Contemporary Black Canvas
Dr. Pia Deas, Professor of African American Literature, interviews Black novelists, poets, filmmakers, visual artists, and radical gardeners and farmers
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Top 10 Contemporary Black Canvas Episodes
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BAM EP 5 Scholars, Dancers, and Choreographers: Dr. Osumare and Dr. Dixon Gottschild
Contemporary Black Canvas
03/24/19 • 24 min
Welcome to Contemporary Black Canvas. I am your host, Dr. Pia Deas. On this episode of Contemporary Black Canvas, we are sharing an audio recording entitled “ It’s A Commitment,” an audio recording. This audio piece features esteemed dance scholars Dr. Halifu Osumare and Dr. Brenda Dixon Gottschild. This is part of a larger, artists’ interview series conceptualized and hosted by Margaret Kemp, an Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance at UC Davis, and produced by Alexander Adams. They were kind and generous enough to ask us to share this recording with Contemporary Black Canvas to include as part of our Black Arts Movement series. For links to the guests and their work, please check our show notes. Please tune in and enjoy.
Scholars
Books
The Africanist Aesthetic in Global Hip Hop
Black choreographers moving: A national dialogue
Everybody Creative Arts Center
Black Choreography Moving Towards the 21st Century
Digging; The Africanist presence in American performance, dance and other contexts
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EP 25 Scholar Rashad Shabazz
Contemporary Black Canvas
03/10/19 • 69 min
Welcome to Contemporary Black Canvas where we celebrate the depth and breadth of Black artistic and intellectual traditions. In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Rashad Shabazz, an Associate Professor of Justice and Social Inquiry within School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University and an affiliate faculty member at the Lincoln Center of Applied Ethics. Dr. Shabazz’ research interests are in human geography, Black cultural studies, gender studies, and critical prison studies. He joined us on our show to discuss his book, Spatializing Blackness: Architectures of Confinement and Black Masculinity in Chicago. Join us and hear how Dr. Shabazz’s growing up in Chicago shaped him as a person and a scholar. Hear how Chicago police, law enforcement, and city officials responded to the influx of Blacks into Chicago during the great migration. Hear Dr. Shabazz explain, in depth, what “prisonize” is and how it shaped the Black experience in Chicago during the 20th century. Join us for a deeply moving and transformative conversation about how the structures of prisons are replicated in the everyday living spaces and living environments of Black Americans. To learn more about Dr. Shabazz and his work, please check out his book Spatializing Blackness and keep an eye out for his future work on the development of the Minneapolis Sound.
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BAMAA EP 4 Scholar & Activist Abdul Alkalimat
Contemporary Black Canvas
03/03/19 • 68 min
Welcome to Contemporary Black Canvas, I am your host, Dr. Pia Deas. In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with scholar and activist, Abdul Alkalimat. In our conversation today, he begins by discussing how influential his family of activists and scholars were on his early development and his lifelong commitment to the freedom struggle. Our discussion focuses how he, together with Conrad Kent Rivers and Hoyt Fuller, founded the artist’s collective, OBAC, the Organization of Black American Culture in Chicago in 1967. We discuss OBAC’s role in Black Arts Movement and in creating the Wall of Respect mural. The Wall of Respect, a mural of black leaders, changed the tone of Chicago, strengthened its Black community, and inspired a thousands of artists across the country to not only embrace the Black Arts movement but to also create cultural murals in other neighborhoods. The story of OBAC and the Wall of Respect was captured through a combination of essays, and artifacts in his book The Wall of Respect: Public Art and Black Liberation in 1960s Chicago edited by him Robin Crawford and Rebecca Zorach. Dr.Abdul Alkalimat has been and continues to be a substantial force in the black community. Currently, outside of his long career in academia, he is maintains a variety of digital archives, including one focused a collection of his work and pertinent information related to liberation movements since the 1960’s and the other is a dedication to Malcolm X. Throughout his career, Alkalimat demonstrates the importance of knowledge to freedom and survival. He urges listeners to keep generational records as they are an “important part of our DNA”. To find his work, please check out his website: www.alkimat.org.
http://brothermalcolm.net Malcolm X dedication Site
http://alkalimat.org Abdul Alkalimat archive
http://www.nupress.northwestern.edu/content/wall-respect Wall of Respect Book
https://interactive.wttw.com/dusable-to-obama/africobra Africobra Information
http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/shows/list/underground-railroad/stories-freedom/henry-box-brown/ Henry Box Brown’s Bio
https://interactive.wttw.com/dusable-to-obama/dawsons-black-machine William Dawson’s bio
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/jackson-joseph-harrison Rev. J. H. Jackson’s bio
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/feb/24/jeff-donaldson-art-kravets-wehby-gallery Artist Jeff Donaldson & Africobra
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/margaret-burroughs Margaret Taylor-Burroughs’ bio
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EP 24 Curator Meg Onli
Contemporary Black Canvas
02/24/19 • 66 min
Welcome to Contemporary Black Canvas. I am your host, Dr. Pia Deas. This week we had the pleasure of speaking with Meg Onli, the current Assistant Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. Please join us for this two-part series. In this episode, we speak to Meg Onli about her life and work as a curator. In part two, we speak to Meg Onli and a guest artist about Onli’s latest exhibition, Colored People Time, an exhibit in three chapters that opens in February 2019 and closes in December of this year. Please see our shownotes for the link to this exhibition. In this episode, I talk to Meg Onli about her move to Chicago in 2005 to pursue graduate school and a career as a conceptual artist and how she realized that she was better suited to be a curator. Before she joined the ICA as an Assistant Curator, Onli was the Program Coordinator at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. She was also the recipient of the Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant and the creator of the website The Black Visual Archive. Meg Onli’s first exhibition Speech/Acts at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia (2017) focused on Black poetry in order to explore how the social constructs of language have shaped the black American experience. To find out more about the current exhibit please visit www.icaphila.org.
For more information & exhibition dates and times visit
For more on Meg Onli’s new exhibit (February 2019) visit :
Colored People Time: Mundane Futures
Artists Meg Onli mentioned on this episode:
Up and coming artists: Carolyn Lazard, Cameron Rollin, Aria Dean Matthew Angelo Harrison
Resource she relies on: Other artists
Words you live by: To find happiness in my own labor
Where can we find your work: Institute of Contemporary Art
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EP 22 Educator Khalilah Brann
Contemporary Black Canvas
01/14/18 • 63 min
Welcome to Contemporary Black Canvas, where we celebrate the depth and breadth of the Black artistic and intellectual traditions. I am your host, Dr. Pia Deas. Before we begin, I want to encourage all of our listeners to check out our new and beautifully re-designed website. Our website now gives a much better a more comprehensive understanding of all of Contemporary Black Canvas’ projects. Be sure to check us out! Let us know you’re listening! Underneath our “About” tab, click on “Contact Us” to sign up for our newsletter, send us feedback, or recommend an artist. You can find us at www.contemporaryblackcanvas.com In this episode, I interviewed Khalilah Brann, an educator, and education activist, writer, institution builder, and publisher. Her career as an educator has fueled her passions for teaching and decolonizing the minds of underrepresented and misrepresented communities across the country. She is the founder of CREAD, Culturally Responsive Educators of the African Diaspora, whose mission is to “ to support teachers, educators and community members in ensuring the positive racial identity development through education of young people of the African Diaspora.” Most recently, she has also co-founded and launched her publishing company, DeColonizing Education. Their first book, co-written by Khalilah Brann and Chemay Morales-James, the ABC’s of the Black Panther Party, was published in December 2017 and is now available. Their book includes extension activities and learning guides for educators and parents. The book is skillfully designed to appeal to ages 7-12. Tune into this week’s episode to hear more about her transformative junior year of highschool, her successful and humbling moments in the classroom, and the individuals who shaped and nurtured her teaching passions. You can find Khalilah Brann’s work at her CREAD website at creadnyc.com and you can purchase a copy of the ABC’s of the Black Panther Party at decolonizinged.com.
ABCs of the Black Panther Party
Decolonizing Education Publishing Company
Michelle Alexander Interviews Angela Davis
Thinker, Educators, Liberators You Recommend:
Teach Freedom by Charles M. Payne and Carol Sills Strickland
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Dr. Joy Degruy
Resources You Rely On:
Humans
Youtube and Google
Words You Live By:
Assatta Shakur’s Chant:
“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.” [therefore I must execute and revise]
Where can our listeners find and support your work?
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EP:20 Supreme Dow
Contemporary Black Canvas
12/31/17 • 45 min
This week on Contemporary Black Canvas we are pleased to present our first co-hosted interview. On this episode, I, Dr. Pia Deas, am joined by our CBC Research Assistant Madison Washington. Stay tuned to hear our engaging and inspiring interview with Supreme Dow, founder and executive director of the Black Writers’ Museum, located at Vernon House in Vernon Park, a large community park in Philadelphia’s historic Germantown neighborhood. The Black Writers Museum is a cultural archive featuring a vast collection of Black literature. Since its opening in 2010, the museum has been an intergenerational inspiration to the Germantown neighborhood and beyond, providing exhibits, tours of their collection, book signings by renowned authors, and the annual People’s Poetry and Jazz Festival. Dow was born and raised in Germantown. Germantown served as a focal point for activism during the 1960s and 1970s. His parents were committed to education and activism and they were instrumental in nurturing his lifelong appreciation for Black literature. Dow’s favorite Black writers include: Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Amiri Baraka. Dow was inspired to establish the Black Writers Museum – the only of its kind- because he believes the museum, through its exhibits and programming, fosters critical dialogue about Black literature and culture.
The museum is housed in the historic Vernon House in Vernon Park at 5800 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA. To support the museum, visit them at http://blackwritersmuseum.com/ or call (267) 297-3078 to schedule a visit.
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EP 18 Poet and Educator J Mason, III
Contemporary Black Canvas
09/21/17 • 53 min
On this episode of Contemporary Black Canvas, I had the pleasure of speaking to J Mase, the III, a Black/trans/queer poet and educator. He is also the founder of AwQuard the first ever trans and queer people of color specific talent agency. He is author of “If I Should Die Under the Knife, Tell My Kidney I was the Fiercest Poet Around” as well as “And Then I Got Fired: One Transqueer’s Reflections on Grief, Unemployment and Inappropriate Jokes About Death.” As an educator, J Mase has worked with thousands of community members in the US, the UK and Canada on the needs of LGBTQIA youth and adults in spaces such as k-12 schools, universities, faith communities and restricted care facilities among others. On this episode, we talk about he came to realize that poetry was his ministry, the development of his voice as a poet, and how he came to speak truth to power in white progressive spaces. Check him out on Facebook, twitter and of course Awqward Talent Agency.
Check Out His Work:
Check Out Work He Recommends:
Proudly African and Transgender
QuickFire Round
Resource You Rely On: Noor, a Queer Muslim Group
Words You Live By: God Is Still Speaking
How Can We Find and Support Your Work:
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EP 17: Mixed Media Visual Artist Amber Robles-Gordon
Contemporary Black Canvas
08/07/17 • 58 min
On this episode of Contemporary Black Canvas, we had the pleasure of interviewing the mixed media visual artist, Amber Robles-Gordon. She primarily works and is known for her use of found objects and textile to create assemblages, large-scale sculptures and installations. Her work is representational of her experiences and the paradoxes within the female experience.
Robles-Gordon has over fifteen years of exhibiting, art education, and exhibition coordinating experience. She completed her Masters of Fine Arts from Howard University in November 2011, where she has received annual awards and accolades for her artwork. She has exhibited nationally and in Germany, Italy, Malaysia, London, and Spain. Throughout her career, she serves as an advocate for the Washington, DC area arts community. As of November 2004 through July 2012, Robles-Gordon has been an active member of the Black Artists DC, (BADC) serving as exhibitions coordinator, Vice President and President. Robles-Gordon is also the Co-Founder of Delusions of Grandeur Artist Collective. Tune in to this episode to learn the important female influences on Amber’s life, her artistic practices, and the power of visual journaling as a source of healing and transformation. To find out more about her work, visit her website at amberroblesgordon.com.
Mentioned on the Show:
Resource I rely on: Sunlight
Favorite Quote: Stay on the path – you will have no choice
Where to Find Amber Robles-Gordon:
https://www.amberroblesgordon.com/
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EP 16: Special Edition – BlackStar Film Festival 2017
Contemporary Black Canvas
07/20/17 • 31 min
On this 1/2 hour special edition of Contemporary Black Canvas, we are highlighting the sixth annual BlackStar Film Festival 2017. For this episode, we were delighted to welcome back festival founder Maori Holmes (Episode 5) and independent filmmaker M. Asli Dukan (Episode 10) to talk about this year’s festival. The sixth annual BlackStar Film Festival, held in Philadelphia August 3rd to 6th 2017, showcases black filmmaking from around the world with more than 60 works screened. The theme of this year’s Festival is resistance, and BlackStar will be honoring Ava DuVernay at its annual Awards Ceremony, headlined by Pharoahe Monch at World Cafe Life on August 5th at 7:30 pm. You can find out more information about the parties, exhibits, films, the shorts program, the youth program, and roundtables and purchase tickets or register for the free events at blackstarfest.org. To donate to support the tremendous work of this and future festivals, please go to blackstarfest.org/donate. To find out more about M. Asli Dukan’s work, including the short she is premiering at BlackStar, Resistance: The Battle of Philadelphia, please visit her website.
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Ep:19 Jeri Lynne Johnson
Contemporary Black Canvas
12/31/17 • 55 min
On this episode of Contemporary Black Canvas, I had the pleasure of speaking to Jeri Lynne Johnson, a conductor and the founder of Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra. Jeri Lynne Johnson is deeply committed to building the diversity of the contemporary orchestra and its audience. On this episode, we learn about her love for classical music and how attending her first symphony when she was seven years old, shaped her decision to become a conductor. Ms. Johnson was so passionate about conducting that earlier on in her career, she conducted for free in order to gain experience and master her craft. As she grew more as a conductor, she was faced with discrimination in the workforce. In response to her own experience, she created the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra in Philadelphia with the goal of having the orchestra and the orchestra audience reflect the diversity of the city it is in. Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra in Philadelphia serves as a model for the contemporary twenty-first century orchestra. Once word got out in Philadelphia that there was a Black conductor and a diverse orchestra, Ms. Johnson has had the support of the local black and latinx communities and quickly gained national recognition for her work.
Check Out:
Quick Fire Round:
An upcoming artist that we should be excited about:
Words that you live by:
Tell everybody that you love them while you can.
Favorite resource:
My favorite resource is sunlight. I love the sun. I would sit in a sunny patch all day long like a cat. I always want to meet outside because the weather is so beautiful.
Where can we find and support your work? You can always support us online. We just updated our website and you can stream and listen to us online as well. Our upcoming programs are listed on our website: https://www.blackpearlco.org/
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The episode title 'BAM EP 5 Scholars, Dancers, and Choreographers: Dr. Osumare and Dr. Dixon Gottschild' is the most popular.