“Presidential elections and the voter experience have long been fraught for black people. From racist poll taxes to made-up literacy tests to the egregious rollback of voting rights over the past 50 years, American democracy has, at times, felt like a weird and failed social experiment.” —Patrisse Cullors
The racial consciousness and discourse of the West was forged on slave ships carrying human cargos into the Caribbean and the Americas. The search for agricultural commodities and profits from the extreme exploitation of Black people, deemed as less than human, gave birth to the notion of racial inequality.
The California African American Museum (CAAM) announced today that it will open four new exhibitions in fall 2018, including two original exhibitions that examine important chapters of African Americans history in California and solo exhibitions of new and recent works by artists Nina Chanel Abney (in conjunction with the Institute for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) and Robert Pruitt. One of the upcoming exhibitions also includes CAAM’s first partnership with its Exposition Park neighbor, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is lending pieces from its collection.
BET’s evolution also included the launch of its website, BET.com, and the launch of the network’s sister channel, BET Her, the first network designed to target African-American women. Lee acquired the television rights to the annual award show Black Girls Rock! and continued to elevate the prominence and prestige of the BET Awards. Lee recently launched Leading Women Defined, an annual gathering of thought leaders that convenes notable African-American woman, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, Venus Williams and Issa Rae, to discuss issues that have a direct impact on the Black community.