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Table of Diversity Weekly: Black History Month

Growing up, my Aunt Rie Rie put together a Live Black History Museum at our church. Adults and children would dress up and embody the character of a notable person from Black History. We would be stationed throughout the church with the pews, tables, and walls covered in decorations to bring us further into character. With a touch of a button, the Live Black History Museum guests would bring the characters to life! This is when I fell in love with Black History and where my DEI journey began. I loved getting into character and rehearsing my lines. I loved seeing my Aunts dressed as Harriet Tubman and Coretta Scott King. I loved seeing my Uncles as Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass. I loved seeing my cousins as Muhammad Ali and Rosa Parks. One year, I was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.! I remember reciting Dr. King's "I Have a Dream Speech". I felt empowered as I replicated Dr. King's rhythmic style of speech, copying his unique ebbs and flows, until finally my voice crescendoed. Based on the applause, shouts of 'Amen', and echos throughout the church, I think I did a good job!


I took the Live Black History Museum to the University of Louisville. Partnering with other Woodford R. Porter scholarship recipients, we hosted a Live Black History Museum for the school and community. We were so proud, especially since the city's newspaper ran a story on our efforts.


Here's a picture of me dressed as Rosa Parks, along with others dressed as notable Black History figures!


Black History Month Theme

This year's Black History Theme is "African Americans and the Arts". Check out this note from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History:


"African American art is infused with African, Caribbean, and the Black American lived experiences. In the fields of visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary and other forms of cultural expression, the African American influence has been paramount. Artistic and cultural movements such as the New Negro, Black Arts, Black Renaissance, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism, have been led by people of African descent and set the standard for popular trends around the world. In 2024, we examine the varied history and life of African American arts and artisans.


For centuries Western intellectuals denied or minimized the contributions of people of African descent to the arts as well as history, even as their artistry in many genres was mimicked and/or stolen. However, we can still see the unbroken chain of Black art production from antiquity to the present, from Egypt across Africa, from Europe to the New World. Prior to the American Revolution, enslaved Africans of the Lowcountry began their more than a 300-year tradition of making sweetgrass baskets, revealing their visual artistry via craft."



Celebrate Black History Month 2024. Art as a Platform for Social Justice

"African American artists- poets, writers, visual artists, and dancers- have historically served as change agents through their crafts.


Drawn from their ancestors' ancient rites of passage and the shared hopes of liberty, Black artists continue to fuse the rhythmic cadence of creative expressions with the pulsating beats of progress. Our museum celebrates Black History Month 2024 by highlighting the 'art of resistance' and the artists who used their crafts to uplift the race, speak truth to power and inspire a nation.


Whether digital, literary, visual or performing arts, Black trailblazers and innovators revolutionized their fields, often transforming them by pioneering new techniques and styles. Through art, important issues and figures in African American history are exalted, and underrepresented stories are preserved. For the entire month of February, we invite everyone o join us in celebrating art and its relationship with justice. Art plays a role in communicating emotions, building community and inspiring action."



Black History Month 2024 from the Smithsonian

"Celebrate Black History Month with Smithsonian events, resources, exhibitions, and podcasts. The 2024 theme is "African Americans and the Arts" spanning the many impacts Black Americans have had on visual arts, music, cultural movements, and more."



Art as a Platform for Social Justice-The National Museum of African American History and Culture

"Take action and make your voice heard with our museum this Black History Month. Join us in uplifting the humanity, innovation and vision of African American artists. throughout February, take a journey organized around five weekly focus areas that celebrate the Black people who have used art as their platform for social justice.


Week 1, Feb. 1-4: Literature and Poetry

Week 2, Feb. 5-11: Performing Arts

Week 3, Feb. 12-18: Visual Arts

Week 4, Feb. 19-25: Music

Week 4, Feb. 26-29: Digital Arts


Social justice has historically developed visual and literary arts to capture the spirit and platforms of resistance, and to disseminate those messages to audiences outside of mainstream methods.


Art as a platform for social justice was seeded in the soil of abolitionist treatise from Phillis Wheatley, tilled through the performances of Sweet Honey in the Rock and 1980s breakdancers, pruned by the commentary shears of James Baldwin, watered in the paintings and photographs of Elizabeth Catlett and Gordon Parks, and harvested within the futuristic tales of Octavia Butler."



Podcasts

Octavia Butler: Visionary Fiction (Throughline)

"Octavia Butler's alternate realities and 'speculative fiction' reveal striking, and often devastating parallels to the world we live in today. She was a deep observer of the human condition, perplexed and inspired by our propensity towards self-destruction. Butler was also fascinated by the cyclical nature of history, and often looked to the past when writing about the future. Along with her warnings is her message of hope- a hope conjured by centuries of survival and persistence. For every society that perished in her books, came a story of rebuilding, or repair"



Phillis Wheatley (Stuff You Missed in History Class)

"Perceptions and interpretations of Phillis Wheatley's life and work have shifted since the 18th century. This episode examines Wheatley's published writing while enslaved, and how her place in the world of black literature rose, fell, and rose again"



Phillis Wheatley (Unsung History)

"One of the best known poets of Revolutionary New England was an enslaved Black girl named Phillis Wheatley, who was only emancipated after she published a book of 39 of her poems in London. Wheatley, who met with Benjamin Franklin and corresponded with George Washington, was the first person of African descent to publish a book in English.Wheatley achieved literary success and helped drive the abolition movement, but she died young and penniless, and many of her poems were lost to history."




Race in America: Sylvia Waters & Jamila Wignot explore the legacy of Alvin Ailey (Washington Post Live)

"The history of legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey is captured in the new documentary, "Ailey." In this episode, director Jamila Wigeon and Sylvia Waters, one of Ailey's former principal dancers, join Washington Post Live to explore Ailey's legacy of telling the Black American story through dance."



James Baldwin's Fire

"In a moment when America is undertaking an uncomfortable reckoning with its racial inequality and violence, we wanted to look back at someone who concentrated on race in America his entire life. Considered to be one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, James Baldwin wrote incessantly about the societal issues that still exist today."



Godron Parks: Renaissance Man (Uncovering Kansas)

"In this episode of Uncovering Kansas, Rachel interviews guest Kirk Sharp of the Gordon Parks Museum. For many the name Gordon Parks will be familiar. To others, only a vague recollection. And for some the name will be unknown entirely. No matter which group you are in, come along for the ride and join in and listen as Rachel learns about Gordon Parks and uncovers only a fraction of the eventful life of this Kansas-born man.


And if you're like the Uncovering Kansas production team, then after learning a little of Gordon Parks you'll quickly begin seeking more information. For example, after recording the interview Rachel devoured one Gordon Parks book and when finding another book by him was not in the library system's inventory she quickly sent off an email to the library making the case for and requesting its inclusion."



Nina Simone (Remember That Time: An Historical Podcast)

"We continue our Black History Month episodes this week, as we learn all about one of the greatest musicians of all time, Nina Simone. An artist, a activist, and frankly, a bit of a genius."



Videos

Phillis Wheatley: The First Published African-American Poet | Black Patriots | History

"Discover the incredible story of Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American Poet and a supporter of the American Revolution who corresponded with George Washington, in this scene from "Black Patriots." #PhillisWheatley #BlackPatriots"



'Still I Rise' by Maya Angelou (1987, Live performance)



Lorraine Hansberry's Inspiration for "A Raisin in the Sun"



400 Years of Black American Music History In 1 Min



Exercises

Exercise 1: Your DEI Journey

Think about your collection of art- literature, visual arts, music, etc. How much of your collection is from Black artists? How much do you know about the story behind the art? Take some time to explore art from Black artists, both new and old. Learn more about the history of the art and the inspiration behind its creation. Explore this history from different perspectives. What does this tell you about your own history? What does this tell you about the artist's history?


Exercise 2: Connecting with Others

Arrange for an art exchange within your sphere of influence. Ask your team to share their favorite song, artist, or playlist from a Black artist. Plan a neighborhood get together to discuss Black visual artists or pieces that you have hanging in your living room. Get your church group together to attend a local play or movie featuring Black actors. Find your people and support Black art!


Exercise 3: Black Art at Work

Review your organization's marketing efforts. What's the story it's telling to and about the Black experience? Does it align with the story you want to tell?


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