Song of Africa – Birth of a Dream Weaver
Song of Africa: Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Writer’s Awakening. By Ngugi wa Thiong’o. New Press; 238 pages; $25.95. Harvill Secker; £14.99. “IN THE latest volume of his memoirs,
Artists speak out against racial injustice in the US
“Racial discontent is at its highest since the US president Barack Obama came to power in 2008, according to a poll last week by the New York Times and CBS
Continue readingArtists speak out against racial injustice in the US
The Africans of Renaissance Europe
The selection of paintings and sculpture at the Princeton University Art Museum examines the many roles that Africans, both free and slaves, played in 16th century Europe.
Chinua Achebe, Nigerian Writer, Dies at 82
Chinua Achebe, Nigerian Writer, Dies at 82: “Mr. Achebe, the celebrated author of ‘Things Fall Apart,’ wrote stirring essays and poignant poems rooted in his native Nigeria’s cities and countryside.
Elizabeth Catlett, Sculptor With Eye on Social Issues, Dies at 96
Elizabeth Catlett, Sculptor With Eye on Social Issues, Dies at 96: “Ms. Catlett’s abstracted sculptures of the human form reflected her deep concern with the African-American experience and the struggle
Continue readingElizabeth Catlett, Sculptor With Eye on Social Issues, Dies at 96
Front: The Beautyful Ones
Front: The Beautyful Ones: “The odd couple: agitprop and the griot tradition A former Sudanese child soldier who now raps about his life in often-bland verse is seated next to
Prince Twins Seven-Seven, Nigerian Artist, Dies
Of the many Nigerian artists of the Oshogbo School (named after a town in southwest Nigeria), Prince Twins Seven-Seven was one of my favorites. Maybe it was the way his
Continue readingPrince Twins Seven-Seven, Nigerian Artist, Dies
Art: Letting His Life’s Work Do the Talking
Back when I was living in Fort Pierce, Florida, at the last minute I was included in the exhibition Next Generation: Southern Black Aesthetic (ISBN: 0807843016) by Lowry S. Sims.
Visual Culture Out of Africa
Attended a gathering of artists and arts professionals for the “The Global Africa Project” that was intensely excited. Lowery Stokes Sims and Leslie King-Hammond, curators, were both on hand. Art
Coffin’s Emblem Defies Certainty
How much direct knowledge people have with the past is always in question. Were the feet of my great-grandfather when he was a small boy burned with coals by his