Sculptor Richard Hunt, who died last December, had a career that spanned roughly 70 years, with his work appearing in museums and public spaces across the country, and was the first African American sculptor to have a retrospective at MOMA. Block Club Chicago's Rachel Hinton talked to artists who were inspired by his extraordinary life and work. "I would walk past his monument[s] every day — it’s kind of like the pinnacle of what I wanted to be,” sculptor Faheem Majeed says. “Richard is who I wanted to be at a certain point in my life before I even met him.”
h/t to @horrorboutique, who alerted us to Block Club Chicago's Black History series.
Today is the last day of Black History Month, but we curate our Stories of Black America Magazine all year round. You can follow the Magazine on Flipboard or in the Fediverse. In it, you'll find stories about why presidential candidates aren't better about talking about race, Black history's connection to place, Patrick Mahomes, the "Freaknik" documentary, a trailblazing opera company, and much more.
For Black History Month, NBC has curated this @Flipboard Storyboard on the importance of "place." Read about how honest history helps students, the Black families defying the odds to keep ancestral land, and more.
After a distinguished career as a lawyer & civil rights activist, in 1965, Thurgood Marshall became the 1st African American US Solicitor General, then 2 years later became the 1st African American Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. #BHM#historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall
This album really gives me chills every time I listen to it.
"The official audio of 'Precious Memories' by Aretha Franklin with James Cleveland and The Southern California Community Choir from the album 'Amazing Grace' (1972). 'Amazing Grace' earned Aretha a Grammy in 1973 for Best Soul Gospel Performance and remains the best-selling Gospel album of all time." YouTube description
Meet Jesse Maple Patton, the first Black woman to direct a feature-length film, in the US with the 1981 Indie classic "Will." She faced both gender and racial barriers which she chronicled in her book "How to Become a Union CameraWoman."
IndieWire's Carole V. Bell says that the movies many of us think of in terms of Black film are from the 1960s, at the earliest. But when curator Doris Berger looked through the archives of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, she found a treasure trove that dated back to the 1890s. She and National Museum of African American History and Culture film and photography curator Dr. Rhea Combs collaborated on “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898 to 1971,” which is now on display at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Here's a look at what to expect from the exhibition, as well as where to start if you want to explore early Black movies.
The AAPB is proud to announce a new exhibit honoring Black history!
"The Odyssey of Black Studies in Public Broadcasting" explores the history of Black Studies programs at American colleges and universities as they were discussed and presented in a select number of public radio and TV broadcasts archived in the AAPB collection: https://americanarchive.org/exhibits/odyssey-of-black-studies-in-public-broadcasting
54 years after the premiere of "Soul Train," Nylah Burton writes for Vox about its history and lasting cultural impact. "Entertainers like Bill Withers, Al Green, Bobby Womack, Little Richard, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye all furthered their careers by appearing on the show," she writes. "From 'Soul Train' dancer Jeffrey Daniel, Michael Jackson learned the robot and 'backslide,' which was renamed the moonwalk."
Meet Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, she won her US supreme court case, Irene Morgan v Commonwealth of Virginia, that ruled racially segregated Interstate Transport to be unconstitutional, 10 years before the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
This week, @Flipboard's Good Life newsletter was curated by Jessica Bethel, a photographer and the founder of Literature Noir. She selected her favorite books by Black authors as well as features about the importance of Black librarians, the influence of Octavia Butler, and Antonia Hylton's incredible new book, "Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum." Take a look at her curation here.
Words like "periodt," GYAT," "cap" and "drip" have a rich cultural history, and are part of the variety of English known as African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Linguist/cognitive scientist Nicole Holliday talked to TODAY about how AAVE and other language patterns from marginalized communities can take off and eventually be incorporated into the mainstream. “Black people are at the bottom of the social hierarchy,” she says. “So young white people who use African American English have always done it — one, because Black people are cool, and two, because it pisses off their parents.”
A Texas judge has ruled that a high school was not violating the CROWN Act by punishing student Darryl George for the length of his dreadlocks. George has been in in-school suspension or at an off-site disciplinary program for most of the school year since August. The school said that George's hair violated a dress code regarding length of boys' hair; the family argued that protective hairstyles — which are covered by the CROWN act — require a certain amount of length. The family plans to appeal the decision.
Black women are prone to certain types of alopecia, which, says dermatologist Dr. Hope Mitchell, can be emotionally painful. “Hair is our creativity. It makes me feel powerful, it makes me feel special and important." The 19th talked to her and other experts about how hair loss conditions can be addressed with respect and sensitivity, so women can feel beautiful again.
Meanwhile in Texas, a judge will weigh this week whether a school district near Houston violated the CROWN Act after suspending a Black student for his dreadlocks. The Austin American Statesman has more.
#OnThisDay in 1965, the historic civil rights leader Malcolm X was assassinated while delivering a speech in Manhattan.
In a poignant interview with GBH for "Say Brother," Malcolm X's sister, Ella Collins, shared heartfelt memories of her brother and offered a glimpse into what it was like growing up with him.
At the time of World War I, there were around 950,000 Black farmers who owned about 20 million acres of land. Today, there are fewer than 50,000 Black farmers, and just 25% of that land is in Black hands. Artist, activist and farmer Dail Chambers spoke to Capital B.'s Adam Mahoney about how she is working to regain a relationship with the land and help Black folk thrive.