#african styles 2021

[fashionsfromhistory]

Ensemble

Laduma Ngxokolo for MAXHOSA AFRICA

Fall/Winter 2015

Laduma Ngxokolo founded South African knitwear brand MAXHOSA AFRICA in 2012. Ngxokolo became interested in fashion design as a teenager when his mother, also a designer, bought a knitting machine for the home. Ngxokolo remarks this move ‘changed my direction in life forever’.

The two pieces here offer fine examples of the distinctive patterns that run through MAXHOSA, with the confidence of design and craftsmanship dominating the look, emphasizing the Xhosa aesthetic. The black and white shawl, which can be worn in a multitude of styles and shapes, is the first garment that Ngxokolo made to be worn by both men and women. The black and white colourway of the garment brings out the boldness of MAXHOSA design through its inherent focus on the Xhosa patterns, which are reminiscent of Xhosa beadwork. Here, the shawl is paired with red shorts, which was modeled at the 2015 Johannesburg Fashion Week.

Victoria & Albert (Accession number: T.2432:1,2-2021)

[barbielore]

Barbie Dream Besties is a new line currently in stock in stores. As an utter casual to the world of dolls (I know a lot about Barbie, but my knowledge is shockingly niche), I can describe this style only as "Bratz-esque".

Rather than the typical Barbie style, these are differently proportioned: short with bigger heads. They also feature more casual clothing styles and a variety of accessories: makeup, phones, laptops, grooming supplies... and pizza?

At the moment, the line consists of four characters: Barbie (Malibu), Barbie (Brooklyn), Renee and Teresa.

This is particularly interesting to me because there have been startlingly few Teresas in the playline lately. There were frequent appearances from her debut in the late 80s through to the mid 2000s, then none at all between 2008 and 2021. Then there was one playline appearance, then one collectible in 2023, before her return in the Dream Besties line.

Renee and Brooklyn, by contrast, are newer characters in the doll ine: Renee first appeared in 2016, and Brooklyn (or at least, the first identification of an African-American Barbie by the name "Brooklyn") only appeared in the 2020s.

[world-of-wales]

Happy International Women’s Day! Celebrating the impact of amazing women today, and every day. Here are just a few of the brilliant women we’ve been inspired by over the past 12 months. #IWD2024

After her daughter Brodie's death by suicide in 2020, Emma Webb launched a suicide prevention campaign. Brodie was a talented equestrian, which is what inspired @thewebstermwebb’s challenge pulling a life-size resin horse 160 miles from Chepstow to London.

Sarah Goldson has directed the @Wimbledon Ball Boy and Girl training since the 2012 Championships. The training helps develop life skills among young people, with 280 BBGs selected from local schools.

Vaitea Cowan is a co-founder of @Enapter, a company aiming to account for 10% of the world's green hydrogen by 2050. Enapter won the Fix Our Climate category at the 2021 Earthshot Prize and continues to thrive.

Bianca Sakol is the founder and CEO of @Sebbys_Corner, a shop-style baby bank which believes no child should go without the basic essentials they need to thrive. They provide a warm, welcoming environment and gives families choice and dignity to choose the items they need.

Mother and daughter, Jennifer and Emilia Clarke, were awarded MBEs for their brain injury charity work. They are co-founders of @SameYouOrg, a charity which develops better mental health recovery treatment for survivors and raises awareness around rehabilitation.

Dr. Gubby Ayida has been the CEO of @EvelinaLondon since May 2023 and oversaw its opening of the new Children’s Day Surgery Unit last year.

Wendy Simm was born and raised in Moss Side, Manchester and founded ‘Keeping It Real 24/7.’ The food bank focuses on delivering culturally important foods to those in need, such as yams and sweet potatoes, which generally are not provided by other food banks.

Captain Preet Chandi is a British Army Captain who holds three world records for polar trekking, most recently in December 2023 for becoming the world's fastest woman to complete a solo South Pole ski expedition.

Barbara Smith is a psychotherapist who has served over 16 years with @BritishRedCross, offering psychosocial support in disaster and war zones, aiding those in trauma.

Sarina Weigman began her role as England Women’s Head Coach in September 2021, leading The @Lionesses to Euro 2022 victory. She was presented with an Honorary CBE in June last year.

Renee Salt is a Holocaust survivor who was born in Zdunska Wola, Poland in 1929. She survived both Auschwitz and Belsen, but her family did not. Renee has spoken to thousands of young people as part of @HolocaustUK's programmes.

Professor Uzo Iwobi founded @rcccymru to boost art, heritage, and culture for minority groups in Wales. She empowers African Caribbean elders through learning initiatives and mentors young people to fulfil their aspirations.

In 2024, @hmsoardacious will be represented by Team Valkyrie, the first all-serving women's military team to row across the Atlantic. The @toughestrow challenge raises money for military charities and organisations that support veterans and their families.

- The Prince and Princess of Wales

[falle-ness]

FAVORITE FIRST WATCHES OF SEPTEMBER

picking up the cordial invite of anyone to do the game by @anyataylorjoys

I tag @thetudorslovers @streatfeild @randomprivateer @ainvege @zizzlekwum @katarinas-redemption @trishvaylar and anyone who wants to

I'm very chaotic when it comes to watching movies - I never know if I'm gonna end up rewatching a movie I've watched 20+ years ago (because I don't remember any of it), watching exclusively someone's filmography, or just pick a random movie.

It's been mostly Jackmantember XD

Paperback Hero (1999) – it's what I'd call a classic romcom. Just look at the premise:a local truck driver secretly pens successful romance novels using his best female friend's name who's a badass pilot. Things got complicated when a publisher gets into his small town in the middle of nowhere with an offer... It's perfect for an evening watch. Light, funny, hilarious, and comforting.

Reminiscence (2021) – a post apocalyptic sci-fi-ish neonoir with a twist. Reviews are mixed, but I'd recommend you watch it yourself. I liked it, and it hit just the right spot at that time, and honestly, made me cry. If you liked the Black Mirror episode about erasing/rewatching memories, you'll probably like this movie, too. Definitely not the kind of a movie to watch if you want to turn your brain off for the evening—there's too much stuff going on, but the pacing is really slow, almost dragging... But, again, I needed something like that.

Swordfish (2001) – wild 00s thriller I can't believe I've never watched before lol. Hot men, hot women (bisexual disaster alert), covert ops, tons of money, spies, hackers, shadow/puppet governments, conspiracies and whatnot... Gimme all, gimme moar. I don't care if some say Hugh Jackman wasn't believable here as a hacker. I actually like his version of a hacker more rather than a glassed-geeky stereotype that keeps popping up everywhere. And yeah, for those who care, it's 00s, so beware of 18+ and dubious consent and whatnot.

Prisoners (2013) – I know the director D. Villeneuve because of Sicario movies, and I can't believe I've never bothered to watch this. Villeneuve's movies are something between a chokehold and smothering. So I knew what I was getting into, but this was before Sicario, so I was curious to see where he started. This is not an easy watch. It starts off a beaten premise—there's two small girls missing, there's a cop who tries to do a right thing, and there's a father who thinks that trying is not good enough. From this point forward, the movie peels off the layers of the seemingly 'decent' neighborhood and its folks. It's a very unsettling movie, with a raw, gut-crushing performance from Hugh Jackman.

The Interpreter (2005) - yay, not a Jackman movie. This is a solid typical for 00s with its style and pace thriller about an interpreter for the UN who hears something she isn't supposed to (something on a very rare African dialect she knows) and becomes a target. Nicole Kidman as an interpreter and Sean Penn as the FBI agent tasked to protect her have quite interesting dynamic.

Australia (2008) - You either like Baz Luhrmann style or you hate it. I'm not his fan, but this epic saga about an Englishwoman who inherits a ranch in northern Australia was a revelation. Jackman here is a drover—the guy who droves cattle, horses, etc., to another location for a small commission. There are too many themes raised—racism, colonialism, the WWII, and the greed and betrayal. And how to stay human where everyone seems to have lost humanity. It's not easy to watch because the pacing is quite slow, and it's almost 3h, I think? But it'll leave its mark, trust me.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Fabiola Cineas at Vox:

It took less than a day for the world to start rallying for George Floyd in late May 2020. The events that led to Floyd’s murder unfolded over hours, but a viral 10-minute video recording of the deadly encounter with Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was enough to send floods of people nationwide into the streets for months.  In the weeks after Floyd’s killing, the number of Americans who said they believe racial discrimination is a big problem and that they support the Black Lives Matter movement spiked. As books about racial injustice flew off of bookstore shelves, corporate leaders, politicians, and celebrities pledged to fight racism. The events of 2020 disturbed America’s collective conscience, and the movement for justice captivated millions. Until it didn’t.  

In retrospect, there were signs of brewing right-wing resistance all along. While many peacefully protested, others called for their defeat. Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton demanded that the US military be brought in to fight “insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters.” As police officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds across the country, President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to “dominate the streets” and defend “life and property,” sending thousands of troops and federal law enforcement officers to control protesters in Washington, DC; Portland, Oregon; and other cities.  Some Americans who wanted to stamp out the unrest took it upon themselves to practice vigilantism. One of them, Kyle Rittenhouse, fatally shot two unarmed men and wounded another when he brought an AR-15-style rifle to protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Rittenhouse was later acquitted of all homicide charges.)

Though the mass mobilization of 2020 brought hope, it’s clear today that it also marked a turning point for backlash as the mirage of progress morphed into seemingly impenetrable resistance. Historically, backlash has embodied a white rejection of racial progress. Over the past few years, the GOP has built on that precedent and expanded its reach.  The right watched progressives rally for change and immediately fought back with the “Big Lie” of a stolen election. In many of the states that Biden flipped in 2020, Republicans rushed to ban ballot drop boxes, absentee ballots, and mobile voting units, the methods that allowed more people to vote. Since then, we’ve seen the passage of dozens of regressive laws, including anti-protest laws, anti-LGBTQ laws, and anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion laws. In state after state, these bans were coupled with incursions against reproductive rights, as some conservatives announced plans to take over every American institution from the courts to the schools to root out liberalism and progress.

[...] “There’s a backlash impulse in American politics,” Glickman said. “I think 2020 is important because it gets at another part of backlash, which is the fear that social movements for equality and justice might set off a stronger counter-reaction.” The protests of 2020 did. And though race is still at the core of the post-George Floyd backlash, many Republicans have gone to new lengths to conceal this element.  "One of the things that the civil rights movement accomplished was to make being overtly racist untenable,” said Anderson. “Today they say, ‘I can do racist stuff, but don't call me racist.’” For Anderson, backlash is about instituting state-level policies that undermine African Americans’ advancement toward their citizenship rights.

By early 2021, alongside the effort to “stop the steal,” legislation that would limit or block voting access, give police protection, and control the teaching of concepts such as racial injustice began spreading across Republican-controlled state legislatures — all in the name of protecting America.  “They cover [voter suppression] with the fig leaf of election integrity, with the fig leaf of trying to protect democracy, and with the fig leaf of stopping massive rampant voter fraud,” Anderson said. And, she said, laws banning the teaching of history get covered “with the fig leaf of stopping indoctrination.” That coordinated legislation was a direct response to potential racial gains for Black Americans and other marginalized groups. “After the death of George Floyd in 2020, it seemed like all of our institutions suddenly shifted overnight,” conservative activist Christopher Rufo said in a 2022 interview. Rufo’s answer was to release a series of reports about diversity training programs in the federal government and critical race theory, which, he argued, “set off a massive response, or really, revolt amongst parents nationwide.” 

[...]

The new era of backlash is grievance-driven 

That racial resentment has since taken on a particularly acrid temperament since Floyd's death. At the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump, facing a litany of criminal and civil charges, stood on stage and told the audience, “I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”  Trump’s words summarized the political discourse that has spread since the killing of George Floyd and highlighted the absence of a formal Republican policy agenda. “[What he said was] not policy,” said historian John Huntington, author of the book Far Right Vanguard: The Radical Roots of Modern Conservatism. “It was just vengeance for some sort of perceived wrongs.” He added, “policy has taken a backseat to cultural grievances.” 

What Huntington calls out as “endless harangues against very nebulous topics like critical race theory or wokeness or whatever the current catchphrase is right now” are an important marker of this new era. “A key element of the current backlash we’re seeing is a politics of grievance,” he says. “‘I have been wronged somehow by the liberals or whoever, and Trump is going to help me get even with these people that I don’t like.’” Glickman calls this backlash tactic an “inversion” or “elite victimization”: “It’s a reversal that happens in backlash language where privileged white people take the historical position of oppressed people — often African Americans but sometimes other oppressed groups — and they speak from that vantage point.” To be sure, Republicans have passed dozens of laws through state legislatures to do everything from restricting voting to banning trans athletes from participating in sports. But for Huntington, these reactionary laws don’t amount to legitimate policy. “It's very difficult to convince people to build a society rather than trying to tear down something that's already existing,” he said. “Critiquing is easy. Building is hard.” Nationally, Republicans only passed 27 laws despite holding 724 votes in 2023. 

Vox has a great article on the right-wing backlash against the racial reckoning of Summer 2020 has had effects on our politics the last few years, such as waging faux outrage crusades against CRT and DEI.

[wanderingnork]

Horror Movies: Something Old, Something New

Five double features, each matchup featuring a similar theme, plot, or style--but separated by at least twenty years.

Matango (1963, 1h 30m) and Gaia (2021, 1h 30m): Matango is the story of a group of boaters shipwrecked on a strange island infested with bizarre mushrooms. Based on a 1907 short story called The Voice In The Night (read it on archive.org here) and directed by Ishirō Honda, one of the directors and writers of the original Godzilla, it's spine-tingling tale. Gaia takes place in a South African forest, where a pair of forestry service employees discover that the forest is alive in a whole different way than they thought. Both stories deal with fungus, changing human bodies, and ecological disaster. You may want to avoid mushrooms and blue cheese for a bit after these.

The Red Shoes (1948, 2h 15m) and The Red Shoes (2005, 1h 45m): Both of these stories take their title and overall themes from the same Hans Christian Andersen story. You can read the story here. Separated by nearly sixty years and multiple continents--since the 1948 film was made in England and the 2005 film was made in South Korea--they're well worth comparing. Two different times and cultures tackle the same story, and come out with stories that are fully distinct yet strikingly similar.

Ghostwatch (1992, 1h 30m) and Late Night With the Devil (2024, 1h 30m): On Halloween night in 1992, on live TV, a BBC documentary crew enters a haunted house to witness a haunting, only for everything to go horribly wrong--or at least that's the premise of Ghostwatch. The BBC created its mockumentary using its established TV personalities and other added elements of realism, resulting in a War of the Worlds type of national panic. It's never been run on any UK TV channel again. Late Night With the Devil takes a similar spin, although it doesn't present itself as happening today: it's a documentary of events occurring on live TV in 1977. Despite that, watch the plot beats. See if you can spot Ghostwatch. I was able to predict almost the exact plot of the film once I realized what was going on (although it didn't detract from my enjoyment at all).

The Thing (1982, 1h 50m) and 30 Days of Night (2007, 1h 50m): Two different takes on "stranded in an icy polar wasteland," one taking place in Antarctica and the other in Alaska. In the first, the monstrous chaos comes from a shapeshifting alien, while in the second, it's vampires. However, as different as its monsters are, 30 Days of Night pays plenty of homage to The Thing. From helicopter sabotage to prevent escape to a striking shot that evokes the theatrical poster of The Thing, 30 Days of Night shows where it came from. TW for dog death in both movies.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963, 1h 45m) and Bonestorm (short film from VHS: Viral 2014, anthology runtime 1h 20m): Okay, so Jason and the Argonauts isn't exactly horror. It's a retelling of the myth of the same name, with Jason and his crew of heroes sailing to find the Golden Fleece. As much as it is heroic fantasy, it's also full of monsters--stop-motion hydras, harpies, and more created by the legendary Ray Harryhausen. The grand finale is a battle against a group of animated skeletons, which you can watch here. Fifty years later, the makers of Bonestorm revisited the same idea, as a pair of skateboarders battle cultists-turned-skeletons on a trip to Mexico.

Food for thought: Whether or not the more recent filmmakers were aware of the older movies is uncertain, but what can we as viewers draw from these strikingly similar works? Do the old-school effects hold up next to their modern counterparts? In the Matango/Gaia and Red Shoes double features, different cultures are also in play. What's the impact of that on the stories? What does it say about horror that we keep going back to revisit the same themes and stories?

(Previous Recommendations)

[haveyoureadthispoll]

The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian—who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray. In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

[clickyourradio]

CHANÉ is a South African musician, singer, songwriter and artist born in Cape Town, in the Western Cape. She has been writing songs since she was nine but only started pursuing a professional music career in 2019. Her talent was discovered and nurtured from a very young age, and she decided early on that she wanted to share this

incredible gift with all. She has obtained several music qualifications over the years, including a grade 7 certificate in Classical Guitar from Trinity College, among other Trinity Grades. In January of 2021, her first official radio single, Speak, was released. This captivating single was produced by the production house, StoneBear & Mayor Records and mastered in New York at one of the most prestigious studios in the

world, Sterling Sound, by the brilliant mastering Engineer, Randy Merril. He is also responsible for mastering the music of Adele, Paul McCartney, Katy Perry, Harry Styles, Imagine Dragons, and many others.

[floralbeautysweet]

Krystal Bailey in Craig of the Creek style

العربية:

الأمس رسمت كريستال بيلي، الفتاة الأمريكية الأفريقية المراهقة من رينيو هاي بأسلوب الفني كريغ من الجدول. إنها جميلة جداً!

ظهرت كريستال لأول مرة في الموسم الأول الحلقة 13: شوتيتغ ستار، التي بُثت في 19 مارس 2021، رئيسة تحرير مجلة رينبو هاي الرسمية التي تصدرت الغلاف الأمامي للمجلة الرسمية للقطة رينبو هاي التي تمنح الفتيات مقالاً خاصاً وغلافاً أمامياً.

Türkçe:

Dün Rainbow High'dan genç bir Afro-Amerikan kız olan Krystal Bailey'i Craig'in Krallığı resmi tarzında çizdim. O kadar güzel ki!

Krystal ilk kez 19 Mart 2021'de yayınlanan Sezon 1 Bölüm 13: Parlayan Yıldız'da Rainbow High'ın resmi kedi dergisinin baş editörü olarak kızlara özel bir özellik ve ön kapak verdi.

English:

Yesterday I drew Krystal Bailey, the teenage African-American girl from Rainbow High in Craig of the Creek art style. She’s so beautiful!

Krystal made her first appearance in Season 1 Episode 13: Shining Star, which aired in March 19th, 2021, editor-in-chief of the scene of Rainbow High’s Official Magazine giving of girls a feature article and the front cover, Who’s gonna get the spot.

[canmom]

Animationo Night 177 - Kizazi Moto + Fatenah

Hey everyone. It's Animation Night again. We aten'nt dead!!

Huge apologies to European viewers that I couldn't stream this one earlier. Still, I'd like to get back into the swing of things, so we're back. (Bros. We're so back.)

So. tonight we're gonna be checking out Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire. This is a collection of scifi films created by studios from five different countries across the length of Africa.

The impetus came from the South African studio Triggerfish - originally a stop motion studio, but they switched over to CG a few decades ago. We saw some of their work back on Animation Night 166 in Star Wars: Visions, which came close enough to the stop motion feel as to leave me in doubt. There's no question they have a ton of talent.

Like Visions, this short film collection has the financial backing of the Mouse; it also has another American, Spiderverse director Peter Ramsey, serving as executive producer. But there's no monolithic franchise involved this time - the individual directors and studios were given considerable creative freedom. Styles range from anime-esque to Hanna-barbera; stories span aliens in high speed races through near future dystopias to apocalyptic stories about gods.

The creators are a little hands off towards the term 'afrofuturism'; in an interview with Skwigly magazine, producer Tendayi Nyeke asks us to interpret it just as scifi more broadly:

We don’t use the word Afro-futurist! Part of that is we are seeing science fiction, but through the context of Africa, and trying to demystify Afrofuturism. It’s not a genre for us. Because, you start to raise questions like can a French person do an afro futurist movie? And what does that even mean? So it’s an African filmmaker using science fiction as a medium to communicate. Science fiction allows them to imagine big futures. I love when a lot of Western science fiction is looking at  a dystopian context, we’re looking at hope. It really comes from trauma in some ways, though we have a rich heritage prior to the trauma. And then we’re like, hey, technology is evolving. We’re evolving as human beings. If there was hope, what could that look like? Science fiction as a medium allows you to explore that just by its design.

Among the filmmakers, there is considerable ambition to change the general layout of the animation industry. Raymond Malinga, director of Herderboy, remarks:

But somehow, because of all these things like colonialism and everything, it’s almost like our creativity was stifled by that and we just keep on accepting the fact that we are supposed to tell mundane things, you know? Mundane. Normal. So with “Herderboy”, I just took one of the oldest professions of the whole continent. And I said if I can update that and Ugandans watch that, they can start saying, you know, if cattle herders can look cool, then what else can look cool?

It's a cool interview, he's very charmingly down to earth when he talks about how after working on the film for a year he has no idea what's funny or not. Isn't that a mood...

Of course, until fairly recently there were a lot more animated films about Africa, such as the French Kirikou series, than animated films created in Africa. Which is nuts when we're talking about an entire continent, right? Thanks, "legacy of colonial extractivism". But things are really moving now! African animation was the subject of Annecy 2021, and in the online version of the festival I got to see the impressively varied Mshini TV collection of the edgier end of the spectrum, which carried all sorts from Newgrounds-esque flashes to South Park-like comedy skits. And this year at Annecy 2023, I got to see the first feature-length animated film from Cameroon, The Sacred Cave. A bug is spreading!

With this field, Kizazi Moto stands out for its startlingly high level of technical polish. And of course, I just like scifi. From the Mouse's perspective, they have their eye on the long game - trying to capture an 'emerging market' and all that. But, I would far rather they spend their money this way than having animators add yet more weight to the sinking Star Wars boat, you know?

So let's go take a look at what they've put together! In total, Kizazi Moto comprises 10 films, typically about 10 minutes long each. You can get summaries here or just watch along tonight, and I'll be posting my thoughts on each one later~

And. For a dose of the heavy along with this fun stuff - the ongoing genocide has put Palestine and specifically the Gaza strip in the front of everyone's minds. While there have been a few animated films touching on the occupation from the Israeli side, like Waltz With Bashir, a celebrated psychological drama in a realist style in which a former Israeli soldier reflects on whether he did a warcrimes, and Seder-Masochism, in which Nina Paley attempts to lay out a story about how the patriarchical Abrahamic religions suppressed an ancient matriarchal religion (she is a terf, how did you guess!), which includes the undeniably conceptually effective but highly equivocating This Land Is Mine segment... there is less available from the Palestinian side for the obvious and sad economic reasons.

But, a couple of weeks ago, Animation Obsessive wrote an article to celebrate Fatenah (2009), a short film animated in the West Bank about a woman in Gaza struggling to get breast cancer treatment. It's available free on Vimeo:

It's directed by Ahmad Habash, a native of the West Bank who came to study animation here in the UK, and secured WHO funding after they saw his student film. But the film is not a one-note activist project, it's a careful character study trying to give a convincing portrait of the different facets of its title character's life. This film was completely new to me and I'm grateful to AniObsessive for highlighting some Palestinian art in my favourite medium. So I'd like to slot this into my little Twitch show as well!

I have a bunch of other short films I'm excited to show, between recent Gobelins works and another AniObsessive piece highlighting their favourite short films from the festival circuit which have become available online. But given the ludicrously late start, I don't want to pack too much in to this one. We'll save that for another week!

I know Animation Night has been very spotty recently. I've been going through it with the old brain a bit ('a bit' she says). I'm trying to get things back on track with sleep and stuff, thank you for all the kind things people have said, and for bearing with me.

So! Let's go! Animation Night 177 will be going live in just a moment in its usual home, https://twitch.tv/canmom!

[afrobeatsindacity]

BNXN IS REACHING FOR THE STARS

Can anyone tell at what exact point Bnxn became a household name in Nigerian music? Formerly known as Buju To Your Ears, or Buju, the silk-tongued serenader has made such a natural progression in the industry in the last four years that we haven't had time to track his progression. It seems now so long ago since he was the young twitter artist repeatedly begging for a verse from rapper Zlatan for an upcoming song. When that feature eventually came through, on 2019's "Spiritual", it became the catapult that pushed a niche artist into local popularity.

But it wasn't until he partnered with Burna Boy, the self-styled African Giant, that he could be described as a mainstream Nigerian artiste. The two teamed up on the remix of BNXN's 2019 single, "L'enu", where Bnxn was assured and daring, swimming in the confidence of his own ability, even though he was still in the lower rungs of Nigerian music ladder—"Tell me what I cannot do" he boasts on the chorus over Steph's spunky beat. The African Giant's verse came later, and by the end, the song's message was passed across, its theme unmissable: these men are gutsy in their own abilities and they intend to approach the next stages of their careers with an unwavering confidence. It was therefore no surprise that Burna Boy immediately signed Bnxn to his own label, spaceship records.

After a single song released under the label, "So Lovely" in late 2020, Buju parted with spaceship records after a year, choosing not to renew his contract. But his upward trajectory remained unhalted. In mid 2021 he was called up by Ladipoe for "Feeling", where Buju was charged with providing a sunny, falsetto-infused backdrop to the rapper's faster-paced hip-hop verses. It is a tried and true formula, and Bnxn's execution is near-flawless. His chorus, a depiction of a guy unbothered by stress and basking in a worry-free reality, rang from the lips of Nigerian youth as the unofficial song of the summer of 2021.

On "Outside", released in mid-2021, the crooner chose this time to delve into his work ethic and commitment to his craft as he sang about how he prioritises the work of creating new music over fun-seeking outings. He also took a moment to dwell briefly on his journey here, on the first verse, "Omo in the first stage, I made mistakes I swear". The slower pace and gentler tone of the song were evidently well appreciated, as "Outside" was a fixture on the top 10 of the different Nigerian streaming charts for weeks to come.

In late 2021, it was time for a debut EP, which Bnxn named Sorry I'm Late, with its title acknowledging his delay in releasing a debut project, which was indeed strange for a time when rising acts capitalise on their growing popularity by releasing an EP. What came as no shock, however, was the high level of confidence and talent on display. By naming the opener after himself, BNXN made a statement of self-assuredness and revealed an intent to make his mark on the music world. Lines like "You know my sound is on fire/ You know my melody on fire" may read as unnecessary braggadocio to a new listener, but day 1 fans are well acquainted with the dexterity of his songwriting and quality of his delivery—his melody really is on fire. The EP was altogether a resounding success and represented another milestone passed in the young singer's career.

While Sorry I'm Late cemented his place in Nigeria's mainstream, it was two features that arrived on both sides of it that brought the most momentum to his international career. First was "Mood", on Wizkid’s Grammy-nominated Made In Lagos, where the two produced a flawless collaboration, taking turns to glide on P2J's mellow percussion. Its mellow groove and slinky vocal duet drew parallels with "Essence", the Tems-featuring smash from the standard version of Made In Lagos, and while it didn't quit achieve those chart-topping heights, it became Bnxn's biggest international effort. That was until "Finesse", where Bnxn starred beside music producer turned music star, Pheelz, for the track that proved transcendental to their individual careers, establishing Pheelz's new status as an artist and providing thrust to Bnxn's international flight.

The song initially made waves as a viral tiktok snippet was eventually released in mid-March following a massive clamour from fans, and it wasted no time climbing up the charts, peaking at no 1 on the UK's official Afrobeats charts, with appearances on UK official charts proper and the novel Billboard Afrobeats chart. It was released barely two weeks after Buju officially became Bnxn, so it was an exquisite way of stamping his new identity. Another collaboration later in the year, this time with UK based producer JAE5 and rapper Dave for "Propeller", helped strengthen inroads to the UK scene.

As these songs pushed Bnxn's international profile, his position at home was similarly growing. In May 2022, the Headies, Nigeria's premier music award, announced its nominees for the year's honours and Bnxn got a nomination for the Next Rated category, awarded to the emerging artist who shows the biggest potential to place amongst Nigeria's biggest acts in the near future. Bnxn received a nod after the amazing year he had, but he was placed alongside Ayra Starr, Ruger, Lojay and Zinoleesky, all of whom had made excellent use of the year under review. With the Headies announcing that the winner would emerge with a brand new Bentley Bentayga, it added fuel to what was already a heated competition.

Bnxn would eventually emerge the winner of this tight contest, and a week before the ceremony, he provided even more proof of why no one was more deserving. This came in his second studio EP, Bad Since '97. Here Bnxn built on the themes of his debut—his unwavering belief in himself and his music talent—with his writing and exquisite vocal delivery once more providing both the vehicle and for this substantiation of his self-confidence.

On his latest album, Sincerely, Benson, released earlier this month, Bnxn reiterated all of this self-belief, fulfilling the promise he has displayed all of his career. On the 15-track LP, Bnxn chronicles love and heartbreak, but approaches this subject from a mature, not often seen perspective: as the man making a sincere apology to the woman he loved and hurt. Songs like "Pidgin And English", "Regret", "Sweet Tea" and "Realize" tie into this narrative, yet Bnxn finds room for his characteristic cockiness: his very first words on the album are "Leave am for me/ Emi lokan", warding off the competition and propping himself up as a maestro in the music space.

As Bnxn continues to soar, old promises of potential become fulfilled even as he forebodes more to come. His next goal would be to establish his name indelibly in international markets, but If his four years in the industry thus far have shown us anything, it is that the next step always comes just as surely as the last for Bnxn.

This article was written by Afrobeats City Contributor Ezema Patrick - @ezemapatrick (Twitter)

Afrobeats City doesn’t own the right to the images

[sporadicarbitergardener]

1928-2014

By Dr. Kelly A. Spring | 2017; Updated December 2021 by Mariana Brandman, NWHM Predoctoral Fellow in Women’s History, 2020-2022

Poet, dancer, singer, activist, and scholar Maya Angelou was a world-famous author. She was best known for her unique and pioneering autobiographical writing style.

On April 4, 1928, Marguerite Ann Johnson, known to the world as Maya Angelou, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Due to her parents’ tumultuous marriage and subsequent divorce, Angelou went to live with her paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas at an early age. Her older brother, Bailey, gave Angelou her nickname “Maya.”

Returning to her mother’s care briefly at the age of seven, Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. He was later jailed and then killed when released from jail. Believing that her confession of the trauma had a hand in the man’s death, Angelou became mute for six years. During her mutism and into her teens, she again lived with her grandmother in Arkansas.

Angelou’s interest in the written word and the English language was evident from an early age. Throughout her childhood, she wrote essays, poetry, and kept a journal. When she returned to Arkansas, she took an interest in poetry and memorized works by Shakespeare and Poe.

Prior to the start of World War II, Angelou moved back in with her mother, who at this time was living in Oakland, California. She attended George Washington High School and took dance and drama courses at the California Labor School.

When war broke out, Angelou applied to join the Women’s Army Corps. However, her application was rejected because of her involvement in the California Labor School, which was said to have Communist ties. Determined to gain employment, despite being only 15 years old, she decided to apply for the position of a streetcar conductor. Many men had left their jobs to join the services, enabling women to fill them. However, Angelou was barred from applying at first because of her race. But she was undeterred. Every day for three weeks, she requested a job application, but was denied. Finally, the company relented and handed her an application. Because she was under the legal working age, she wrote that she was 19. She was accepted for the position and became the first African American woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Angelou was employed for a semester but then decided to return to school. She graduated from Mission High School in the summer of 1944 and soon after gave birth to her only child, Clyde Bailey (Guy) Johnson.

After graduation, Angelou undertook a series of odd jobs to support herself and her son. In 1949, she married Tosh Angelos, an electrician in the US Navy. She adopted a form of his surname and kept it throughout her life, though the marriage ended in divorce in 1952.

Angelou was also noted for her talents as a singer and dancer, particularly in the calypso and cabaret styles. In the 1950s, she performed professionally in the US, Europe, and northern Africa, and sold albums of her recordings.

In 1950, African American writers in New York City formed the Harlem Writers Guild to nurture and support the publication of Black authors. Angelou joined the Guild in 1959. She also became active in the Civil Rights Movement and served as the northern coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a prominent African American advocacy organization

In 1969, Angelou published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an autobiography of her early life. Her tale of personal strength amid childhood trauma and racism resonated with readers and was nominated for the National Book Award. Many schools sought to ban the book for its frank depiction of sexual abuse, but it is credited with helping other abuse survivors tell their stories. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has been translated into numerous languages and has sold over a million copies worldwide. Angelou eventually published six more autobiographies, culminating in 2013’s Mom & Me & Mom.  

She wrote numerous poetry volumes, such as the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Just Give me a Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), as well as several essay collections. She also recorded spoken albums of her poetry, including “On the Pulse of the Morning,” for which she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. The poem was originally written for and delivered at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. She also won a Grammy in 1995, and again in 2002, for her spoken albums of poetry.

Angelou carried out a wide variety of activities on stage and screen as a writer, actor, director, and producer. In 1972, she became the first African American woman to have her screen play turned into a film with the production of Georgia, Georgia. Angelou earned a Tony nomination in 1973 for her supporting role in Jerome Kitty’s play Look Away, and portrayed Kunta Kinte’s grandmother in the television miniseries Roots in 1977.

She was recognized by many organizations both nationally and internationally for her contributions to literature. In 1981, Wake Forest University offered Angelou the Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. President Clinton awarded Angelou the National Medal of Arts in 2000. In 2012, she was a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Wake Forest University Writers Hall of Fame. The following year, she received the National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award for outstanding service to the American literary community. Angelou also gave many commencement speeches and was awarded more than 30 honorary degrees in her lifetime.

Angelou died on May 28, 2014. Several memorials were held in her honor, including ones at Wake Forest University and Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. To honor her legacy, the US Postal Service issued a stamp with her likeness on it in 2015. (The US Postal Service mistakenly included a quote on the stamp that has long been associated with Angelou but was actually first written by Joan Walsh Anglund.) 

In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. It was a fitting recognition for Angelou’s remarkable and inspiring career in the arts.

This woman was a woman of rape, abuse , and even a victim of racism. She stayed writing in her life as life went on and she did not ask other people to suffer either was well she was a woman of many gift. A big wake up for womens rights and also a good reflection on what is wrong with today's society. People use religion, marriage, laws and even age to determine what is and isn't rape and that is the sick culture all women have to endure. It is never a woman's fault. It happened to me recently and now I am diving back into my music arts. Even research as well . Getting different domains for different topics as well while putting my story out there . It is scary to put it out there because there are so many different things that make writing scary/

[beardedmrbean]

Yaya Dillo Djerou died on Wednesday "where he had retreated, at the headquarters of his party. He didn't want to surrender and fired on law enforcement," said government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah, who is also communications minister, said.

It came after Chad on Tuesday announced it would hold a presidential election on May 6, which both Deby Itno and Dillo -- who were cousins from the same Zaghawa ethnic minority -- planned to contest.

The prosecutor general earlier spoke of "dead including Yaya Dillo" without detailing the circumstances.

Roadblocks and heavy security were in place Thursday around the party's headquarters in Chad's capital where the army carried out the assault the previous day.

Dillo, who led the opposition Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF), was accused of having led an attack against the offices of the internal security agency overnight on Tuesday to Wednesday.

That came after the arrest of a PSF member accused of an "assassination attempt against the president of the supreme court".

Speaking to AFP on Wednesday, Dillo denied any involvement in the incident, denouncing the claim as a "lie" and politically motivated.

 'To physically eliminate me'   

"I wasn't present," he said.

"The desired goal is to prevent me, to physically eliminate me... to make me afraid so that I don't go to the election," Dillo said.

He also condemned the attempted attack against the supreme court president as "staged".

"Anyone looking to disturb the democratic process under way in the country will be prosecuted and brought to justice," the government said Wednesday.

Chad is France's last close partner in the Sahel region following the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali in August 2022, Burkina Faso in February 2023 and Niger in December after military coups.

Dillo, 49, had been an armed rebel turned minister and finally an opposition chief considered a dangerous rival for his cousin.

He was a candidate for the presidency in 2021 against his uncle, Idriss Deby Itno.

He fled the country in February of that year after security forces attempted to arrest him at his home.

The commando-style raid left several dead including his mother and one of his sons.

Deby Itno was proclaimed transitional president at the age of 37 after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, was killed while fighting rebels in 2021.

Mahamat Deby Itno had promised to hand power back to civilians and organise elections within 18 months, but subsequently extended the transition by other two years.

The opposition has asked the transitional president not to run for office in the central African country, which the United Nations ranks as the second-least developed in the world.

He had told the African Union he would not run, but a constitution adopted in a December referendum allows him to do so.

[mczee]

McZee (Born Tinotenda Machida)  is a prominent beatmaker and producer hailing from Harare, the vibrant capital city of Zimbabwe. Renowned for his innovative contributions to the Zimbabwean Hip-Hop scene, McZee has carved out a significant niche in the industry, becoming a key figure in the production of numerous acclaimed tracks. Despite being independent, McZee has developed strong affiliations with notable South African and Harare-based record labels, The Mix Masterz and Global Records. These connections have provided him with a platform to collaborate with some of the most influential names in Zimbabwean Hip-Hop, further cementing his reputation as a top-tier producer. Among his impressive portfolio of productions, several standout hits have gained widespread recognition. McZee is the mastermind behind "Mariia" by Jnr Brown, a track that has garnered considerable attention for its catchy beats and dynamic composition. Another notable production is "My Damn Self" by the late Calvin and Takura, a song that has resonated with many for its unique sound and lyrical prowess. Additionally, McZee produced "Maswera Sei" by Brythree-sixty, a track celebrated for its powerful delivery and compelling beat. His impressive portfolio includes work with Gigi LaMayne from South Africa and numerous Zimbabwean artists such as VengeMuzik, Synik, Trap-C, Zimbayana Jones, King Aktive, Soko Matemai (Sharky), Myke Pimp, Savage, and DJ Naida. Additionally, McZee has extended his reach internationally, producing for Australian-based artist Mystik Becyad, and further South African talent like Karma. McZee is childhood friends with rapper Michael Chiunda and has been making music with him since they were teenagers.McZee's partnership with Michael Chiunda has been a fruitful and creative venture, combining Chiunda's artistic vision with McZee's exceptional production skills. Together, they have crafted a series of compelling tracks that showcase their unique synergy and mutual dedication to pushing the boundaries of Zimbabwean music. Together, they have crafted a series of compelling tracks that showcase their unique synergy and mutual dedication to pushing the boundaries of Zimbabwean music. Their collaborations have resulted in a rich, textured musical experience that resonates with audiences and highlights the best of both their talents. His collaboration with Michael Chiunda on "Jeong (2021)" further showcases his versatility and ability to craft hits across various styles within the genre. McZee's influence extends beyond just these tracks, as he continues to shape the soundscape of Zimbabwean Hip-Hop. His dedication to his craft and his knack for producing memorable beats have made him a respected and influential figure in the industry. With each new project, McZee reaffirms his position as a pivotal force in the evolution of Hip-Hop in Zimbabwe, contributing to the genre's growth and helping to elevate it on the international stage.

[depressedraisin]

song diaries: damon albarn edition

i thought i'd wait until the end of this week to do this weekly library entry for the music i've been checking out, but you know what? fuck it let's to it today, i've just got too much to say.

so this week i've been on a damon albarn discography expedition. listening to the ballad of darren over and over for like a month and consuming hours worth of concert and interview content has clearly broken something in my brain and this old geezer's music is my new hyperfixation. not complaining though cause there's just SO MUCH. there's like five lifetime's worth of music he's put out in 40 years give or take, and i can't think of one genre he hasn't dipped his toes into. also he's worked with so many SO MANY amazing musicians and artists!!!!! which is always so cool so many new people to discover and get obsessed with <3

now blur and gorillaz on their own are pretty much lifetime achievements but albarn also has such rich body of work outside them as well. i've kinda been familiar with those two for years, my recent forage has mainly been into his non-blur, non-gorillaz music.

here are some highlights i need y'all to be obsessed with just as much as i am:

The Moon Exalted (from the opera Dr Dee, 2011)

did u know damon albarn is an composer of operas as well?! i had no idea! a couple days back i heard him mention working on orchestrating one of goethe's unfinished librettos and i, of course had a very Normal reaction to that. (my obsession with classical music might be sleeping but never dead) so i went checking and learnt he already has 3 opera compositions under his belt. woah.

anyway this piece/song is from the 2011 production dr. dee: based on the life story of some elizabethan magic dude. there's a bunch of traditional elizabethan folk instruments- viola de gamba, lute, shawm, recorder etc etc, the wonderful kora (malian instrument, a blend of lute and harp), the harmonium (literally never saw harmonium being used in any music from the west lol im bengali so i get terribly excited abt this) and the iconic, the legendary tony fucking allen featured on this. the vibes are more folksy, earthy than renaissance-lite which i find pretty cool.

the moon exalted is such a lovely, lovely song though. one of the prettiest things albarn's ever written probably. the kora interlude makes me sob like a baby every single time.

check out this live from his solo concert at the globe theatre:

Go Back (feature on Tony Allen's album Film of Life)

legendary drummer tony allen (i've been listening to afrobeat a bit as well, that's for another day) and albarn has had a long working relationship and friendship. they've worked together on gorillaz, they were in two supergroups together, they worked extensively to champion western african music.

this track is a personal favourite already. wonderful afrobeat elements and tony's distinctive style coupled with some solid jazz keyboard-ing from albarn.

this performance tribute to tony allen makes my heart especially ache (he sadly passed away in 2020). albarn's talked a lot about how much allen meant to him, as a collaborator, mentor and friend, and it's all quite emotional.

This Is A Low (live from Shakespeare's Globe)

listen listen listen i said no blur- but. you gotta listen to this version of this is a low (from Parklife, 1994). he plays quite a bit of blur on the piano for his solo shows but they are kinda a hit or miss tbh. but this one works. for this 2021 solo concert albarn introduced a discordant piano solo in place of graham coxon's rather iconic guitar solo. and omfg it came outta nowhere and hit me straight in the face i love it so much

(don't tell anyone but ipreferthepianosolo)

The Nearer The Fountain More Pure The Stream Flows (from The Nearer The Fountain More Pure The Stream Flows, 2021)

damon albarn has two Solo ™ albums and the second, and lastest, one of these is the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows released in 2021. initially starting out some sort of an orchestral piece inspired by the changing scenery outside the window of his home in albarn, it eventually ended up becoming this set of very melancholic and intimate set of songs. about so many things: loneliness and our changing relationship with nature and anxiety over life etc etc. post-pandemic feels basically.

it's a deeply emotional listening experience, with sweeping strings at places and gentle piano in others. quite a good showcase of albarn's pianowork imho (u see a pattern here right?). my fav out of them is the title track. the name comes from a john clare poem and it's absolutely stunning.

Mr. Tembo and The Selfish Giant (from Everyday Robots, 2014)

albarn's first solo record, everyday robots of 2014, is up there are one of his best works in my books. it's a set of autobiographical songs inspired by various moments in his life, with elements of triphop, folk and electronica and general themes of isolation and nature/technology etc: which are such quintessentially damon albarn, y'know?

mr. tembo is a adorable lil folksy song about this orphaned baby element he met in tanzania. aaaaannnnd, it features a gospel choir because mr. tembo grew up take care of by forest rangers who listened to a lot of gospel radio. cute.

speaking of the selfish giant........oooffff. big ooooffff. such a gut punching song, goodness. like when i heard the line "it's hard to be a lover when the tv's on" it knocked me out of service for a while.

Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks cover with Ray Charles, somewhere in the late 90s)

this one's quite a legendary performance. in the early blur days, damon albarn was often talked of as like a successor to sir ray davies, he of the kinks fame and witty observational character studies of english life.

this performance of them duetting the iconic the kinks song waterloo sunset was a passing of the baton moment of sorts. and when davies breaks into parklife in the end- all the feels, man, all the feels.

Mali Music (2002 album)

written in collaboration with afel bocoum, toumani diabaté & friends featuring ko kan ko sata, this album explores- you guessed it- music from mali. now i know next to nothing about mali or west african music really so i'm gonna be using this album as a reference point to learn and research more.

Poison Tree (from the 2018 The Good The Bad And The Queen album, Merrie Land)

the good the bad and the queen is 100% for sure one of the most underrated supergroups ever. i mean paul simonon (the clash), simon tong (the verve), tony allen and albarn- can you imagine the sheer level of awesomeness?!

they have two albums, and it's unlikely they'll ever have another. poison tree from their second album is perhaps my fav tgtb&tq song. merrie land was written about and as a reaction to brexit, and there's feelings of farewell and isolation and desolation prominent throughout. but poison tree also reminds me strongly of blur songs like battery in your leg and sweet song and no distance left to run. so yeah, emo hours.

(*for those uninitiated in blur lore the first two songs albarn wrote for/about graham coxon when he left the band in 2003, and the latter was written about his breakup with justine frischmann in 1998)

On Melancholy Hill (live from Matera, 2019)

blur got a cheat entry, so to balance things out, gorillaz gets one as well. on melancholy hill is a heartbreakingly tender song as it is but solo piano version makes it heartbreaking-lier and tender-er *sniffles*

[longlistshort]

Mary Ann Carroll (1940-2019), “Untitled (Backcountry Twilight)”, n.d., Oil on Masonite board

Harold Newton (1934-1991), “Untitled (Painting of the Indian River)”, c. 1958, Oil on Upson board; Alfred Hair (1941-1970), “Untitled (Marshland with palm), c. 1958, Oil on Upson board

James Gibson (1938-2017) “Untitled (Moonlit palms)”, n.d., Oil on Upson board

In early 2021, Tampa Museum of Art presented the work of Florida’s famous Highwaymen painters in the exhibition Living Color: The Art of the Highwaymen.

From the museum-

The Highwaymen are a group of African American artists celebrated for their distinctive paintings of Florida’s natural environment. Working in and around the Fort Pierce area beginning in the 1950s, these self-taught artists depicted the state’s scenic coastline and wild backcountry, often in dazzling combinations of color and tone. Brilliant tropical sunsets, windblown palms, towering sunlit clouds, and blooming poinciana trees are among the many subjects that have become iconic images of Florida in part because of the paintings that the Highwaymen created. In the state’s postwar boom years their paintings found an enthusiastic audience among a growing population of new residents and visitors. Unrecognized by the region’s art establishment of galleries and museums, the Highwaymen by necessity catered directly to their patrons, selling their paintings door-to-door along such thoroughfares as Route 1. It was from this practice that the name “Highwaymen” was later coined.

The popularity of Highwaymen paintings waned in the 1980s as the vision of Florida was reimagined by an ever-increasing population and once-pristine landscapes were lost to development. Then in the mid-1990s a new generation of collectors, with fresh eyes, rediscovered the paintings and began to assemble significant collections. These collectors saw the art of the Highwaymen as an important artistic legacy and together with several writers, scholars, and enthusiasts began the process of establishing the historical context and reevaluation of their work. Books and articles followed, bringing a new level of recognition for the achievements of these artists and, with that, growing popular acclaim. The contribution of the Highwaymen to the cultural life of Florida was formally recognized in 2004 when the group of 26 artists was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

Living Color: The Art of the Highwaymen brings together 60 paintings by a core group of the Highwaymen including Al Black, Mary Ann Carroll, Willie Daniels, Johnny Daniels, James Gibson, Alfred Hair, Roy McLendon, Harold Newton, Sam Newton, Willie Reagan, and Livingston Roberts.

Focusing on work produced from the 1950s to the 1980s, the exhibition is an in-depth examination of the group’s initial period of success when their groundbreaking style of fast painting was being developed. Fast painting is a hallmark and essential innovation of the Highwaymen. Facing limitations imposed by the racial prejudice of their time, they had little or no access to formal training or to conventional art markets. To overcome these obstacles, they produced large numbers of works which could be sold at very affordable prices. Some estimates of the group’s overall production during their heyday exceed 200,000 paintings, with certain artists creating dozens of paintings per day. Their creative response to the racism they confronted resulted in an original artistic practice.

Opening at The Woodson African American Museum of Florida in St. Pete this Saturday, 9/9/23, is Florida Highwaymen: The Next Generation – The Legacy Continues, an exhibition of work by Ray McLendon, son of Highwayman Roy McLendon, who creates Florida landscapes in the same iconic style his father used.