Just wanted to drop a few new goodies that I picked up in honor of the new film!!
Nothing like adding to the collection!! #WakandaForever
#BlackPanther:WakandaCelebration Week!!
Category: On the Desk…
#BlackPanther:WakandaForever Celebration Week-Photo Shoot Ready!!
Just a little cover shoot for the fans!!
Today’s tribute/celebration is a collection of magazine covers featuring many of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever cast members!! Simply stunning!!
Angela Bassett on the November 2022 issue of “Essence”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever cast members Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Dominique Thorne, Letitia Wright, and Tenoch Huerta on the cover of “Entertainment Weekly”
See you tomorrow for the next #BP:WF goodie!!
It’s “Black Panther: WakandaForever” Celebration Week!!
We are in countdown mode for the premiere of Marvel Studios Black Panther: Wakanda Forever!! So everyday this week I just want to drop some information that relates to the film to get you ready!!
Today, to get you hype I’m dropping the the official film playlist for you from Spotify!! This past Friday (11/4) the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music From and Inspired By soundtrack, executive produced by director Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media was released, it features over 40 international artists recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, Mexico City, London and Los Angeles.
The soundtrack includes a plethora of Black and Brown artists such as Rihanna, Burna Boy, Tems, Fireboy DML, OG DAYV featuring Future, CKay featuring PinkPantheress, E-40, Alemán featuring Rema, Blue Rojo, Snow Tha Product, and more.
In addition to the playlist, listeners will be able to take part in immersive options, which includes in-app Black Panther-inspired coded puzzles and exclusive clips from the cast detailing their superhero songs to the Black and Latin artists inspiring them daily.
Check out the full playlist here:
Tune in tomorrow for the next #BP:WF goodie!!
For All My ATL Folks! “Our Friend Jean: HBCU Tour” at Clark Atlanta University Art Museum
For my ATL peeps!! This might be something of interest for you!! As part of the HBCU Exhibition Tour, Our Friend Jean is a one-week Pop up Exhibition Featuring 20+ of Jean-Michel Basquiat “Early Works“.
Our Friend, Jean is a sampling of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s earliest works on loan from several collectors who knew him intimately, as friends, collaborators, and lovers. Featuring 20+ artworks including drawings, writings, apparel, mixed media collages, and ephemera. The group of collectors consists of Jane Diaz, Hilary Jaeger, Katie Taylor, Lucy Sante, Al Diaz, and photographer Alexis Adler who also served as a co-curator with Erwin John and Stevenson Dunn, Jr.. Through this exhibition each collector shares uniquely intimate stories of their friend Jean.
The exhibition lends a voice to the unsung collectors of the world, those who offer an artist critical early support out of genuine friendship. It is precisely this type of support that can spring board an artist’s career to unimaginable heights. Friendship is what distinguishes the group of collectors who are lending their works to the “Our Friend, Jean” exhibition.
This exhibition was curated by The Bishop Gallery and supported by the Hennessey, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and The Black Group.
The exhibition is free and will be housed at the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum from October 28-November 4.
For more information and to register to attend, see here!!
Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics!!
Let me tell you!! I am excited about this week’s Hot Topics!! I got some goodies on deck for you!! So much happening in the world!! Check it out below and see for yourself:
- Fresh off the press!! The new Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer just dropped and it is stunning!! It hits theaters November 11th! Tickets are on sale now, so make sure you grab yours…I got mine!! In addition to the trailer, check out this feature piece from EW as they go behind the scenes with director Ryan Coogler and the cast to discuss the sequel.
- And a special shout out to my alma mater Clark Atlanta University!! Just a few short days ago, CAU was been selected as the home of the New PROPEL Center, a global headquarters for innovation. It will serve as a global HBCU technology and innovation hub committed to strengthening the Black talent pipeline. The location is approximately 5.2 acres and will hold special historic and cultural significance to the CAU campus. As noted by CAU president George T. French, Jr., Ph.D., “Here at Clark Atlanta University, our leadership, faculty, and students are humbled to be a partner in the launch of the PROPEL Center and to have the opportunity to execute this long-term partnership.”
- Over across the pond there is a new arts group, the Africa Arts Collective, that is aiming to “showcase African artists and aid in community cohesion.” The Africa Arts Collective is a “new multi-disciplinary arts group aims to showcase African talent living in Northern Ireland, and aid community cohesion.” According to Rahim Saphy, an acrobat, dancer and comedian from Tanzania, “the Africa Arts Collective will bring joy, vibrancy, colour and inspiration to the local arts scene.”
- Oh and just in case you didn’t know October is Black History Month in the UK!! As part of the celebration, BlackHistoryMonth.org-UK has created a Black History Month Resource Packet ! Additionally, Seasoned BF (a subsidiary of BuzzFeed, “Flavoursome content about the Black British experience) has a BHM theme, “Gen:Black” [Celebrating Black British culture through the eyes of all generations] and flyer that they are sharing! The illustrator for this year’s theme is British Jamaican artist/illustrator Paris Anthony-Walker, check it out below:
- Over the weekend, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson completed her formal swearing-in ceremony on Friday September 30th. As told by Brown Jackson during her initial confirmation speech, “It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. But we’ve made it…We’ve made it. All of us.”
- And closing out this week…A new medical school is being proposed at Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD), the first at an HBCU in 45 years!! As relayed by CBS News, Morgan State is teaming up with Ascension St. Agnes Hospital to launch a for-profit, private medical school, which will provide more opportunities for undeserving students. The school is set to open in 2024 and will have 700 students and 150 employees.
Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics!!
Happy Monday!! Boy do I have some goodies to share with you all this week!! So let’s dive right on in:
- For all my ATL folks…The High Museum of Art is hosting the first museum survey dedicated to photographer Deana Lawson. From this global lens “working primarily in photography, Lawson investigates and challenges conventional representations of Black identities and bodies.” The Deanna Lawson exhibition opens on Oct. 7, for more details go to HighMuseum.org .
- The Dutch Government has created a fund to apologize for their historic role in slavery. From 1596 to 1829, the Dutch took part in transporting nearly a half a million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean. The fund is set to be announced after the nation officially apologizes for its role by the end of this year or the beginning of 2023. It is said that the fund may be as large as 200 million euros. Additionally, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot, who is also president of the bank, addressed his apology to the descendants of enslaved people and set up a fund to finance projects worth 5 million euros over the next 10 years in the Netherlands, Suriname and the Caribbean.
- Ben & Jerry is rebranding their “Change is Brewing” flavor as a way to help protect voting rights and encourage young Black voter turnout ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections. The rebranded ice cream is being distributed at historically Black colleges and universities and in large cities and rural communities across Southern states as part of the Black Voters Matter Fund’s “We Won’t Black Down” tour, which kicked off Sept. 14.
- Michelle Obama Portraitist Amy Sherald is set unveil her first European show!! Sherald’s collection of paintings titled, The World We Make is set to be housed at Hauser & Wirth London from October 12 to December 23. Through her paintings, Sherald sees them as “a place to reflect. I want it to be as open, expansive and universal in a sense. I want my work to be a gift to Black people.”
[Artwork by Amy Sherald-Hauser & Wirth]
- Meet Princess Isis Lang, the creator of the “Cardinal Divas” at the University of Southern California. Lang, is currently a musical theater major at the University of Southern California (USC), and the creator of the school’s first-ever majorette team. The Cardinal Divas made their formal debut at the USC vs. Fresno State football game on September 17th. As noted by Lang, “you can look forward to seeing us at these home games on the big screen, showing young Black girls that they can do anything that they think to do.”
- And lastly, just as the football season gets to rolling, we get some major news about Super Bowl LVII...Rihanna, with style and grace, has officially confirmed that she will be performing at Super Bowl LVII!! The 57th Super Bowl will take place on February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Dr. G’s Monthly Book Recommendations-September 2022
Fall is upon us…the autumn leaves are changing colors, the air is becoming a bit more brisk and cool, and the days will soon become shorter. Per usual make sure to stack up your coins, dive into your bookstore shopping baskets, and get ready for some Fall reading!! Check out this month’s book recommendations below, which include a few treats in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month!!
- Skye Falling ~Mia McKenzie
- Cooking from the Spirit: Easy, Delicious, and Joyful Plant-Based Inspirations ~Tabitha Brown
- Glory ~NoViolet Bulawayo
- How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water ~Angie Cruz
- The Chilean Kitchen ~Pilar Hernandez & Eileen Smith
- What’s Coming to Me ~Francesca Padilla
And remember you can always go back and check out the previous month’s list and past recommendations in the “Resource” section of the website!!
“We must recognize and nurture the creative parts of each other without always understanding what will be created.” —Audre Lorde
Dr. G Featured in a New Edited Book Collection
HOT OFF THE PRESS!!
Family and Friends….I got some exciting news for you!! I have a chapter featured in the latest collection Teaching with Comics: Empirical, Analytical and Professional Experiences (2022) (Palgrave Macmillan) !!
Here is a brief description of the book:
This edited collection analyses the use of comics in primary and secondary education. The editors and contributors draw together global research to examine how comics can be used for critical inquiry within schools, and how they can be used within specific disciplines. As comics are beginning to be recognised more widely as an important resource for teaching, with a huge breadth of topics and styles, this interdisciplinary book unites a variety of research to analyse how learning is ‘done’ with and through comics. The book will be of interest to educational practitioners and school teachers, as well as students and scholars of comic studies, education and social sciences more broadly.
Now the title of my chapter is, #BlackFemaleIdentityConstructions: Inserting Intersectionality and Blackness in Comics !!
You can find the full text here!!
The physical copies will be available for purchase late September early October, but you can access it now!!
Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics
And we are back with some new hot features!! A lot is happening in the world, and I’m all for sharing with you!! Check out this week’s new hot topics!!
- History Being Made!! An E-Sports degree is coming to a South Carolina HBCU!! With the popularity of gaming and e-sports on the rise, as a billion dollar industry, it is only fitting that HBCU’s pick up the baton and make their mark in this arena. Two years in the making Benedict College is offering a major in E-Sports (to go along with their already existing esports gaming room), making it the first HBCU to do so.
- Looking for a southern-inspired meal on your next Delta flight, starting September 1st Delta Airlines travelers leaving out of Atlanta will be able to enjoy a variety of dishes curated by a Black Woman Chef, Mashama Bailey. Chef Bailey is a James Beard Foundation award-winning chef and also serves as the co-founder and Executive Chef of The Grey in Savannah, Georgia.
- Making your way to DC anytime soon?? Well make sure you visit the 15 new murals that are part of DC’s 15th anniversary celebration of MuralsDC art program. The first mural (seen below) can be found on the parking lot of the Chik-fil-A on Maryland Ave. in NE DC. More of the installations will be housed in the “Art Allery” an art gallery in an alley on H Street.
- Gospel singer and civil rights activist Mahalia Jackson now has a dedicated public plaza named in here honor. Mahalia Jackson Court is an 8,500-square foot space housed on 1 E. 79th St. in Chatham, IL that will feature daily food trucks, music, curated art and a playscape for children. Visitors will also be able to check out a history display, which will feature various artifacts.
- This past week it was announced that a prequel series revolving around the high profile Netflix show Bridgerton will showcase the glamorous and fierce Queen Charlotte just wrapped up production!! The show’s director Tom Verica announced it on his Twitter…
- And lastly, You are what you eat… This is a thought I have definitely heard on many occasions!! So it is interesting that while scrolling the news, I came across this new book that explores the relationship between race and food shaming. Professor of American Studies and author Psyche A. Williams-Forson is highlighting “how anti-Black racism operates in the practice and culture of eating” in her latest book Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America (2022).
- Imagining a Utopian Future for Queer Nigerians is a new idea being portrayed in Nigerian photographer Daniel Obasi’s latest book “Beautiful Resistance” an artistic collaboration with Louis Vuitton, which chronicles the LGBTQ+ experience in Lagos.
Dr. G’s Monthly Book Recommendations-August 2022
It’s My Birthday Month!! Yay!! Nothing like celebrating another year of life…one full of blessings!!
This list right here…I’m really digging it!! Not just because it’s my Birthday month, but because these some hot literary joints!! One even has a film adaptation hitting theaters soon! But don’t take my word for it, check them out for yourself!!
- The Silent Twins ~Marjorie Wallace
- Golden Ax ~Rio Cortez
- How You Grow Wings ~Rimma Onoseta
- The Witchery ~S. Isabelle
- The Black Period ~Hafizan Augustus Geter
- The Getaway ~Lamar Giles
And remember you can always go back and check out the previous month’s list and past recommendations in the “Resource” section of the website!!
“We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” ~Angela Davis
Black Future Feminist 