Featured Book: Whitewalling: Art, Race & Protest in 3 Acts by Aruna D’Souza
In 2017, the Whitney Biennial included a painting by a white artist, Dana Schutz, of the lynched body of a young black child, Emmett Till. In 1979, anger brewed over a show at New York’s Artists Space entitled The Nigger Drawings. In 1969, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition Harlem on My Mind did not […]
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Featured Event: Barron Claiborne “ILLUMINADOS” The Luminous Black Saints — Photo Exhibition August 24th – September 9th, 2018 in New York City
The images in this exhibition comprise 33 photographs shot by Barron Claiborne in 8 x 10 Polaroid format, starting in 2001. The series includes Saints (Muurmaidens and Orisha’s) Venus Aurea (The Female Form), the Twins (Double Duplication), and Cara Negra (Black Face). This collaboration with +81 Gallery will offer Limited Edition products featuring Barron Claiborne’s […]
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Mustafa Shakir is excellent as Luke Cage’s Bushmaster and so much more!
Ok, so I am immensely inspired to write a little bit about Mustafa Shakir. He has been on my radar to share his light with you, the readers of Nevah Black Down for some time. I’ve personally known him because of the whole spoken word scene in NYC over the years. I’ve always thought he […]
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Speaking to America! Music, Image, Voice and Words
We have seen, heard and felt what has been happening in America for some time now. People are talking, crying and imagining something different. We here love when artists put themselves out there for the cause. Joey Bada$$ and Childish Gambino , like them or not, boldly reach within and take a chance on speaking their […]
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Proud To Be Black, Spoken Word by Karen Gibson Roc
I wrote this piece some years ago when I was trying to navigate the terrain of a new environment. Moving from Toronto to NYC gave me a window into things and ideas I had never been privy to. Just a border kept me disconnected with a part of myself that longed to experience both the […]
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An animated excerpt of an article from W.E.B. Du Bois depicts the alienation experienced by African Americans
“Between me and the other world, there is ever an unasked question: How does it feel to be a problem?” That’s W.E.B. Du Bois, sociologist, historian, writer, and one of the co-founders of the NAACP, writing for The Atlantic in 1897. His article, “Strivings of the Negro People,”addresses the alienation experienced by emancipated slaves and […]
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Erin Robinson: Her art is bright, beautiful and full of purpose!
Creative Visionary Erin Robinson is a Fashion Designer by trade but also a trained fine artist from Parsons School of Design and the Corcoran School of Art. Her daydreamy, magical imagination is inspired by travel, color, texture, the feminine shape and the many shades and coifs of Brooklyn. She works in a variety of mediums […]
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Kimberly Durdin: Catching Babies for her Community
It was a Saturday afternoon when I walked into the sacred space of RA MA East located in the West Adams area of Los Angeles. I was there to meet and do a piece on Kimberly Durdin, who is a Los Angeles based IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant), Doula, Childbirth Educator and Student Midwife. […]
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Joshua June –a photographer with an eye for the truth!
Every now and again you come across a photographer that makes you want to be in front of his or her camera, Joshua is one of those artists. I met him some years ago and I have had the pleasure of working with him. His kind and gentle nature make him a person you want […]
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What I Wasn’t Taught In School – A Spoken Word Short Film Questioning Black History Month!
This piece is absolutely amazing! SAMUEL KING is talented and powerful! It was posted some years ago and of course it is still relevant today, it addresses questions about black history month! Check it out! Nevahblackdown
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Featured Book/Video/Event: Black Girl Magic: A Poem by Mahogany L. Brown
Black Girl, they say you ain’t ‘posed to be here Much of what twenty-first-century culture tells black girls they are not pretty: Don’t wear this; don’t smile at that. Don’t have an opinion; don’t dream big. And most of all, don’t love yourself. In response to such destructive ideas, internationally recognized poet Mahogany Browne challenges […]
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Featured Event: Something to look forward to Saturday, February 24th, 2018 8:00pm @ The Apollo Theater, NYC “SOUNDTRACK ’63”
A Live Musical Documentary with spirituals, protest songs, and current popular music performed by an 18-piece orchestra, created by Brooklyn’s Soul Science Lab. From the painful conditions that ignited the 1963 Civil Rights Movement to today’s Black Lives Matter Movement, and much triumphant progress in between, music has always strengthened outcries for justice. This concert […]
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Beautiful Brown Skin – A Poem by Karen Gibson Roc
I AM THAT LITTLE GIRL CLOTHED IN BEAUTIFUL BROWN SKIN SMILING FROM BEHIND GROWN UP EYES WANTING ONLY TO ERASE THE TIES TO THE DECEIPT THAT CAUSES HATE AND A DESTRUCTIVE RISE – ING ON HIGH NESTS ABOVE THE REST — WITHIN THIS TIME LOVE IS WEEPING FROM THE UNTYING THE COMPARING COLOR OF SKIN […]
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Michael Kiwanuka! “Black Man In A White World”
This London based artist has stolen my heart!! I’ve been meaning to share this wonderful video here on NBD! If you haven’t seen or heard Michael Kiwanuka I hope you enjoy what he is about! Michael Kiwanuka #NevahBlackDown
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Featured Book: “Soul of a Nation” –Art in the Age of Black Power
African American art in the era of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers In the period of radical change that was 1963–83, young black artists at the beginning of their careers confronted difficult questions about art, politics and racial identity. How to make art that would stand as innovative, original, formally and materially complex, while […]
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The stunning work of Benji Reid, The Choreo-Photolist
“I am a Choreo-Photolist – where theatricality, choreography and photography meet in a single or series of images In the 1970’s, I stumbled across the films, music, and voices which spoke to me in pictures. For me art was a means to set up hyper-realities, conversations, and to curate my curiosities. I’ve been inspired […]
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TED Speaker, Nikki Webber Allen, has created a safe space for honest conversations about mental health in communities of color.
WE HERE AT NEVAHBLACKDOWN ARE EXCITED AND HONORED TO SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH YOU! THIS CONVERSATION IS UBER IMPORTANT AND WORTH SHARING! With over a million views (on Nikki’s TEDTalk) and growing, we can see how important this topic is. –Nevahblackdown Why you should listen Nikki Webber Allen is a two-time Emmy winner with 20 […]
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Blitz The Ambassador–Musician, Film Maker and The Making of “The Burial Of Kojo”
What can I say about this most amazing artist? He is at the forefront of music and film. His accomplishments speak for themselves. I have followed his work for some time and I have to say I have always been drawn to his pages (social media etc) both for the sounds of his music and […]
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Keishera releases her new album “It’s Me”
ABOUT Singer/Songwriter Keishera James exudes originality. With her raspy alto pipes, Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Keishera has always been fond of reggae and Soul music. She recalled attending stage shows as a child seeing her favorite artist rocking the stage and being mesmerized—wondering if she could ever be that brave. […]
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Nick Cannon Expresses himself with a Spoken Word Visual “Stand For What?”
Click here to watch Stand For what?! You want me to stand for a song that continues to remind me of all the harms that have done me wrong? Stand for what?! For your Army that none of our sons truly belong Stand for what? The 100 years it took them to convince Congress to […]
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