art, artist, painter, profile

The Inspiring Work of LA Artist Calvin Clausell Jr.

Growing up in Los Angeles, art has always been first for Calvin. From childhood he found himself sketching every chance he got. Loving the idea of bringing life to paper, he gravitated towards charcoal and graphite. Teaching himself shading techniques by observing human expression and emotion. He began oil painting after reading the book “The […]

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Black Like Me — Paintings by Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe

Hailing from Ghana, Quaicoe’s lush and luminous oil paintings of black men and women, some strangers he encounters on the street or on social media, many others, friends and colleagues, stand as visual testaments to the resilience, power and strength inherent in African culture. His portraits reveal the complexities of human experience with both a […]

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Featured Book: More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth

Throughout her life, Elaine Welteroth has climbed the ranks of media and fashion, shattering ceilings along the way. In this riveting and timely memoir, the groundbreaking journalist unpacks lessons on race, identity, and success through her own journey, from navigating her way as the unstoppable child of a unlikely interracial marriage in small-town California to […]

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GETTING TO KNOW HAITIAN BORN WRITER IBI ZOBOI

Ibi Aanu Zoboi was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and is a graduate of the Clarion West Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. Her short story, “Old Flesh Song”, is published in the award-winning Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, a collection of African American speculative fiction. Ibi received an award from theWomen Writers of Haitian Descent for her short […]

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Tim Fielder is Visual Afrofuturism, Pulp Entertainment, and Action Films

Tim Fielder is an Illustrator, concept designer, cartoonist, and animator born and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He has a lifelong love of Visual Afrofuturism, Pulp entertainment, and action films. He has worked over the years in the storyboarding, film visual development, gaming, comics, and animation industries for clients as varied as Marvel Comics, The Village […]

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Celebrating The Artist Carrie Mae Weems for Women’s Month at Nevahblackdown

Considered one of the most influential contemporary American artists, Carrie Mae Weems has investigated family relationships, cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems, and the consequences of power. Determined as ever to enter the picture—both literally and metaphorically—Weems has sustained an on-going dialogue within contemporary discourse for over thirty years. During this time, Carrie Mae Weems […]

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Positivity and Art combined: The work of Chuck Styles

In a small suburb outside of West Philadelphia, a young artist at the age of 6 would find comfort in art while surviving the dynamics of a complex blended family, 5 compelling siblings, and eroding house conditions. Styles was no stranger to poverty and struggle growing up. His family although low on funds were full of […]

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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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