#blackhistorymonth

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“I was 21 in 1960, an African American male with an acute need to know myself. The politics of race accelerated my search for identity. Growing up in the South where I experienced racism in its most blatant forms, political boundaries were clearly drawn and based solely upon race. Diverse elements, opposing forces, dichotomy of means, polarities, [and] portraits of psychological space are conceptualizations used in my paintings. All are derived from the nature of politics in America with its distinct separation of black and white.”

“I have always accepted memory as being one of the most powerful elements of human consciousness. Through memory we reconstruct our past. We honor the dead through memory.” – Jack Whitten (from Walker Center magazine article, “Stories of the Soul: A Farewell to Jack Whitten”)

Jack Whitten (1939 – 2018) is known for his innovative process of applying paint on canvases and experimenting with materials in his painting. His style was abstract, but he liked to refer to his art as “mapping the soul.”

Born in Bessemer, Alabama, Whitten moved to New York in 1960. He was inspired by his experiences during the Civil Rights Movement, and he created many works dedicated to influential Black figures in the United States, including Ralph Ellison, Muhammad Ali, Barbara Jordan, and President Barack Obama. Whitten’s work reflected his beliefs in restoring the culture and legacy of his people through art.

Image 1: Jack Whitten in the studio (page spread)

Image 2: Jack Whitten in the studio (page spread)

Image 3: “Black Monolith IV For Jacob Lawrence”2001, Acrylic on Canvas, 96 x 96 in. Courtesy the artist, Alexander Gray Associates, New York; Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp.

Jack Whitten : five decades of painting
with contributions by Kathryn Kanjo, Robert Storr, Quincy Troupe.
Whitten, Jack, 1939-2018 [artist]
San Diego : Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego ; New York : Available through D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, [2015]
203 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), portraits ; 31 cm
English
HOLLIS number: 990145227350203941

Jean Blackwell Hutson (September 7, 1914 – February 4, 1998), American librarian, archivist, writer, and educator, remains a great inspiration to all librarians. As curator and later chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, Hutson worked to acquire, catalogue, and exhibit materials to preserve Black History under the auspices of the New York Public Library.

Hutson spoke about her memories of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg whose personal collection of African-American literature and objects became the basis of NYPL’s Schomburg Center, the most comprehensive collection of materials documenting the history and culture of peoples of African descent.

“His books had been catalogued by the Dewey Decimal System, but he had ignored that and he kept the books in his rarest collection arranged by the height of their spine and their hue. So one night I stayed and arranged these books by the decimal system so that everybody else could locate them from the card catalogue. When he came in the next day, he couldn’t find anything. He forbade me to come back into the place.”

That’s true librarian spirit!

Image: Black and white photograph of an older Black woman sitting on a chair between aisles in the library stacks and reading a book. Her walking cane is resting against the shelf next to her.

I dream a world : portraits of black women who changed America
photographs and interviews by Brian Lanker ; edited by Barbara Summers ; foreword by Maya Angelou.
Lanker, Brian.
New York : Stewart, Tabori & Chang : Distributed in the U.S. by Workman Pub., 1989.
167 p. : ports. ; 29 cm.
Contains the interviews and photographs of 75 black American women.
English
1989
HOLLIS number: 990016501590203941

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960 – 1988) first came to prominence when he collaborated with Al Diaz to spray-paint enigmatic statements under the pseudonym SAMO© in the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the late 70s. He went on to work on collages, Xerox art, postcards, performances, and music before establishing his reputation as one of the most important painters of his generation. Basquiat was one of the youngest artists to exhibit at the Whitney Biennial in New York at the age of 22, before passing away at the age of 27. His art was spontaneous in the same spirit of street art and graffiti, combining text and image, while mixing social commentary on power structures, systems of racism, colonialism, class struggles, and his experiences in the Black community.

Basquiat’s legacy remains powerful and more relevant than ever today.

Image 1: Front cover
Description: Photograph of Basquiat working on a painting on the floor.

Image 2: Page spread showing Basquiat in front of his work that is consisted of texts.

Image 3: Self-portrait, 1983, Oil on paper and wood. 91.4 x 61cm
Description: On the paper with some light cream color and drips of light brown, a black silhouette of a man’s head is placed in the center. His braided hair is standing upward. His eyes are hollowed out as white.

Basquiat : boom for real
Edited by Dieter Buchhart and Eleanor Nairne, with Lotte Johnson.
Munich ; London : Prestel, 2017.
295 pages : illustrations (some color), facsimiles, portraits ; 29 cm
English
Catalog of an exhibition held at Barbican Art Gallery, September 21, 2017-January 28, 2018, and Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, February 16-May 27, 2018.
ISBN : 9783791356365
ISBN : 3791356364
2017
HOLLIS number: 990152277830203941

THIS IS MY OSCAR SPEECH FROM LAST NIGHT:

SPECIAL LOVE TO TONYA, SATCHEL AND JACKSON

THE WORLD TODAY IS IRONY

THE DATE THE 24TH

THE MONTH

FEBRUARY WHICH ALSO HAPPENS TO BE THE SHORTEST

MONTH OF THE YEAR

WHICH ALSO HAPPENS TO BE BLACK HISTORY MONTH

THE YEAR 2019

THE YEAR 1619

HIS/HER – STORY

1619 TO 2019

400 YEARS

400 YEARS AGO

OUR ANCESTORS WERE STOLEN FROM MOTHER AFRICA

BROUGHT TO JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA – ENSLAVED

OUR ANCESTORS TO WORK DA LAND

FROM CAN’T SEE IN DA MORNING

TO CAN’T SEE AT NIGHT

MY GRANDMOTHER ZIMMIE REATHA SHELTON

WHO LIVED TO BE 100 YEARS YOUNG

WHO WAS A SPELMAN COLLEGE GRADUATE

EVEN THOUGH HER MOTHER WAS A SLAVE

MY GRANDMOTHER WHO SAVED

50 YEARS OF HER SOCIAL SECURITY

CHECKS TO PUT HER 1st

GRANDCHILD – SHE CALLED ME SPIKEY POO – PUT ME

THROUGH MOREHOUSE COLLEGE

AND NYU GRAD FILM

BEFORE THE WORLD TONIGHT I GIVE

PRAISE TO OUR ANCESTORS WHO

HELPED BUILD THIS COUNTRY AND

WHAT IT IS TODAY – ALONE WITH

THE GENOCIDE OF ITS NATIVE PEOPLE

IF WE ALL CONNECT WITH OUR

ANCESTORS FOR LOVE WISDOM

AND REGAINING OUR HUMANITY IT

WILL BE A POWERFUL MOVEMENT

THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

IS AROUND THE CORNER

LET’S ALL MOBILIZE, LET’S

BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY

MAKE THE MORAL CHOICE BETWEEN LOVE VS. HATE

LET’S DO THE RIGHT THING

Y’KNOW I HAD TO GET THAT IN

SOMEWAY – SOMEHOW

IN CLOSING

BROOKLYN’S IN DA HOUSE

BROOKLYN WINS

BROOKLYN WINS

BOOMSHACKALACKA