Black History Month, reminder

Here are a few inventions by Black People/PoC

Chocolate chip cookies were invented by Ruth Wakefield
 Liquid paper was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham
The square-bottomed paper bag was invented by Margaret Knight
The dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane
The windshield wiper was invented by Mary Anderson
Kevlar was invented by Stephanie Kwolek
Potato chips were invented by George Crum
The carbon-filament lightbulb, which was actually more practical than Edison’s paper-filament bulb, was invented by Lewis Latimer .
The blood bank was invented by Charles Richard Drew
The protective mailbox, the precursor to today’s public mail boxes, was invented by Philip B. Downing
The gas mask was invented by Garrett Morgan
The birth control pill was invented by Luis Miramontes and two other scientists
The magnetic compass, porcelain, gunpowder, the mechanical clock, and paper money were all invented by the Chinese
The condom, high heels, paper, and the pen were all invented by the Egyptians

There's also Agriculture, Writing, The wheel, Domesticating chickens, Tea, Math and The concept of “zero”, amongst other concepts and customs originated by ancient civilizations.

All of this enlightenment was inspired by a very ignorant photo on tumblr:

Jean-Michel Basquiat

    Basquiat is a New York Native and very well know modern artist who reached the height of his success during the 80's. Many young artist now-a-days love him and his legacy lives on. If you haven't already please watch the documentary about his life and career: Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, it is available here on Hulu.com

    At 15 years old, the artist ran away from home and became a staple of New York City's underground arts scene. He began as a graffiti artist under the SAMO pseudonym, making critical and ironic quips with semi-coherent jabs such as "SAMO©… 4 THE SO-CALLED AVANT-GARDE." It wasn't long before Basquiat turned to painting, keeping his knack for re-appropriation, rhythm and aggression firmly intact. (Huffingtonpost.com)

 

  Soon Basquiat's abstract painting style became a staple. He was very popular on Downtown Manhattan's art scene and his paintings were highly demanded. Years after his untimely death his fame skyrocketed and doesn't seem like its dying down.
     My reason for posting about Jean-Michel, despite his talent and impact on artists like myself, is that a new exhibition has opened at the Gagosian Gallery, examining over 50 of his works. Jean-Michel Basquiat will show until April 6 at the Gallery in New York.

Featuring over fifty works from public and private collections, the exhibition spans Basquiat’s brief but meteoric career, which ended with his death at the age of twenty-seven. Thirty years after Larry Gagosian first presented his work in Los Angeles, twenty years after the first posthumous survey at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1992–93), and eight years after the Brooklyn Museum of Art retrospective (2005), viewers will have a fresh opportunity to consider Basquiat’s central role in his artistic generation as a lightning rod and a bridge between cultures. (http://www.gagosian.com)

image courtesy of Huffingtonpost.com

I am certainly looking forward to seeing the exibit and I hope I can take hundreds of photos, I will definitely be blogging about it. To see more about this at Huffington Post and Gagosian.com

AfroPunk: THE DOCUMENTARY

AFROPUNK is more than the annual festival, it is a MOVEMENT. AP represents "the other black experience", basically Black People who don't typically watch BET. It all started with the Documentary.

AFROPUNK - "The Rock and Roll Nigger Experience" was the original title for the movie before it was changed to what we know as today: AFROPUNK - The Documentary, a 66 minute documentary explores race identify within the punk scene. More than your everyday "Behind the Music" or typical "Black History month "documentary this film tackles hard questions, covering issues such as exile, loneliness, interracial dating and black power. We follow the lives of four people who have dedicated themselves to the punk rock lifestyles. They find themselves in conflicting situations, living the dual life of a person of color in a mostly white community. AFROPUNK - The Documentary features performances by Bad Brains, Tamar Kali, Cipher, and Ten Grand. It also contains exclusive interviews by members of Fishbone, 247- spyz, Dead Kennedys, Candiria, Orange 9mm and TV on the Radio to name a few.

The Film is now available on AP's Facebook page and here it is:

For more news on AFROPUNK go to:
Visit our website: https://www.afropunk.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/afropunk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/afropunk

AFROPUNK - The Documentary, as well as the whole movement, has inspired me greatly, as an artist and just as an individual. I can not wait for this year's festival just to see how the community has, and will continue to, grow.

Quote

Some people live as though they are already dead. There are people moving around us who are consumed by their past, terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy. They are not alive; they are just walking corpses.
                                                        -Thich Nhat Hanh, You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment