Kansas City Dugout - PAPER

Mighty Josh - PAPER EDITION

Rube and the Giants - CANVAS

"We Are The Ship"

Original Drawings

Quilit I - pencil and watercolor on bristol

3.5" x 3.5"
Framed and Matted

Rube Foster - Pen and Ink on Paper

6" x 8"

Owner - Pen and Ink on Paper

6" x 8"

Owner - Pen and Ink on Paper

6" x 8"

Commissions: Advertising

BCFX - Nerjyzed Entertainment

This is the most brutally fun and amazingly accurate football experience out there. Set in the unique and colorful world of Black College Football, BCFx puts you in the spotlight.
Check out the trailer for the game at www.bcfxgame.com

Ecay Uno: As a Man

Bombleery Entertainment

RH Factor: Distractions

Verve

Drum Majors
State Farm

Innovation

Coca-Cola

Music and Entertainment
Coca-Cola

United in Song
BMG

Artist Links

Prints
Original Drawings

Ernie Barnes

2008-12-22T16:14:00.005-05:00

Barnes is one of the most popular artists in the world. His depiction of the African American experience is unique and his vivid imagination is reflected in his artwork. Ernie was born in 1938 and began painting while playing college football at North Carolina College. He went on to play for five years in the NFL, then decided to call it quits and paint full-time. Many people recognize his painting called "Sugar Shack" from the classic TV sitcom Good Times. Most of Ernie Barnes' artwork reflect his view of African American lifestyles but he also shows us his continued love for sports. He also has a commitment towards racial and ethnic harmony and many of his paintings reflect it. With all things considered it's easy to see why Ernie is one of the most collected artists in the world.

Eight Ball

Girlfriends

Jake

Olympic Gymnast

Ernie Barnes- American Focus and American in Focus

Website
Bio

Artist Vitae

REFLECTIONS ON THE ART OF ERNIE BARNES

Heritages Fine Art

William Tolliver 1951-2000

2008-12-22T15:19:00.003-05:00

Tolliver spent more than 30 of his 48 years perfecting his skill as a painter. Today, William Tolliver's art is collected worldwide. Tolliver's style freely combines the color of Chagall with the solid compositional principles of Cezanne and the mood and forms of Modigliani and Picasso. Tolliver's words of wisdom for the young artist were, "I would urge an art student to go to school and learn the fundamentals, because to know the fundamentals is to know the technical aspects of blending

Sweeter Dreams

"Soulful Mississippi"

"Reader"

"Untitled, Nude"

"Untitled - Woman"

"Deborah"

Artist Links
The Estate of William Tolliver News
Heritages Fine Art Gallery
Art Brokerage

Ronald Scott McDowell

2008-12-22T14:23:00.004-05:00

Ronald McDowell has been hailed as one of today's most versatile artists. His creativity is demonstrated in his use of a variety of mediums, including oils, acrylics, charcoals and pastels. He has been credited for having a natural perception of design, which enables him to go from the visual concept to the final, three-dimensional product.

The California native began his artistic career as a child. While in grammar school, he was appointed as the art director of projects for El Pueblo Elementary School. The self-taught artist says his talents are a "God-given gift:' He also credits the artistic influence of his father and two older brothers.

McDowell has created commissioned works for individuals, institutions, and corporations, including the cities of Pittsburgh and Memphis, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the National AIDS Task Force and Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. His paintings have been shown at the Ebony Museum in Oakland, California, The Frankel Galleries International in Palm Beach, Florida, the North American Rockwell Space Division in Los Angeles and the National Exhibition-Commonwealth Edison in Chicago, Illinois. He has 50 portraits housed in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, including portraits of the country band, Alabama and Lionel Ritchie.

Artist Biography courtesy of the UAB African American Studies Program

Ronald Scott McDowell Artist Extraordinaire.

By LaTrease Rutland Stegall

Sculptures

Artist Ronald Scott McDowell #1

Other Videos

Stephen Marc

2008-12-21T18:35:00.003-05:00

Passage on the Underground Railroad

Stephen Marc, photographer and art professor at Arizona State University’s Herberger College of Fine Arts, is recognized for his unique and powerful photographic montages that explore the African Diaspora. His images combine family snapshots, antique photographs and images from his own extensive body of photographic work. The dual themes of all his work are an attempt to tell both his personal story and the story of a culture.

Marc creates digital photo montages from the approximately 30,000 photographs he has taken in 21 states, D.C. and Canada, creating captivating collages that blend the past and the present in artistic renderings that make history accessible – even fascinating – as he preserves and repackages the story of one of this country’s most significant historical movements. When the Underground Railroad project is complete, Marc plans to publish it in book form and exhibit it as a traveling exhibition.

Montages

Composites

Reflections in Black: Smithsonian African American Photography

2008-12-21T18:26:00.001-05:00

June 7 - August 31, 2003
Reflections in Black: Smithsonian African American Photography
The rich legacy of African American photographers is explored in Reflections in Black: Smithsonian African American Photography, a three-part exhibition that historically documents the black experience in the United States. The exhibition, the first ever to explore the history of black photography from 1840 to the

Carl Robert Pope, Jr.

2008-12-21T18:00:00.002-05:00

I am dealing with the unconscious in that I don’t think about what I shoot, I just react to what I see. But I am only reacting to what I see and my thoughts about what I want to see. Before I go shoot I have made up my mind about some of the things I am interested in and what I hope to do. Then when I go out and shoot I have already programmed myself about some of the things I am interested in, but I leave myself open to see what happens. Later I think about what it is I have just seen and photographed and experienced.

–Carl Robert Pope, Jr.

Artist Website

The Lights When Out Inside

Artist Pope, Carl

birth-death 1961-

Creation date 1985
Materials gelatin silver print

Dimensions 16 x 20 in. | 40.6 x 50.8 cm.

Those Cigarettes

Artist Pope, Carl
nationality American
birth-death 1961-
Creation date 1987
Materials hand-tinted gelatin silver print
Dimensions 14 x 10 7/8 in. | 35. 6 x 27.6 cm. (each)

Two Popes, 1967

Artist Pope, Carl
nationality American
birth-death 1961-
Creation date 1983
Materials gelatin silver print
Dimensions 41 1/4 x 48 1/2 in. | 104.8 x 123.2 cm.

Carl Robert Pope Quotes

"I am dealing with the unconscious in that I don’t think about what I shoot, I just react to what I see. But I am only reacting to what I see and my thoughts about what I want to see. Before I go shoot I have made up my mind about some of the things I am interested in and what I hope to do. Then when I go out and shoot I have already programmed myself about some of the things I am interested in, but I leave myself open to see what happens. Later I think about what it is I have just seen and photographed and experienced." - Carl Robert Pope, Jr.

"I was interested in environmental portraiture, the mix between the environment and the person. I didn’t know any of these people, but they knew my face and felt comfortable with me. I had been there with a medium-format camera the year before. I would have little contact sheets to show what I was doing. I would ask questions about what they were doing in the community and their lives. They felt comfortable with a toy camera, they were not threatened at all." - Carl Robert Pope, Jr.

More Robert Pope Quotes

Michael Ray Charles

2008-12-21T16:54:00.003-05:00

Michael Ray Charles was born in 1967 in Lafayette, Louisiana, and graduated from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1985. In college, he studied advertising design and illustration, eventually moving into painting, his preferred medium. Charles also received an MFA degree from the University of Houston in 1993. His graphically styled paintings investigate racial stereotypes drawn from a history of American advertising, product packaging, billboards, radio jingles, and television commercials. Charles draws comparisons between Sambo, Mammy, and minstrel images of an earlier era and contemporary mass-media portrayals of black youths, celebrities, and athletes—images he sees as a constant in the American subconscious.
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/charles/index.html

"(Forever Free) Hello I�m Your New Neighbor"
1997
Acrylic latex, stain, and copper penny on paper, 60 1/4 x 36 inches
Private collection
Photo by Beth Phillips
Courtesy Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York

Artwork Survey-SlideShow

Advertising and Art

Memorabilla
Video/51 Seconds

"Before Black (To See or Not to See)"
1997
Acrylic latex, stain, and copper penny on paper, 60 x 37 1/2 inches
Private collection
Photo by Beth Phillips
Courtesy Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York

"After Black (To See or Not to See)"
1997
Acrylic latex, stain, and copper penny on paper, 60 x 36 inches
Private collection
Photo by Beth Phillips
Courtesy Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York

"(Forever Free) Tommy Hilnigguh"
1999
Acrylic latex, stain, and copper penny on canvas, 36 x 60 1/4 inches
Private collection
Photo by Beth Phillips
Courtesy Tony Shafrazi Gallery,

"(Forever Free) Art n American"
2000
Acrylic latex and copper penny on canvas, 84 x 60 inches
Private collection
Photo by Beth Phillips
Courtesy Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York

Alma Thomas

2008-12-19T19:44:00.003-05:00

1891-1978

Born in Columbus, Georgia, Thomas was the eldest of four daughters. When she was fifteen, her family moved to Washington, D.C. In 1925 she began a thirty-five-year career teaching art at Shaw Junior High in Washington. So great was Thomas' sense of professional dedication that she devoted most of her energy to her students; her painting career was effectively put on hold until the 1960s. In the exhibitions of those years, Thomas drew upon all her sensory, childhood memories of rich vegetation, her own garden, the formal plantings of the capital city, and the musical sounds of nature to develop a painting style that gained her mainstream attention.

In Red Rose Cantata, Alma Thomas set up a lyrical repetition of color and shape through a series of vertical splashes of red punctuated by white intervals. The rhythmic arrangement of brushstrokes suggests musical intervals, and Thomas confirms that in the title. A cantata is a musical composition for one or more voices sung to an instrumental accompaniment. The dynamic harmony and excitement of both nature and music are combined in this piece.

Red Rose Cantata, 1973
oil on canvas
Overall: 175.3 x 127 cm (69 x 50 in.)
unframed: 128.9 x 177.2 x 3.8 cm
(50 3/4 x 69 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.)
Gift of Vincent Melzac 1976.6.1

Air View of a Spring Nursery, 1966

This mosaic-like painting by Alma Thomas is an abstract representation of a plant nursery, as seen from above. Thomas was especially influenced by displays of azaleas she saw in Washington, D.C. Acrylic on canvas.

Untitled (Music Series), 1978

Though her early work was realistic, Alma Thomas is best known for the brightly colored, mosaic-like style of abstraction that she adopted in her seventies. Acrylic on canvas, 71 5/8" x 52."

Eclipse (1970)

287 x 355

395 x 410

New Galaxy ...
500 x 508

Negro American

Artist Links

The New Georgia Encyclopedia

Google Images- Alma Thomas

Jean-Michel Basquiat

2008-12-19T15:53:00.008-05:00

Jean-Michel Basquiat with Madonna in New York circa 1981

Jean-Michel Basquiat (December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist. He gained popularity first as a graffiti artist in New York City, and then as a successful 1980s-era Neo-expressionist artist. Basquiat's paintings continue to influence modern day artists and command high prices.
Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York. His mother, Matilde, was Puerto Rican and his father, Gerard Basquiat is of Haitian origin and a former Haitian Minister of the Interior. Because of his parents' nationalities, Basquiat was fluent in French, Spanish, and English and often read Symbolist poetry, mythology, history and medical texts, particularly Gray's Anatomy^[1] At an early age, Basquiat displayed an aptitude for art and was encouraged by his mother to draw, paint, and to participate in other art-related activities. In 1977, when he was 17, Basquiat and his friend Al Diaz started spray-painting graffiti art on slum buildings in lower Manhattan, adding the infamous signature of "SAMO" or "SAMO shit" (i.e., "same ol' shit").

Self Portrait
Work Date: 1985
Materials: Acrylic, oil and coloured pencil on wood
Size: 91.5 x60.5 inc
Style: Contemporary(ca 1945-present)

Flexible

Jaw Bone of An Ass
Work Date: 1982-2005
Material: Screenprint
Edition/set of: ed.85
Markings: Signed
Size: h:41.5 x w:60 in/ h:105.4 x 152.4 cm
Style: Neo-Expressionism (ca. 1980)

345 x 385

Zydeco
348 x 429

Jean Michel BASQUIAT &
Andy Wohal
358 x 400

Jean Michel Basquiat - Painting Live, Downtown (1981)

JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT Interview (excerpt, artnewyork.org)

Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, filmed in 1986

Artist Links

Google

Basquiat and Postcoloniality
Artnet
Recollections of JMB by John Seed Studio Assistant in 1983

Watts: The Hub of the Universe Art and Social Change

2008-12-19T13:50:00.009-05:00

The Haggerty Exhibition

The Haggerty dedicated to the art and artist that emerged during and after the Watts Riots in California, it is sometime called "The art of social change."
Website Link

Philosophy of Community Arts

Curtis L. Carter

"In contrast to the aims of the American Negro Academy, the African American artists in exile, and the Harlem Renaissance respectively, the arts projects in Watts were primarily directed toward social change and community development through the arts. Two principal objectives underlie these programs: to develop opportunities for the artists and to use art to make a difference in the lives of community residents. As artist John Outterbridge has observed, "The period of the sixties was one of enhanced vision of how art and culture could effectively participate to help build a community, break existing moulds and create an interest in social change. At the time, it was an unconventional way to use the arts. Artists were challenged to think among themselves in new ways. The artists working in the Watts community were not influenced by social activists whose methods involved violence and social disruption." In this context artists assumed roles intended to make a difference in the environment. .........."

The visual artists and writers represented in the Haggerty exhibition -- Noah Purifoy, John Outterbridge, Charles Dickson, Dale Davis, Jayne Cortez, Elliott Pinkney, Eric Priestley, and Johnie Scott all participated in community-based arts organizations in Watts during the period from 1965 to the present. Their work drew support from a wide range of sponsorship: churches, civic groups, sororities and fraternities, libraries, and city and federally sponsored projects.

Noah Purifoy
Watts Riot, 1966
Mixed media (Acrylic on burnt wood
and other debris from the Watts Riots
of 1965) 50 x 36 in. Bequest of Alfred C. Darby
California African American Museum Foundation

Noah Purifoy
Black Brown and Beige, 1989
Assemblage
68 x 113 x 6 in.
Collection at Taraís Hall,
Los Angeles

Noah Purifoy - From his days as an art student at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (1951-54), Noah Purifoy resisted the traditional approach to art based on drawing and painting. Instead he chose to "find his own way," inspired in part by the Dada artist Marcel Duchamp, who challenged the boundaries of art and explored the connections between every day objects and art. The Brockman Gallery director Dale Davis remembers Purifoy as an artist who challenged the community with his art. "He was controversial, not well understood but interesting to those who gathered around the Brockman Gallery." Purifoyís background as a social worker made him conscious of the needs of at risk members of society, and he determined to use his art to advance social change.....More

John Outterbridge
In Search of the Missing
Mule, 1993
Mixed media
86 x 44 1/2 x 14 in.
Collection of the Artist
Image courtesy of California
African American Museum
Photograph © Sammy Davis

John Outterbridge
Déjà Vu-Do,
Ethnic Heritage Group,
ca. 1979-92
Mixed media
67 x 13 1/2 x 9 in
Collection of the Artist
Image courtesy of California
African American Museum
Photograph © Sammy Davis

John Outterbridge - After a tour of U.S. military duty in Europe, John Outterbridge studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago from 1956 to 1959 and arrived in California in 1963, just before the Watts rebellion. His stature as an artist of national standing is paralleled by a distinguished career as the director of two important community arts centers in Watts and Compton, California and as an active member of the Los Angeles arts community. 36 Like Purifoy, Outterbridge appropriated his themes and materials from discarded objects, trash, junk, and objects he found. The theme of discarded materials was used to symbolize the plight of persons living in a damaged environment where they felt as if they were treated as discarded human beings. The use of available materials was also a matter of necessity as well as choice for Purifoy and Outterbridge, as the artists could not afford conventional art materials. Both artists would agree that their work as artists was tempered by a need to satisfy the social demands of their work in community arts. Purifoy once remarked to Outterbridge, "This work we do has more to do with creating tools for social change than it has to do with making art.".........More

Charles Dickson

Charles Dickson
Bongo Congo:
Mobilization of the Spirit,
1989
Mixed media
84 x 120 x 60 in.
Collection of the artist
Photography ©DJ Robinson 2002.
All Rights Reserved

Charles Dickson
I Feel the Spirit

Mixed media
(found objects, hardwoods, glass,
sand, oil, copper and bullet casings)
79 in. high
Collection of the artist
Photograph © D.J. Robinson, 2002

Charles Dickson studied at Studio Watts Workshop and also taught at the Compton Art Center and the Watts Towers Arts Center with John Outterbridge. Similar to the previous artists, he has been active in the Watts community arts and professionally in galleries throughout Los Angeles and elsewhere. His work includes public sculpture as well as gallery pieces. Dickson's sculpture draws upon African tribal cultures and the African-American experience. His work also reflects an interest in science and technology. Like Purifoy and Outterbridge, Dickson's sculpture includes assemblage and is constructed of carved wood, as well as discarded materials. However, he also works in bronze, as is evident from a recent commissioned bust of the former United Nations Secretary General Ralph Bunche. The titles of his pieces in the Haggerty exhibition: I Feel the Spirit, and Spirit Dance, (both from 1988), and Bongo Congo: Mobilization of the Spirit, (1989) all reflect their connections to African culture........More

Lezley Saar

2008-12-19T13:11:00.007-05:00

Installation Art

Historian Lezley Saar, professor emerita from MU (Mulatto University) and a lifelong outspoken activist for the Mulatto Movement, traces the history of the Mulatto Nation from its bumpy beginnings to its conflicted present. She has codified the five stages of its history, depicted here in visual form, as follows: "Birth of a Nation", "The Founding Mothers and Fathers of the Mulatto Nation", "The Mulattoville Athenaeum", "Alienation" and "Materialism and the Mulatto". This site is dedicated to all the Mulattos, Quadroons, Octoroons, Lily-skins, Creoles, Cafe-au-Laits, Hybrids, Half-Breeds, and High Yellow House Niggers who have championed this great Nation.

Mulatto Nation is an installation by Lezley Saar, The List Gallary at Swarthmore College. February 28- March 30, 2003

Links:
Biography
Lezley Saar
Solo Exhibit
Links to Other Art Sites

William T. Williams

2008-12-19T12:30:00.004-05:00

William T. Williams was born in Cross Creek, North Carolina.
He received a BFA degree from Pratt Institute in 1966 and studied at The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. In 1968 he received an MFA degree from Yale University/School of Art and Architecture. He is presently Professor of Art at Brooklyn College, the City University of New York, whose faculty he joined in 1971.

Williams is a recipient of numerous awards including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Awards, and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Award.

Links
Home Page
Electronic Gallery
Biography
Retrospective
Archive

Jacob Lawrence

2008-12-18T18:39:00.007-05:00

"The Migration"
Series, No.58
1941
160 x 120

"Parade"
160 x 121

"Library"
1969

160 x 147

"Barber Shop"
160 x 121

"Lovers"

160 x 120

James Van Der Zee

2008-12-17T20:15:00.003-05:00

African-American Harlem Renaissance Photographer, 1886-1983

June 29
On this date, James Van Der Zee was born in 1886. He was an African-American photographer whose portraits of Black New Yorkers chronicled the Harlem Renaissance.

The discovery of his archived prints and negatives in 1967 led to widespread interest in his work. James Augustus Joseph Vander Zee was from Lenox, Massachusetts. He shot his first photographs as a boy in Lenox. By 1906, he had moved with his father and brother to Harlem in New York City, working as a waiter and elevator operator. In 1915, Van Der Zee moved to Newark, N.J., where he had taken a job in a portrait studio, first as a darkroom assistant, and then as a portraitist.

Links
African American Registry

Photographer James Van Der Zee

Drop Me off in Harlem

Works

Alpha Phi Alpha Basket Ball Team

George Herriman

2008-12-17T19:08:00.007-05:00

1880-1944 - Although every biography I've encountered was careful never to actually say that George Joseph Herriman, the creator of the classic comic strip Krazy Kat, was of African descent--- all were specific about his origins being Louisiana. A few admit that his parents were Creole (the debate rages on as to exactly what that is supposed to mean.)

Links
Pioneering Cartoonists of Color

krazy kat and ignatz mouse at the circus (1916)

Clementine Hunter

2008-12-17T18:13:00.004-05:00

Baptismal Clementine Hunter (c. 1886-1988) c. 1976 Oil on canvas board

The granddaughter of a former slave, Clementine Hunter was born on Hidden Hill Plantation in Natchitoches, Louisiana. A self-taught artist, she became internationally known for her images of life in the Cane River country. As a young girl, Hunter went to work for John Hampton Henry and his wife, known as Miss Cammie, on Melrose Plantation. In the late 1930s New Orleans artist Alberta Kinsey, one of the many artists and writers invited to the Henry home, left behind paint brushes and tubes of paint. After consulting with visiting writer François Mignon, Hunter began to paint. She described her painting process in the introduction to The Joyous Coast - A Fable - Cane River, Louisiana, which she illustrated:

I never have been much for navigating the highways. I spent all my free time at painting. I often would get up at nights and mark off a picture and paint it. Sometimes I would be asleep and see a picture cross my mind, then I would woken up, get out of bed and mark it off. Nobody ever taught me one thing about painting. I just worked it all out gradually by myself.

Since she could not always afford canvas, Hunter often painted on nontraditional surfaces, including window shades, bottles, cardboard, and brown paper bags. In 1955 the Delgado Museum (today the New Orleans Museum of Art) sponsored her one-woman show. Gaining her recognition as a folk artist, Clementine’s work was exhibited at the Museum of Folk Art in New York City, toured in a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition, and was featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles. http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/painting/hunter.htm

Links

Biography

Virtual Museum

Chapel at the Yucca HouseClementine Hunter (Hidden Hill Plantation, Natchitoches, Louisiana, 1886—near Melrose Plantation, Natchitoches, Louisiana, 1988)

circa 1950
Acrylic on canvas
50.80 x 40.64 cm
Louisiana State Museum. Gift of Mildred Hart Bailey
1998.76.24

American, 1887 - 1988

Overall: 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 60.96 cm)

Oil on canvas board

Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert F. Ryan

Call to Church and Flowers 1970

William Edmondson

2008-12-17T17:49:00.005-05:00

William Edmondson

African-American Folk Sculptor, ca.1870-1951
The Art of William Edmondson
Cheekwood Tennessee Botanical Garden and Museum of Art presents The Art of William Edmondson in the newly refurbished Museum of Art, January 28 - April 23, 2000. This major exhibition will be the artist's first full scale retrospective in over nineteen years and the first ever to travel nationally. The Cheekwood exhibit is the kick-off event in the Edmondson tour, in which 40 sculptures will be exhibited in New York City, Rochester, Atlanta and Orlando. (left: William Edmondson (1874 - 1951), School Teacher, Cheekwood Museum of Art).....

Works of Art- Online

Harriet Powers

2008-12-17T17:16:00.004-05:00

Harriet Powers (1837-1910)

Born a slave in Georgia in 1837, Harriet Powers created two quilts which are the best known and well preserved examples of Southern American quilting tradition still in existence. Using the traditional African applique technique along with European record keeping and biblical reference traditions, Harriet records on her quilts local historical legend, Bible stories, and astronomical phenomena.

Web Links
Harriet Powers-Bio
The Arts
Harriet Powers- Early Women MAsters

Adam & Eve Naming the Animals Harriet Powers' 1st Story-Bible Quilt

Joshua Johnson

2008-12-17T13:55:00.005-05:00

Joshua Johnson (artist)
American, born c. 1763, active 1796 - 1824
Biography
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Source - http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tsearch?oldartistid=16350&imageset=1

Mr. Baylor, c. 1805
oil on canvas
Overall: 61 x 50 cm (24 x 19 11/16 in.) framed: 69.7 x 59.7 x 6.4 cm (27 7/16 x 23 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.)
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
1978.80.8

The Westwood Children, c. 1807
oil on canvas
overall: 104.5 x 117 cm (41 1/8 x 46 1/16 in.)
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
1959.11.1

Adelina Morton, c. 1810
oil on canvas
Overall: 61.5 x 51.4 cm (24 3/16 x 20 1/4 in.) framed: 77.2 x 66.7 x 7.5 cm (30 3/8 x 26 1/4 x 2 15/16 in.)
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
1980.61.4

Family Group, c. 1800
oil on canvas Overall: 88.5 x 136 cm (34 13/16 x 53 9/16 in.)
framed: 101 x 148 x 5.6 cm (39 3/4 x 58 1/4 x 2 3/16 in.)
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
1980.61.3

Sarah Ogden Gustin, c. 1805
oil on canvas
Overall: 71.1 x 57.2 cm (28 x 22 1/2 in.)
framed: 83.2 x 69.8 x 8.8 cm (32 3/4 x 27 1/2 x 3 7/16 in.)
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
1971.83.7

Bell Hooks- Hip-Hop Culture

2008-12-11T05:43:00.000-05:00

President -Elect Barack Obama!!!

2008-11-07T00:09:00.011-05:00

Well!!! Where do I start? This is the Friday after the election, and I am still not sure if I was dreaming or if it is real, Barack Obama (an African American) is the President of the United States. How did this happen? It just leaves me speechless!

Never could I have imagined, In my lifetime I would witness the election of an African American becoming President of this country. But I just did.

Alone at home with my daughter's cat Nala, I witnessed one of the greatest moments in world history. A moment that left me weeping like a baby. The visual images of the event will forever be ingrained in my spirit. This moment goes down in history as the most historic event of the century.

The visuals of the election and the moment of jubilation are monumental. I know what I felt at that moment, but I wonder what emotions and feelings were running through President-elect Obama at the moment he realized he had won the election. And the reality that he is the President of the United States. I can only imagine.

So in honor to President-elect Barack Obama, this post will focus on him and his election.

The images represent the some of the visuals that enter the world of politics.

And to President Obama, (if you read this blog), you give me hope, that there will be a spiritual, racial, and financial healing for this country. May God Bless You, and the world embrace you for the person that you are. Thanks!

- Gloria D. Brogdon

A Visual Tribute To President - Elect Obama

105 Year-Old Woman Votes For Obama

2008-11-04T16:23:00.002-05:00

Rachel Tucker knows right to vote shouldn't be taken for granted

If you ever feel too old or tired to go to the polls on Election Day, Rachel Tucker would like to have a word with you.

105 Year-Old Woman Votes For Obama

Two Men, One Dream, One Spirit

2008-10-29T11:07:00.010-04:00

Well, here I go again on the subject of politics, media and race. It's just an exciting time to be an American. As I mentioned in my earlier post this is history in the making. I think of my Grandparents,(Maternal and Paternal) and parents and how they endured much hurt and pain for me to be able to witness a Black Man elected President of the United States. This is an awesome time.

As I started this project, my mind went back to the sixties. How confusing it was for a 10 year old to understand the assassination of a man. As a matter of fact it took me a little while to understand what an assassination was.
Growing up African American in Rural Virginia during the 50's & 60's was not the easist. But this is where we lived. There were many places we could not go, and things we could not do. And if we did have to be in the pressence of Anglos, we were always cautious.

Today I realize the 60's was the beginning of change for the African Americans and Anglo Americans. The change, that all persons are created equal, and we all have the right to dream and realize our dreams.

I was interested in knowing just how much Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union" paralleled King's "I Have a Dream speech". So I did a little experiment. I listened to both at the same time. Since the Obama speech was longer, I started it first. Letting it play for about 60 seconds, then I started the King speech.

At first, it was a little difficult to follow each person, after a few moments I got the hang of it and could distinguish each voice as well as the messages. The more I listened to both men, the more I realized a parallel in the messages. There were points, that each Man spoke on, that mirrored the other. The words went exact, but the message was the same. The message that all persons were created equal, and we are One Nation of People. We are all Americans!

Martin Luther King - "I Have A Dream"

Obama - "A More Perfect Union"

Spike Lee

2008-10-24T15:05:00.004-04:00

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated American film director, producer, writer, and actor, noted for his films dealing with controversial social and political issues. He also teaches film at New York University and Columbia University. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.

Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Jacqueline Shelton, a teacher of arts and black literature, and William James Edward Lee III, a jazz musician, and composer.[1] Lee moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York when he was a small child. The Fort Greene neighborhood is home of Lee's production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, and other Lee-owned or related businesses. As a child, his mother nicknamed him "Spike." In Brooklyn, he attended John Dewey High School. Lee enrolled in Morehouse College where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a B.A. in Mass Communication from Morehouse College. He then enrolled in New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He graduated in 1978 with a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Television. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Lee

Lee has always been a very controversial figure in the film world. His political views, and the fact he is an independent filmmaker tends to allow him to continue to produce films that are not generally thought of as mainstream. Many of his recent films focus on topics and issues that mainstream/commercial films fail to address.

One of his most controversial films, "Bamboozled" created a uproar in the film world. "Bamboozled" broke down the racial stereotypes that have been present in cinema in this country since the Luminier Brothers.

This film tends to make people uncomfortable, because Lee doesn't sugarcoat the racial stereotype that existed in early film in this country. As well as he explores the affects of African American racial stereotypes that still exist in American film. This is a satirical film, that created a lot of controversy upon its' debut.

Spike Lee's Bamboozled Trailer

This brings up the concept of Black Film, and Black Filmmakers. Spike Lee is a filmmaker who focuses on the Black Experience in American culture.

Lee is a prolific writer, and producer. Often times he is pegged as a Black Filmmaker. When in reality he is a Filmmaker who documents the Black experience.

Filmography

The Visual, The Election, Race & Politics

2008-10-20T17:55:00.025-04:00

As I was searching the web today, trying to find an interesting African American artist, to research, I kept running into political stuff. Stuff about the up coming election. Then I ran across the video "Misconceptions of Obama Fuel Republican Campaign". And boy did a flood of emotions, ideas, and thoughts come to mind.

It is amazing how a simple box with moving images projecting from it can incite a flood of fears and misconceptions. Will we ever come together as one country? Will America ever be just one America, not Black, White, Native, Hispanic, Asia, Muslim, German, Gay, Straight.... Americans. JUST ONE AMERICA!!!!!

Before the Kennedy/Nixon Presidential Debate, there was no way to tell the appearance of the candidates, except by the photos in newspapers. Often times in economic depressed areas of the country, people didn't even have access to newspapers. This left them to visualize on their own what the candidates appearances were. It was a given they were both Anglo-American.

I ask what this Presidential election would look like if there were no media available to send images around the world. Would there be as much "hoopla"? Or would it be the same? Would we be more interested in the message or the man.

As a visual culture, Americans tends to look at color and race rather than issues. Why does it matter if the person's skin color is not of the minority (Not a typo) ). We have a tendency to assume the color of skin is the defining factor for integrity, intelligence, and birthright. Not So!!

The video "Misconceptions of Obama Fuels Republican Campaign" is a stellar example of the need for Americans to take a good look at where we are going as the most powerful nation in the world. When we can't get past the differences in skin color.

This is a scary concept since the majority of the people who live in this country are people of color (non-Anglo). There is no pure race in this country any more. We are all immigrants. Only the Indigenous People (Native Americans) and their ancestors have the right to claim this as home.

I guess you are wondering how this relates to Film and Photo. Well for years, the media in this country has depicted
non-Anglos in a negative light. Creating false visuals of cultures through stereotypes and scare tactics. So I ask, who's scared now?

For the first time in America's history, we sit on the verge of having a President of our country who is not of the traditional Anglo fashion. (remember the one drop policy). This is an exciting time for many in this country, but scary for others. Why scary? Well as you will seen in this video, there is fear, that the past sins of many of this country's Anglo population will come back to haunt them. And it is also scary that when people get scared they often times become irrational. This is what I see in this video. A group of scared, irrational people.

"Misconceptions of Obama Fuel Republican Campaign"

Where We're Going

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oscar Micheaux - Film

2008-10-17T20:25:00.017-04:00

(January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was a pioneering African American author and is widely recognized as being the first African-American filmmaker (although he was predated by the short lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company[1]). He is considered the most prominent producer of race films.

Given the times, his accomplishments in publishing and film are extraordinary, including being the first African-American to produce a film to be shown in "white" movie theaters. In his motion pictures, he moved away from the "Negro" stereotypes being portrayed in film at the time. Additionally, in his film Within Our Gates, Micheaux attacked the racism depicted in D.W. Griffith's film, The Birth of a Nation.

The Producers Guild of America called him "The most prolific black - if not most prolific independent - filmmaker in American cinema." Over his illustrious career, Oscar Micheaux wrote, produced and directed forty-four feature-length films between 1919 and 1948 and wrote seven novels, one of which was a national bestseller.

Micheaux died in Charlotte, North Carolina while on a business trip. His body was returned to Great Bend, Kansas, where he was interred in the Great Bend cemetery with other members of his family.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Micheaux#Filmography

Oscar Micheaux Home Page

Complete Bio

Segregation - Midnight Ramble

A Midnight Ramble was a segregation-era midnight showing of films for an African American audience, often in a cinema where, under Jim Crow laws they would never have been admitted at other times. The films shown were often from among the over 500 films were made between 1910 and 1950 in the United States with Black producers, writers, actors and directors.

Filmography

Girl From Chicago (1932)
Starring: Grace Smith (II), Carl Mahon
Director: Oscar Micheaux

Directed by Oscar Micheaux
Produced by Hubert Julian Oscar Micheaux
Written by Oscar Micheaux
Starring Edna Mae Harris Robert Earl Jones

Murder in Harlem (1935)

A black night watchman at a chemical
factory finds the body of a murdered
white woman. After he reports it, he finds
himself accused of the murder.

Oscar Micheaux's Actual Burial Card

This is the actual funeral card distributed at Oscar's funeral. This is the text portion (the right side) of the inside of the memorial card. The funeral card erroneously reports the date of death as March 27, 1951. In fact, Micheaux died on March 25, 1951. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Micheaux#Filmography

This shows both the front and back of the memorial card.

Eugene James Martin

2008-10-13T13:50:00.004-04:00

"If you seek just a little truth, as most,you should not ignore abstract forms, the basis from which all short-lived experiences we call reality springs."
© e.j. martin

Biography
1938-Born in Washington D.C.
1960-1963 Attended Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C.
2005-Died in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Website

Chronology

Works of Art

Untitled 1966

William Pope.l

2008-10-08T22:13:00.003-04:00

William Pope.L [born 1955] is a multidisciplinary artist known for his ironic conceptual and performance art dealing with consumerism, social class and racism (but not in a simplistic, black and white way) and also, and more importantly, his absolute and all consuming hatred of mayonnaise. Pope.L regularly draws upon his African-American heritage to tackle variations upon what he calls "social conundrums.-

A Huey P. Newton Story and The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas

2008-09-28T18:00:00.017-04:00

From an idea in 1989 to a stage play in 1996 to a film in 2002, A Huey P. Newton Story has been a labour of love and patience for Roger Guenveur Smith. Along the way as a stage play, it received numerous awards including two Drama Desk nominations, the Helen Hayes Award, two Obie Awards, two AUDELCO awards, and three NAACP Awards.
Now as a film it has been honoured around the world and has recently received two NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special.
"A Huey P. Newton Story" was produced by Luna Ray Films and is an original production of BLACK STARZ! in association with PBS and the African Heritage Network.-
http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/about.html
SPIKE LEE AND ROGER GUENVEUR SMITH, along with PBS have teamed up to produce a well crafted one man show.

Huey P. Newton, was one of America's greatest revolutionaries (for some), or a "menace to American society" for others. It depends on who you are talking to at the time. For me his revolutionary actions brought about change in America.

His work in the Civil Rights movement to achieve equal access was one of, "By any means necessary". As the leader of the Black Panther Party of the 60's, Huey P. Newton was an advocate for the preservation of the black community. This was a turbulent time in American history.

As I viewed this film, emotions surfaced. I was born in the late 50's, so I was young during the "Movement". I remember the struggle during the late 60's. The media coverage of the Black Panther's painted a picture of a militant, violent, and subversive gang. There was little, if any coverage of the positive things the Panther's were doing for the Black community in Oakland.

Out of this turbulent time came some of the most prolific revolutionary artwork, in the form of the The Black Panther Newspaper. The work of one man, Emory Douglas. http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Emory_Art/Emory_Art_index.html

Emory Douglas

2008-09-26T01:33:00.002-04:00

iona rozeal brown a3 -

2008-09-26T01:29:00.017-04:00

"back in 1997, i read an article in Transitions written by Joe Wood. it was titled "The Yellow Negro," and subsequently introduced me to a group of Japanese youth called ganguro who darkened their skin and paid top dollar to have their hair permed into afros." - iona rozeal brown- http://www.spelman.edu/bush-hewlett/a3/artiststate.html

a3 blackface#21

In this exhibition, iona rozeal brown, one of the nation's most exciting artists, explores "afro-asiatic allegory" or "a3," a theme that she created after travelling to Japan in 2001. brown's work is informed by Ukiyo-e, the fashionable genre painting, also known as pictures of the floating world, that first appeared in 17th Century Japan in Edo (present day Tokyo). Appealing to a variety of buyers, the subjects of these woodblock prints range from historical topics to erotic themes. brown's work is also equally informed by hip-hop culture, blackface performance traditions and ganguro, the trend among Japanese high school girls of darkening one's skin.- Andrea D. Barnwell, Ph.D. Director,
Spelman CollegeVirtual Museum

Ganguro (ガングロ), literally Japanese "black-face"
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/fashion/ganguro.html

a3 #7

a3 blackface #62

a3 blackface #63

Ganguro as a pop culture trend raises questions about the youth in Japan and there need to assimilate or mimic the black pop culture in America. This "afro-asiatic allegory" is a unique blend of two unrelated cultures. Iona Rozeal Brown paintings captures this cultural emersion/blend.

Anna Deveare Smith

2008-09-26T01:28:00.029-04:00

Anna Deavere Smith is an actress, playwright, and author. She is a University Professor at New York University where she is appointed in the Tisch School of the Arts, with an affiliation at the New York University School of Law. She is currently working on a new project that will address global health care.

Smith was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Anna (née Young), an elementary school principal, and Deavere Young Smith, a coffee merchant.^[1] Smith is an alumna of Beaver College (now Arcadia University), graduating in 1971. She received her M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California.-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Deavere_Smith

Artist Website

Artist Publications

Anna Deavere-Smith at TED-Video

Actor Anna Deavere Smith on art in a time of war-2/2

Nayland Blake

2008-09-26T01:28:00.017-04:00

Conceptual artist Nayland Blake's use of the character of a bunny rabbit in his artwork began as a way of discussing the stereotype of homosexual male promiscuity. When he began to investigate the complexity of identity, taking into account his gender and sexuality as well as his own biracial mix of African and European heritage, he started to see the bunny in the context of not only a pop cultural icon that could be subverted to express gay identity but also as the African American folk hero of the Uncle Remus tales. - Arnold Kemp

Artist Bio

Artist Website

"When 2 R in Love", 1996/7
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
9 x 12 inches each
3 part drawing

"Bunny Group, Two Holes", 1996/7
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
8 Sheets: 12 x 9 inches each

"Bunny Group, Happiness", 1996/7
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
12 x 9 inches each
4 part drawing

"Bunny Group, The Grind", 1996/7
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
7 Sheets: 12 x 9 inches each

Arnold J. Kemp

Isaac julien

2008-09-26T01:27:00.006-04:00

Isaac Julien was born in 1960 in London, where he currently lives and works. After graduating from St Martin's School of Art in 1984, where he studied painting and fine art film, Isaac Julien founded Sankofa Film and Video Collective (1983–1992), and was a founding member of Normal Films in 1991.- http://www.isaacjulien.com/about

Isaac Julien has been involved, over the past ten years, with forging a new language around black representation, both as filmmaker and cultural critic. His exemplary body of work is informed by critical thinking around representation while not being solely theory driven. - blackculturalstudies.org

Artist Website

Films

Installations

Visual Archive

Lorna Simpson

2008-09-26T01:26:00.019-04:00

Lorna Simpson (born 1960) Lorna Simpson was born in 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. She was trained at the School of Visual Arts in New York and then at the University of California, San Diego. She began her career as a documentary photographer and, though her work maintains its roots in the documentary photography tradition, addressing themes of cultural, political, and social significance, it has moved farther and farther from photography per se. She is best known for her series of life-size "portraits" of African-American women in which most of the models' facial features "twist" or problematize the image itself. An example is Necklines. In 2007, Simpson had a 20-year retrospective of her work at the Whitney Museum of American Art in her hometown of New York City -
http://www.learner.org/catalog/extras/wabios/simpson.html

Excerpt of Interview with Lorna Simpson by Siri Engberg and Sarah Cook
March 9, 1999

Her Works

Exploring Identity as a Problematic Condition

"Neckline"

Wigs

Tana Hargest

2008-09-26T01:26:00.004-04:00

Carrie Mae Weems

2008-09-26T01:25:00.005-04:00

Artist Statement
"My responsibility as an artist is to work, to sing for my supper, to make art, beautiful and powerful, that adds and reveals; to beautify the mess of a messy world, to heal the sick and feed the helpless; to shout bravely from the rooftops and storm barricaded doors and voice the specificity of our historical moment." --Carrie Mae Weems

Carrie Mae Weems (born 1953) is an award winning photographer and artist. Her photographs, films, and videos have been displayed in over 50 exhibitions in the United States and abroad and focus on serious issues that face African Americans today, such as racism, gender relations, politics, and personal identity. She has said, "Let me say that my primary concern in art, as in politics, is with the status and place of Afro-Americans in our country."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Mae_Weems

Artist Profile

Artist Links
Chicken Bones: A Journal For Literary & Artistic African American Themes

Gordon Parks

2008-09-26T01:24:00.006-04:00

Gordon Parks (1912-2006, ) is an African American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist, and film director. He has been an important and creative force in all of these fields. He began his public career as a freelance fashion and personality photographer in Chicago, but his first substantial work came as a documentary photographer with the Farm Security Administration. He has also performed and as a jazz pianist. He directed a number of movies during the "Blaxploitation" phase of American cinema, though the films cannot be classified that way. He was a notable campaigner for civil rights in the US. He has also been the subject of film and print profiles (notably "Half Past Autumn" (2000)).

A Kansas Portrait

YouTube Videos

Masters of Photography - Gordon Parks

Interview with Gordon Parks

Documenting America: Photographer: Gordon ParksWashington, D.C. July and August 1942

Parks' works include:

Books:
A Choice of Weapons (1964) (autobiographical)
To Smile in Autumn (autobiographical)
Voices in the Mirror (autobiographical)
The Learning Tree (autobiographical)
Published compilations of his poetry and photography:

Gordon Parks: A Poet and His Camera
Gordon Parks: Whispers of Intimate Things
Gordon Parks: In Love, Moments Without Proper Names
Arias of Silence
Glimpses Toward Infinity

Films:
The Learning Tree (1969)
Shaft (1971)
Leadbelly (1976)
Solomon Northup's Odyssey (1984)
Flavio, Diary of a Harlem Family (1964)
The World of Piri Thomas (1968)
Shaft's Big Score (1972)
The Super Cops (1974)

Music:
Martin (1989) (ballet about Martin Luther King)
Moments Without Proper Names (1987)

Documentaries about or including Parks:
Soul in Cinema: Filming Shaft on Location (1971)
Passion and Memory (1986)
Malcolm X: Make it Plain (1994)
All Power to the People (1996)
Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks (2000)
Baadasssss Cinema (2002)
Soul Man: Isaac Hayes (2003)

An exhibition of his photography was held at the Norton Museum of Art in 1999.

Renee Cox

2008-09-26T01:23:00.023-04:00

Cox, Renee
(1960- )
photographer
mixed-media artist

One of the most controversial African-American artists working today, Renee Cox has used her own body, both nude and clothe, to celebrate black womanhood and criticize a society she often views as racist and sexist.

http://www.reneecox.net/bio.html

As a photo artist, one of her exhibits created a stir in New York City. "Nude Female Jesus" at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Mayor Rudi Giuliani call for the exhibit closed. According to THE NEW YORK TIMES, Mayor Giuliani, who has not seen the exhibition, called Cox's photograph "disgusting," "outrageous," and "anti-Catholic." http://www.artscope.net/NEWS/new02202001-3.shtml

"Yo Mama's Last Supper"

Other Photos

Hott-en-tot

"Cleanse"

"Mother of Them All"

"Untitled"

Kara Walker

2008-09-20T14:07:00.026-04:00

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artist/walker/index.html

Artist Biography

Kara Walker was born in Stockton, California in 1969. She received a BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 1991 and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. The artist is best known for exploring the raw intersection of race, gender, and sexuality through her iconic, silhouetted figures.-www.pbs.org
Her retired father is a formally educated artist, a professor, and an administrator. Her mother worked as an administrative assistant and was inspired by her family to reveal her own artistic talents. Walker's education includes an MFA at Rhode Island School of Design in Painting/Printmaking, and a BFA in Painting/Printmaking at Atlanta College of Art.

Some of Walker's exhibitions have been shown at The Renaissance Society in Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_WalkerWikipedia

Kara Walker Interviews

http://www.moma.org/onlineprojects/conversations/trans_kwalker.html

Gallery Representing artist

Whitney Museum
History of the Whitney
http://www.whitney.org/www/collection/history.jsp

Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love
http://www.whitney.org/www/exhibition/kara_walker/index.html

Artist Website
http://learn.walkerart.org/karawalker

Saul Williams

2008-09-18T08:47:00.006-04:00

Hey Saul:

As a Black Woman and Mother of a daughter , I have problems with the way black women are depicted by mainstream (white) media. But I am appalled at the Black media's depiction of black women. The degrading images of the half naked women being treated as devalued objects of pleasure. Images leading people to the conclusion that all Black women expect to be treated in a manner of disrespect.

This quote really baffles me:
"There is no true hatred of women in Hip Hop. At the root of our nature we inherently worship the feminine. Our overall attention to the nurturing guidance of our mothers and grandmothers as well as our ideas of what is sexy and beautiful all support this."

There is a high degree of hatred toward the women in Hip Hop. There has to be, because what other reason would there be for the objectification and denigration of these women.

You say you worship the feminine. How is that possible, when the images are of half naked women in compromising positions? To worship these women, they should be the object of adoring reverence or regard, not sexual lust.

The number of songs that refer to women as "bitches and whores" being spewed in between the I want to "do you" lyrics, creates a culture of people who have disregard for the value of women.

There are some who may say they are just words, this may be true, but these words shape the structure of the next generation. Thus creating a generation who continue to perpetuate this denigration.

What happened to the love songs. Where have they gone. Would you want your mother or grandmother to be the object of these lyrics.
Why does every woman have to be a bitch or a whore? How do we justify this type of ideology?

So, Saul I refuse to accept the idea that this is just art and "At the root of our nature we inherently worship the feminine". If that's correct, let's see female family members of the Rappers in their videos.

The Kehinde Wiley Exhibit @ The Smithsonian

2008-09-15T20:38:00.011-04:00

On Sunday September 14th I decided to take a bike ride to the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in D.C. to actually see Kehinde Wiley's art in person. I have been researching him on the net and wanted to see his work up close and personal.
As I walked in to the exhibit, it was totally monumental!! Even thought I was aware his art was life size, I never imagined larger than life.

I created a series of audio blogs as I walked through the experience. I was so overwhelmed by the experience, I am not sure the audio blogs do it justice. For the lack of a better word "Awesome".

Gloria -

Comment | Copy This

Kehinde Wiley

2008-09-13T00:21:00.019-04:00

Kehinde Wiley, a fresh new artist, is crossing boundaries and creating a buzz in the art world. His use of old, infused with new, creates what is being called "Hip-Hop Portraiture". Wiley's process is simple. He combs the streets for young African American men as his models. He then gives them art history books to view, and ask them to chose a painting they like. He then poses them in position that resemble the subject in the book. From there, Wiley creates a life size painting, and a life image transformed.

Three Graces
Kehinde Wiley, 2005
Oil and enamel on canvas
182.9 x 423.8 cm (72 x 96 in)
Hort Family Collection, courtesy Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, California
© Kehinde Wiley

"For most of Kehinde Wiley’s very successful career, he has created large, vibrant, highly patterned paintings of young African American men wearing the latest in hip hop street fashion. The theatrical poses and objects in the portraits are based on well-known images of powerful figures drawn from seventeenth- through nineteenth-century Western.-- art"-http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/paintings.html

NPR Interview
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4674694

http://current.com/items/76335342_kehinde_wiley

Ice T

Kehinde Wiley, 2005
Oil on canvas
243.8 x 182.9 cm (96 x 72 in)
Private collection, courtesy Rhona Hoffman Gallery
© Kehinde Wiley

Big Daddy Kane
Kehinde Wiley, 2005
Oil on canvas
243.8 x 182.9 cm (96 x 72 in)
John Morrissey,
courtesy of Roberts & Tilton,
Los Angeles, California

The National Portrait Gallery

http://www.npg.si.edu/

Recognize!

Artist Website

OnLine Gallery

African American Pop Culture Assimilation

2008-09-11T02:02:00.004-04:00

- One word to describe the topic
Assimilation

Kennedy, Lisa (Mar2008)The Storyteller Essence; , Vol. 38 Issue 11, p183-183, 1p, 1 color

- a brief summary of how this topic relates to your work or how it could effect it

African American youth are large consumers of media and the messages it conveys. These messages have the ability to create a generation of clone like beings.
My research is in the area of the power of the visual to influence black youth, creating a culture resembling a Borg-like generation of assimilation.
Filmmaker Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" and "School Daze" explored the concept of assimilation in the African American community.
I have been researching the impact the media has African American youth, and how it is creating an assimilated culture.