Anyone who bristles at the imaginary scenes of sexual violence in a Tyler the Creator rhyme is certainly not prepared for Kara Walker’s visual narratives of horror. Walker has become known for her illustrations of the not so imaginary sexual and physical crimes of the antebellum south. Her large black paper silhouettes of rapes and [...]
Margaret Bowland’s solo show at Babcock Galleries, Excerpts from the Great American Songbook, brings me back to the days of hot combs by the stove and fresh Easter Sunday clothes. It is a wonder how Bowland captures this facet of young Black American culture so accurately. That is until you notice the direct references to [...]
“Everybody wanna kno what my Achilles heel is / LOVE /I don’t get enough of it /all I get is these Vampires and Bloodsuckers” -Jay-Z, Monster It was around 2 am on a calm summer night in Bedford-Stuyvesant. There was still life on the streets. Senegalese men in traditional Muslim garb hung outside the twenty-four [...]
One of my problems with stories is that they have to have a start and an end. Of course, nothing does. We make up these divisions so that our stories don’t become Charlie Kaufman movies, in which the realm of what is inside the story is constantly expanding. All endings may be artificial, but this [...]
The NYC Department of City Planning defines “zoning” as the important process that shapes a city’s landscape as well as its activities. Zoning plans determine what the appropriate sizes and uses of the city’s buildings shall be. The Bloomberg administration has rezoned 20% of NYC’s neighborhoods, which is the largest percentage that has been enforced [...]
Yo, Not too long ago, you and I were watching an online interview conducted by Steve Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes media and publishing company, who questioned Warren Buffet and Jay-Z about their success and the art of giving. As the webpage finished loading and the video began to play, our cerebral cortex [...]
“It doesn’t have to be pretty to be true. But if it is true its beautiful.” -Roy DeCarava Roy DeCarava documented everyday people. As one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century, he became the first black person to win the Guggenheim fellowship in 1952. His work is best known for capturing the [...]
When it snows, there is a silence that lulls Lenox Avenue. There is a white noise that surrounds Black people in Brownstones. While walking to school Aaliyah immersed herself in the sound. She imagined that Harlem was a snow globe. The only upside to her world being shaken up was the way it made the [...]
“Stupid, black monkey.” When he said this, he pinched his face and dragged his thumb across the bit of flesh that he had pulled up. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” It looked like he was trying to rub the melanin off of his face. “France, smart. Indian, stupid. America, smart. India, stupid.” He corrected himself. “No… George [...]
Everything looks better at this time. The exposed brick of New York City’s tenement buildings perfectly complement the gleam of early afternoon sunlight. The skeletal frames of the buildings protect the hardworking vital organs of the city – people, New Yorkers. Working class, middle class, upper class, no class and so on. Visiting a friend [...]
