Review | Black Night Falling

Inaugurated during the American Bicentennial in 1976, Black History Month (BHM) has been a source of contention for many. Falling during February, the shortest month of the year, detractors have often critiqued this celebration of black achievements as a consolation prize for the decades that African-Americans have been erased from American history books.

Review | Stray Light

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Review | An Epitaph for Civil Rights

Theaster Gates: An Epitaph for Civil Rights
MOCA, Los Angeles
October 1, 2011–February 13, 2012

Public spaces such as streets, sidewalks, and parks became battlegrounds in Birmingham, Alabama, in May of 1963, when its then Commissioner for Public…

Review | Some Changes

In 2005, Toronto-based gallery, The Power Plant exhibited the work of American artist, Glenn Ligon in a show entitled Some Changes. Co-curated by Wayne Baerwaldt, Director of The Power Plant, and Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of…

Review | I’ll Be Back, Original Gangstas

Recently, I re-watched Issac Julien’s documentary on the blaxploitation genre of the 70s entitled, Baadasssss Cinema. The film traces the genre chronologically through interviews with actors, directors, and celebrities that have a great appreciation for the often over…

Review | Lost Soul

He was the “pusher who became the preacher,” a badass brother who walked the gritty streets of Chicago, righteously bringing justice to the streets – maybe. In 1974, Paul David Wilson, owner of Herschel’s Commercials, decided that he could transcend…

Review | Emile Griffith and the Death of Benny Paret

On March 24, 1962 in Madison Square Garden, Emile Griffith and Benny “Kid” Paret fought for the title of Welterweight Champion of the World on live television. The two were no strangers, having already fought each other twice, the championship…

Review | Mementos

Exhibition catalogs are typically purchased for one of two reasons ⎯ either you attended the exhibition and enjoyed it enough to purchase the accompanying publication or you never in fact saw the show, nor will ever, and are living vicariously…