Black History Month October 2008
Every year I struggle to think of something suitable to open the month’s events.
This year assistance came from my friend and colleague, the broadcaster Dennis Gerald, with the words of James Collins, CEO of Blackout Studios, Inc.
I was like Wow, wow, just what I wanted or even just what I would have said had I thought of it. But I didn’t…
This year AoA comes to you with the determination and strength so
perfectly illustrated by Faith Bebbington’s artwork.
We come to you without the usual representing photo gallery, and
the reason for this omission is simple - we could not afford the
print space to include the
290 voices who called out to save BAA from dis-investment. The organisation
is still on the edge of losing Arts Council funding, but still BAA
remains committed to the importance of Black History Month. We may
be fragile but we are not broken.
In the 12 months since BAA last stepped out onto the platform of Black History, the organisation has learnt a lot about its positioning in the arts of the North West. Loyalties have been severely tested and those who turned away from us in our need, well ….
I have a friend who stands close to my heart whose country has been at war these last 37 years. A constant reminder to me that this is a small battle in comparison and a war is never over until history can tell the tale and the last drumbeat has grown silent.
SuAndi Poet/Live Artist
Cultural Director Freelance
Black Is...........
If there were ever a time to ponder the significance, relevance
and meaning of Blackness, it is now. Black culture, Black art,
Black beauty and quite frankly, Black pride, are all worthy candidates
for immediate discourse.
With the emergence of an increasingly more popular and accessible global culture, the role of the Black artist as a historian, cultural ambassador and general voice of inspiration in the urban community becomes much more significant.
As artists I feel it is our duty to protect and continue the legacies
of Paul Robeson, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone,
Marcus Garvey, Malcolm, Martin, Zumbi dos Palmares, Bob Marley.
Fela Kuti, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente and Marvin Gaye.
We have to protect the sanctity.
We have to protect the sanctity of our Art. Locked inside the
integrity of creation are the tools we need to preserve the sacred
images of Mother, Warrior, Family, Healer, Father, Chief, MC, Dancer,
Drummer, and every other shade of our ancestry and existence. Black
is..........
© JC
