Please join us tonight for our Black History Month celebration in collaboration with Africans in Boston, Boston University African Studies Center, YWCA Cambridge, Strand Theater, City of Boston Cultural Council and the Daughters of Yemaya Collective.
Opening Event – Wednesday Feb. 4th | 6:30pm – 8:30pm | FREE | The Strand Theatre Gallery | 543 Columbia Road Boston 02125 | MBTA Accessible, Street Parking available. | Photography and African/Diaspora Panel Discussion | Light refreshments
Closing Event – Wednesday Feb. 25th | 6:30pm – 8:30pm | FREE | YWCA Cambridge – Library | 7 Temple Street Cambridge 02139 | MBTA Accessible | Street Parking available | Panel Discussion | Light refreshments
The Other Side of the Lens: African View Points and the Reverse
The Other Side of Lens: African View Points and the Reverse will consist of a photography exhibition and Opening and Closing programs.
Last year, with the support of Addis Red Sea Restaurant on Tremont Street in Boston, WARA and Africans in Boston, Inc. hosted a panel on the important links between African, African Americans, and US History. The panelists last year, which included Professor Zoliswa Mali, Dr. Jennifer Yano, and Professor Jemadari Kamara, revealed the critical relationships between African liberation movements and the civil rights movement, as well as similarities and solidarity amongst African Americans in the Jim Crow south and Black South Africans under Apartheid South Africa.
The goal of AIB and WARA’s Black History Month programming is to explore the longstanding links between African diaspora populations in Boston and to build bridges between black and African histories.
Photography Exhibition
The photography exhibition will be on display at the Strand Theater Gallery. The exhibition will display photos taken in Africa by photographers from the diaspora and will include images from countries such as Senegal, Togo, and Ghana. It will also include photographs of the Americas taken by African-born photographers and will include images from various places in the U.S.
Opening Event: Wednesday February 4th 6:30pm-8:30pm
Who is African? Reflections on Black and African Identities
- Victoria Massie. Ms. Massie, a doctoral student at UC Berkeley, will share her research on the transnational diasporic circulation of genetic ancestry testing information, and the claims that are being made by and on behalf of African Americans through this biotechnology. She looks at how African Americans are using genetic ancestry to reconfigure genealogies and individual identities.
- Charlot Lucien. Mr. Lucien will explore connections between West Africa to the United States and the Caribbean. He will name some key players in collective black history and explain their roles in the master narrative of black-ness, as well as why West Indian and Afro-Latinos from Brazil, Peru, Honduras, and Cuba are often left out of the larger conversation about African identity.
- Abel Djassi Amado, a doctoral candidate in Political Science at Boston University, Mr. Amado is originally from Cape Verde, he has served in the US military in Iraq, and has worked extensively with WARA.
Closing Event: Wednesday February 25th 6:30pm-8:30pm
What is African? Representations and Expressions of Africa in the Americas
- Patrick Sylvain. Professor Sylvain will present the history of Pan-Africanism, the languages of African descendants in the Americas, and the journey of people of African descent who have returned to Africa. He will present his latest findings on expatriates in Africa and what they have done for the betterment of the continent.
- Bolaji Campbell. Professor Campbell, of the Rhode Island School of Design, will discuss in the history of African art in the Americas. He will point to specific cultural references and actors in African American history to their own African identities as it relates to African art.
- Donna Patterson. Professor Patterson, of Wellesley College, is a prominent African American professor in African studies. She will share her experience as an African American conducting research and building relationships on the continent, especially in Senegal. Her new book Pharmacy in Senegalwas recently published by Indiana University Press.
- Barry Gaither (Moderator). Founder , Curator, and Director of the National Center for African American Artists, Mr. Gaither is also a special consultant to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
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Filmmakers Without Borders Fellowships
FILMMAKERS WITHOUT BORDERS, a 501c3 nonprofit arts organization, is currently accepting applications for year-long overseas fellowships in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Honduras, India, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania, and Thailand. All fellowships are 100% fully funded and include round trip international airfare, housing, a food stipend, and travel insurance for a full 12 months.
All FWB Fellows teach filmmaking and media literacy directly to underserved students in classrooms across Africa, Asia, or Latin America. Fellows are provided a robust equipment package that includes DSLR cameras, pocket cameras, microphones, a laptop, and professional editing software as well as 12 months of curriculum/lesson plans.
Alumni and graduate students are encouraged to apply. For eligibility equirements and application deadlines visit developingfilmmakers.org.