James Baldwin

April 27, 2022 by Janyce Denise Glasper

New York immersion, Faith Ringgold’s quilts, prints and paintings at The New Museum and ACA Galleries

Calling it Faith Ringgold’s “moment to shine,” Janyce Denise Glasper writes about the experience of spending an entire day immersing herself in Faith Ringgold’s detailed expressive works at The New Museum and ACA Galleries. She comments that Ringgold “invested so much in her brave, revolutionary practice. The audience must perform that same duty to her.” Both shows are up until early or mid-June, 2022. Links and more information at the bottom of this post.

October 7, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Recollections of Peter Williams (1952-2021), prolific painter and activist

Susan Isaacs, who had the pleasure of curating Peter Williams twice, writes a thoughtful post on the painter’s work and fondly reflects on their shared moments together. Susan misses Williams, and says his death is a loss to us all- both personally and politically.

September 29, 2021 by Janyce Denise Glasper

Delivering joy, wonder and deep thoughts, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson at the Columbus Museum of Art

In this joyful review of “Raggin’ On: The Art of Aminah Robinson’s House and Journals,” Janyce Denise Glasper dives into the expansive exhibition– which includes paintings, sculptures, books, photographs, and historical recreations of Robinson’s home– and is filed with wonder and praise. “Raggin’ On,” which Janyce says would interest both children and adults, is on view at the Columbus Museum of Art through October 3, 2021.

April 1, 2021 by Morgan Nitz and Roberta

Morgan and Roberta check in and review some favorite online talks and podcasts

Reviewing some recent Zoom talks, several of them excellent, Morgan and Roberta also comment on the new David Wojnarowicz documentary film and the podcast story of a food critic who loses her sense of smell!

March 2, 2020 by Kinaya Hassane

Sculpting narratives in Black History, Acori Honzo’s ‘This is Our Story’

Kinaya Hassane reviews Acori Honzo’s latest exhibition at Cherry Street Pier: This is Our Story, closing Saturday, March 7th.

April 3, 2017 by Martha Kearns

Jimmy past, present, and future

I knew Jimmy. He was brilliant, charming, passionate, humane, intellectually and emotionally complex, fun and funny, and utterly fascinating and exciting to be with. I knew him the last few years of his life, late 1980s. He was traveling throughout the United States to see old friends and haunts. It was his last lap, his stomach cancer was incurable. He also wanted to take measure of his country–if life had changed for the better for African-Americans in a decade.

February 6, 2017 by Kathy Cho

Staying sane and staying active

For this Reader Advisor, I have been thinking a lot about resources and strategies of self-care and healing. Some are experiencing their first time being politically active, others are continuing on their marathon. Being constantly politically active, immersed, and empathetic will likely be draining for most people.

September 18, 2016 by Donald Hunt

James Baldwin at 90 – Notes of a Native Song at the Wilma Theater

Notes of a Native Song (title inspired from Baldwin’s non-fiction book, Notes of a Native Son), is a 90-minute song cycle with theatrical elements created by Tony-award winner Stew (composer, text) and Heidi Rodewald (composer) to showcase the impact of Baldwin’s life and work.