PRINCETON, NJ – The Princeton University Art Museum presents Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe, an exhibition exploring the presence of Africans and their descendants in Europe from the late 1400s to the early 1600s and the roles these individuals played in society as reflected in art. Africans living in or visiting Europe during this time included artists, aristocrats, saints, slaves, and diplomats. The exhibition of vivid portraits created from life—themselves a part of the wider Renaissance focus on the identity and perspective of the individual—encourages face-to-face encounters with these individuals and poses questions about the challenges of color, class, and stereotypes that a new diversity brought to Europe. Aspects of this material have long been studied by scholars, but this exhibition marks the first time the subject has been presented to a wider American public.
Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe will be on view at the Princeton University Art Museum from February 16, 2013 to June 9, 2013, and will feature over 65 paintings, sculptures, prints, manuscripts, and printed books by great artists such as Dürer, Bronzino, Pontormo, Veronese, and Rubens. Organized by the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore in collaboration with the Princeton University Art Museum, the exhibition includes artworks drawn from major museums and private collections across Europe and the United States, including works from both Princeton and the Walters.
“The exhibition focuses new attention on an important but poorly understood aspect of Western history and the history of representation and thus continues our commitment to expanding the borders of scholarship and public understanding,” according to Princeton University Art Museum Director James Steward. “This exhibition affords an exceptional opportunity to discover great works of art and encourages us to reflect on our understanding of cultural identity both past and present.”
The presence of Africans and their descendants in Europe was partially a consequence of the drive for new markets beginning in the late 1400s. This included the importation of West Africans as slaves, supplanting the trade of slaves of Slavic origin. There was also increasing conflict with North African Muslims and heightened levels of diplomatic and trade initiatives by African monarchs.
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Below is the complete text of journalist Dion Rabouin’s recent Huffington Post blog challenging this country to engage in a more comprehensive and far-reaching celebration of African and African-American achievements during Black History Month. GBN couldn’t agree more, and has added links to his blog for just that purpose. Enjoy!
Malcolm X was fond of saying, “Our history did not begin in chains.” Yet every year that’s where Black History Month lesson plans in schools across America begin. They begin telling the story of our history — black history — in chains. Young black school children don’t learn that our people mapped, calculated and erected some of the greatest monuments ever, like the pyramids, the sphinx and the obelisks (after which the Washington Monument is modeled) or that our people were literally the lifeblood of some of history’s greatest civilizations. They don’t learn that calculus, trigonometry and geometry all trace their origins back to African scholars.
Black History Month lessons never begin with Haile Selassi I, ruler of Ethiopia, who could trace his ancestry to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and beyond that to Cush in 6280 B.C. Never mind that Selassi actually has the most ancient lineage of any human being in history.
Black History Month lessons certainly never begin with one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever known, Hannibal, an African who conquered and extended the rule of the Carthaginian Empire into Italy, Rome and Spain. Most school children (and most adults, truth be told) don’t even know that Carthage, Hannibal’s homeland, is in Africa.
Observed each year for the past thirteen years on February 7, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) is a day to promote HIV testing and raise awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Black community, one of the communities hardest hit by the disease. This year’s NBHAAD theme, “I am my brother/sister’s keeper: Fight HIV/AIDS,” reminds us that to effectuate change in any movement, we must work together for the collective good and sometimes this work requires us to put up a good fight.
More than any other racial/ethnic minority group, the Black community, and Black gay men in particular, continue to be disproportionately affected by this disease. In young, Black gay men, the numbers are especially staggering with approximately 1 in 4 new HIV infections occurring among this group according to the CDC.
There are four specific focal points of NBHAAD: education, testing, involvement, and treatment. Educationally, the focus is to get Blacks educated about the basics of HIV/AIDS in their local communities. Testing is at the core of this initiative, as it is hoped that Blacks will mark February 7 of every year as their annual or bi-annual day to get tested for HIV. This is vital for those who are sexually active and those at high risk of contracting HIV. When it comes to community and organization leadership, getting Blacks involved to serve is another key focus. Black people from all walks of life, economic classes, literacy levels, shades and tones as well as communities (large and small) need to get connected to the work happening on the ground in their local areas. And lastly, for those living with HIV or newly testing positive for the virus, getting them treatment and care services becomes paramount.
To find a testing location close to you, go to http://hivtest.cdc.gov
NBA legend and business mogul Earvin “Magic” Johnson, multi-Grammy Award-winning musician, actor and philanthropist Common, and Black Entertainment Television (BET) chairman and CEO Debra Lee join forces with Coca-Cola this month in a movement to uplift and pay it forward to the next generation.
Kicking off the second year of its signature program, “Coca-Cola Pay it Forward,” the world’s most recognized brand enlists the help of some of today’s leading African-American history makers to offer exciting apprenticeship experiences to aspiring youth. Magic Johnson, Common and Debra Lee will serve as mentors, giving four lucky young people the opportunity to shadow them and their teams for a week during the summer. The four apprenticeship experiences will focus on: business (Johnson); music and community (Common); and media/entertainment (Lee). Expanding this year’s program offering, the Company has partnered with UNCF (United Negro College Fund), the country’s largest minority education organization, for a text-to-donate program.
“I have and always will remain committed to uplifting the urban community in my business and nonprofit endeavors, and that makes the Coca-Cola ‘Pay It Forward’ program a perfect fit,” said Johnson. “There is no better way to empower a community than to arm its youth with the necessary skills to succeed.”
(Photo: TREVOR SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
On Feb. 2, 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk announced the release of imprisoned political leader Nelson Mandela and lifted the country’s ban on membership in the African National Congress, the political party that pushed for equal rights for Blacks under the racially oppressive apartheid government.
Mandela, the leader of the ANC, spent 27 years behind bars after being convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life in prison. De Klerk worked with Mandela to transition the country from apartheid rule to the majority rule it enjoys today. Both he and Mandela were awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace for their efforts. In 1994, Mandela won the presidency in South Africa’s first all-inclusive elections. In 1999, at 80 years old, he opted out of another run for presidency to retire from public life.
article by Britt Middleton via bet.com
Mandela, the leader of the ANC, spent 27 years behind bars after being convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life in prison. De Klerk worked with Mandela to transition the country from apartheid rule to the majority rule it enjoys today. Both he and Mandela were awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace for their efforts. In 1994, Mandela won the presidency in South Africa’s first all-inclusive elections. In 1999, at 80 years old, he opted out of another run for presidency to retire from public life.
article by Britt Middleton via bet.com
Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, commemorates the life and music of Nina Simone on the occasion of the singer’s 80th birthday and celebrates the iconic High Priestess of Soul as the label’s Artist of the Month for February 2013.
Nina Simone, who would’ve turned 80 on February 21, was a strong and vocal civil rights advocate who carried the message of universal rights and personal empowerment, freedom, equality and dignity throughout her career. Whether it was political or emotional or personal, she never failed to tell the truth through her music.
One of the most powerful and uncompromising artists of the 20th century, Nina Simone was a natural talent who developed into a virtuosic performer–an ineffable song stylist with concert hall piano skills and a transcendental on-stage presence. Singer, songwriter, arranger, and pianist, Nina wove classical, blues, jazz, pop, rock, R&B, folk, gospel, torch songs and world music into a body of work as eclectic as it is incomparable.
The age-old story on a stalled film adaptation of August Wilson’s award-winning play Fences is that, the playwright insisted to the studio (Paramount Pictures at the time – this was in the late 1980s) that the director of the film be black. Of course, Paramount didn’t feel that was necessary, stating that they wanted “the best director for the job.” Even Eddie Murphy, who was then attached to star in and co-produce the film adaptation, told Wilson that he wasn’t going to hire a director just because they were black.
Wilson reiterated that he wasn’t suggesting that a black be director hired simply because they are black, but certainly a black director who was qualified for the job. But this wasn’t a clause in the original agreement between Wilson and Paramount, so the studio wasn’t legally bound to adhere to Wilson’s wishes (however they realized well enough that a film adaptation of Fences without Wilson’s blessing, wasn’t something that they wanted to do). While seeming to be taking Wilson’s wishes under strong consideration, the studio approached Barry Levinson to helm the film; obviously, Levinson isn’t black.
Needless to say, Wilson didn’t approve. Although Levinson backed away from the project anyway, after he saw the play himself, stating that he didn’t think it would translate well to the screen – at least, not the version of the script that Wilson had written. Wilson’s public objections to a white director helming the project were also of some influence.
“Betty & Coretta,” the Lifetime original movie focussing on the unlikely friendship between Malcolm X’s wife Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., premieres tonight at 8pmEST/7pmCST. The movie stars Academy-Award nominee Angela Bassett as Mrs. King and Grammy-Award winner Mary J. Blige as Mrs. Shabazz. Check out the movie’s official site here for more information, trailers and interviews, or watch tonight and share your thoughts below.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Richard Wamai, an assistant professor of public health in the department of African American studies at Northeastern University in Boston, received the 2012 World AIDS Day Unsung Hero Award presented by Blood: Water Mission, a Nashville-based nonprofit organization that deals with AIDS and water issues in Africa. Professor Wamai is currently part of a global research consortium seeking to identify the best way to allocate funds to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The research is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr. Wamai is a graduate of Egerton University in Kenya. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in health policy from the University of Helsinki.
Karen Jackson-Weaver, associate dean for academics and diversity at Princeton University in New Jersey, received the university’s Martin Luther King Day Journey Award for fostering a supportive environment which helps students succeed. She has been on the staff at Princeton since 2007. Previously, she served as executive director of the Amistad Commission which integrated African-American history into the K-12 curriculum in New Jersey’s public schools.
Dr. Jackson-Weaver is a graduate of Princeton University, with a degree in history. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard University, as well as two additional master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Columbia University.
Howard Fuller, distinguished professor of education at Marquette University, received the Martin Luther King Jr. Heritage Award from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Professor Fuller is the founder and director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette. He is the former superintendent of the Milwaukee Public School system.
Dr. Fuller is a graduate of Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He holds a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a doctorate in the sociological foundations of education from Marquette University.
article via jbhe.com
Historically Black Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, has announced that Kevin D. Rome will become the 19th president of the educational institution on June 1. Current Department of Education statistics show that there are about 3,400 undergraduate students at the university and Blacks are 41 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Rome is currently vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at North Carolina Central University in Durham. Dr. Rome has been an administrator at North Carolina Central since 2008. Previously, he was vice president for student services at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He has also held administrative posts at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, and Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, Indiana.
A graduate of Morehouse College, Dr. Rome holds a master’s degree from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas.
article via jbhe.com