The Fate Of Oklahoma Race-based Law May Be Decided Soon

… Massacre that affected African Americans who were attacked … , “restricts teaching about racism and sexism in Oklahoma’ … more powerful. Both are African American human rights advocates. … should somehow teach that African-Americans should not feel discomfort … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News

Advocates weigh in on Calif. Black Caucus reparations package 

… different aspects of systemic racism and inequality.   One … improve educational outcomes for African Americans and other marginalized groups.  … as a result of racism and discrimination.   The … California’s 2 million Black American descendants of person … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News

African American History Observance features art, music, trailblazers

RICHMOND, Virginia — Team members from Defense Logistics Agency Aviation recognized the contributions of African Americans during an observance honoring National African American History Month Celebration Feb. 20 on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia.

This year’s theme for the observance is “African Americans and the Arts,” and the event featured retired Army Col. Christine Knighton as the guest speaker and retired Army Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg as a special guest, along with Vanice Toler and Triniti Cunningham, Richmond-area vocalists who performed several musical selections. The event was coordinated by Aviation’s Equal Employment and Diversity Office in conjunction with the Engineering Directorate.

Several DLA Aviation employees participated in the event: Patricia Dandridge, Small Business Program, performed the National Anthem; Donna Campbell, Engineering Directorate, provided the invocation and benediction; and Natalie Skelton, DLA Aviation Public Affairs, exhibited two art pieces, one featuring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and one featuring an African queen. The Army Women’s Museum team also set up a display featuring Black women in the service.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Sean Tyler, DLA Aviation commander, introduced Knighton to the DLA team.

“She’s a trailblazer whose achievements as an Army aviator and leader paved the way for others in the field,” he said. “She has not only the distinction of being the second Black female officer ever to earn her pilot wings at Fort Rucker, (Alabama), now Fort Novosel, but she also went on to become the Army’s very first woman to lead a tactical combat arms battalion.”

Establishing an observance for African Americans was vital to recognize their enduring significance, said Knighton, and this year’s theme celebrates the many contributions of writers, musicians, actors and more.

“(This observance) serves as a platform for education, a platform for empowerment and a platform for social change,” she said. “African American artists have been charged to preserve history and preserve unity. The theme is meant to celebrate and honor the richness of the past and present, and to look forward to what the future will bring.

“African American art is a testament to the creativity and ingenuity of the people that have a lived experience that is woven into every brush stroke and into every lyric,” Knighton continued. “From the shores of Africa to the streets of Harlem and Atlanta, African American artists have used their craft to preserve history, to challenge social norms and to inspire change.”

Knighton and Gregg were recognized and thanked by Tyler for their participation in the event. After Knighton’s speech, Toler sang “Goodness of God” by CeCe Winans, and Cunningham performed “Stand Up” by Cynthia Erivo. The duo then finished the observance with a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” inviting the audience to sing along.

After the event, Knighton and Gregg held a meet and greet with DLA employees. Gregg is one of the two namesakes to the recently redesignated Fort Gregg-Adams. As an Army logistician, Gregg achieved several ‘firsts’ in his career, including the Army’s first Black officer in the rank of lieutenant general and the Army’s first Black Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. Knighton said she has a special memory of the other namesake of Fort Gregg-Adams when she served as an escort for Lt. Col. Charity Adams during the 2004 opening of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Date Taken: 02.23.2024
Date Posted: 02.23.2024 13:02
Story ID: 464578
Location: RICHMOND, VA, US

Web Views: 18
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RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

April Harris: Art for healing, for justice, for community

RACINE — April Harris can recall creating artwork as a three-year-old. She was the youngest of six children, with parents who were both artists. She received plenty of encouragement – especially from her mother and her grandfather.

As that little girl, Harris remembers drawing a detailed picture of a little blond-haired girl.

<img decoding="async" width="213" height="300" data-attachment-id="490156" data-permalink="https://racinecountyeye.com/2024/02/23/april-harris-for-healing-justice/art-by-april-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-2.jpeg?fit=909%2C1280&ssl=1" data-orig-size="909,1280" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Art-by-April-2" data-image-description data-image-caption="

April Harris in her studio at 318 Main Street, with one of her paintings on the mantel. –

” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-2.jpeg?fit=213%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-2.jpeg?fit=727%2C1024&ssl=1″ src=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community.jpg” alt=”April Harris: Art for healing, for justice, for community” class=”wp-image-490156″ srcset=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community.jpg 213w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-6.jpg 727w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-7.jpg 426w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-8.jpg 400w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-9.jpg 706w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-10.jpg 150w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-11.jpg 909w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-12.jpg 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px” data-recalc-dims=”1″>

April Harris in her studio at 318 Main Street, with one of her paintings on the mantel. – Credit: Julie Rossman

“I remember taking it to my granddad and he was like ‘you’re gonna be an artist.’ It just went from there,” Harris explained.

Even when she attended college to major in criminal justice, Harris says she was always doodling.

“Art has always been a part of me – it didn’t matter where I was.”

She recalled a college professor, who told her as he handed back a paper she had written, “April, your paper is not great, but the picture you put on the front of your paper – that’s awesome!”

Though she decided against the criminal justice path, Harris said she’s been creating art ever since.

“It’s been a platform and I’ve been able to use it (art) and turn it into a business,” she said.

Art becomes Harris’ business

That business is Art by April Unlimited (ABAU).

“It’s a place for people to come and create and cultivate their art skills,” Harris explained.

Located at 318 Main St., the space features commissioned art, murals, paintings, sketches and other types of art, and offers creative art classes to children and adults.

<img decoding="async" width="300" height="171" data-attachment-id="490157" data-permalink="https://racinecountyeye.com/2024/02/23/april-harris-for-healing-justice/art-by-april-4/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-4.jpeg?fit=1280%2C728&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1280,728" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Art-by-April-4" data-image-description data-image-caption="

These portraits are some of the artwork available for purchase at Harris’ studio at 318 Main Street. –

” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-4.jpeg?fit=300%2C171&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-4.jpeg?fit=780%2C443&ssl=1″ src=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-2.jpg” alt=”April Harris: Art for healing, for justice, for community” class=”wp-image-490157″ srcset=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-2.jpg 300w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-21.jpg 1024w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-22.jpg 1200w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-23.jpg 600w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-24.jpg 400w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-25.jpg 706w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-26.jpg 150w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-27.jpg 1280w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-28.jpg 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” data-recalc-dims=”1″>

These portraits are some of the artwork available for purchase at Harris’ studio at 318 Main Street. – Credit: Julie Rossman

Though she’s been selling her art for a number of years at different venues throughout Racine, she began renting the store space a year ago, and it soon became the hub for programs and fundraising events for the Black Arts Council of Racine, a non-profit organization she founded in 2018 to promote African American artists.

“The Black Arts Council of Racine was founded with the mission of promoting and celebrating Black art and culture in the Racine community,” Harris told Racine County Eye. “The inspiration behind the council was to create a platform for Black artists to showcase their work, connect with other artists and the community, and provide opportunities for art education and mentorship.”

The organization is only the second of its kind in the country – the other being in Texas.

Art as healer

Art has long been a source of healing for April. She was affected by depression when she was young but realized that art helped her through it.

<img decoding="async" width="225" height="300" data-attachment-id="490158" data-permalink="https://racinecountyeye.com/2024/02/23/april-harris-for-healing-justice/art-by-april-3/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-3.jpeg?fit=961%2C1280&ssl=1" data-orig-size="961,1280" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Art-by-April-3" data-image-description data-image-caption="

April Harris loves painting portraits of both people and animals. This lion is one of her favorites. –

” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-3.jpeg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-3.jpeg?fit=769%2C1024&ssl=1″ src=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-3.jpg” alt=”April Harris: Art for healing, for justice, for community” class=”wp-image-490158″ srcset=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-3.jpg 225w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-29.jpg 769w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-30.jpg 900w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-31.jpg 600w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-32.jpg 450w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-33.jpg 300w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-34.jpg 150w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-35.jpg 400w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-36.jpg 706w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-37.jpg 640w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-38.jpg 961w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-39.jpg 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px” data-recalc-dims=”1″>

April Harris loves painting portraits of both people and animals. This lion is one of her favorites. – Credit: Julie Rossman

“I found that when I drew or created art that it mentally stimulated me and made me feel good about myself and what I was doing.”

Now a Certified Therapeutic Art Life Coach, Harris uses art to help others by providing a safe place to create, to connect with others and to have a good time.

“By presenting art as a way of healing and self-expression, I hope to encourage others to explore their own creativity and find ways to heal and cope through art-making,” she said.

Harris teaches art classes for both children and adults, she hosts ‘paint & sip’ parties, birthday parties for kids, poetry events, corporate meetings and more. At one of the painting classes, Harris recalled a few women who really expressed gratitude for being there, as they were able to take their minds off of things and just have a good time.

“It makes me feel good to be able to do that for them,” Harris said.

Art for justice

<img decoding="async" width="225" height="300" data-attachment-id="490159" data-permalink="https://racinecountyeye.com/2024/02/23/april-harris-for-healing-justice/art-by-april-1/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-1.jpeg?fit=960%2C1280&ssl=1" data-orig-size="960,1280" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Art-by-April-1" data-image-description data-image-caption="

April Harris stands outside her gallery, Art by April Unlimited (ABAU), at 318 Main St. in Racine. The space serves as a gallery for her work and as a hub of activity for the Black Arts Council of Racine. –

” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-1.jpeg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-1.jpeg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1″ src=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-4.jpg” alt=”April Harris: Art for healing, for justice, for community” class=”wp-image-490159″ srcset=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-4.jpg 225w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-40.jpg 768w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-41.jpg 900w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-42.jpg 600w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-43.jpg 450w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-44.jpg 300w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-45.jpg 150w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-46.jpg 400w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-47.jpg 706w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-48.jpg 640w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-49.jpg 960w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-50.jpg 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px” data-recalc-dims=”1″>

April Harris stands outside her gallery, Art by April Unlimited (ABAU), at 318 Main St. in Racine. The space serves as a gallery for her work and as a hub of activity for the Black Arts Council of Racine. – Credit: Julie Rossman

“My art often explores themes of identity, race and social justice, and I strive to create work that sparks important conversations and reflections,” Harris said.

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, Harris created protest signs that were displayed in communities and carried by protesters in northern Illinois and in Kenosha. In fact, Black Lives Matter of Illinois bought a large piece of Harris’ art called ‘Black Lives Matter.’

“It was a painting of a lady with tape over her mouth and the words on the tape was ‘black lives matter,’” Harris explained.

Overall, Harris feels the Black Arts Council of Racine has been a positive force in the community, providing a platform for Black artists and promoting art as a tool for healing and social change.

Art and community connection

In addition to holding classes and events at the Main Street location, Harris’ art has further connected her to the community of Racine. She participates in poetry events at the Racine Public Library; she recently hosted a painting drop-in event at the Wustum Museum, as well as a recent Black History Month event at the MLK Center where she taught art and craft sessions to children. Additionally, Harris was appointed to the Racine Unified School District Board in October of 2023, and plans to continue to serve by running (unopposed) for the position in April.

<img decoding="async" width="300" height="300" data-attachment-id="490160" data-permalink="https://racinecountyeye.com/2024/02/23/april-harris-for-healing-justice/art-by-april-5/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-5.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1280,1280" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Art-by-April-5" data-image-description data-image-caption="

April Harris is also author and illustrator of “Yes I Can Books,” coloring books she created to support and encourage children with special needs, disabilities and those who face cancer. –

” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-5.jpeg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/racinecountyeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Art-by-April-5.jpeg?fit=780%2C780&ssl=1″ src=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-5.jpg” alt=”April Harris: Art for healing, for justice, for community” class=”wp-image-490160″ srcset=”http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-51.jpg 300w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-52.jpg 1024w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-53.jpg 150w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-54.jpg 1200w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-55.jpg 800w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-56.jpg 600w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-57.jpg 400w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-58.jpg 200w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-59.jpg 706w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-60.jpg 100w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-61.jpg 96w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-62.jpg 1280w, http://www.akh99.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/april-harris-art-for-healing-for-justice-for-community-63.jpg 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” data-recalc-dims=”1″>

April Harris is also author and illustrator of “Yes I Can Books,” coloring books she created to support and encourage children with special needs, disabilities and those who face cancer. – Credit: Julie Rossman

Having been recently chosen as one of 50 celebrated artists by the Wisconsin Arts Board has allowed Harris to share her art and her story with a wider audience.

Harris said she’s “proud and excited that they chose me as one of the 50 artists” for this state-wide honor.

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RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

Watchdog reports cite long-standing crises in federal prisons

The Federal Bureau of Prisons faces increasing fire from independent watchdogs for dangerous housing conditions and failing to correct problems for years.

Ultimately, those conditions can lead to greater risks for inmates, correctional employees and the public when the incarcerated are released.

This is an agency in crisis.

That is demonstrated in a long series of critical watchdog reports, including three this month, and by BOP’s inclusion last year on the Government Accountability Office’s biennial High-Risk list, because of “long-standing challenges” in assisting “incarcerated people [to] have a successful return to the community.”

“The bigger picture is that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has been a profoundly broken agency for a very long time now,” said David C. Fathi, American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project director.

Even keeping people alive is a challenge for the prison system. One report from the Justice Department’s inspector general’s office said 344 prisoners died by homicide, drug overdose, other accidents and suicide between 2014 and 2021, “with a majority of those suicides among inmates in solitary confinement,” according to an article by my colleague Perry Stein last week on the “deadly culture of negligence and staffing issues at federal prisons.”

A separate IG report this month criticizes the agency for shoddy record keeping, falsified documents and destroyed logs related to the special housing units used to discipline inmates.

Another February report, from the GAO, slams the prison agency for failing to implement most recommendations, many from a decade ago, about “restrictive housing,” which includes the special housing units and solitary confinement.

The headline on GAO’s blog about the report is blunt: “Federal Prisons Haven’t Addressed Longstanding Concerns About Overuse of Solitary Confinement.”

“I think [the Bureau of Prisons] is lacking the ability or the will to change, possibly both of those things,” said Laura Rovner, director of the University of Denver’s Civil Rights Clinic, who has represented isolated prisoners.

The report generally covers fiscal 2018 through 2022, except for an October 2023 “snapshot,” when about 12,000 people, 8 percent of the federal prison population, were in units that generally kept them isolated in their cells for all but one hour a day.

One key GAO finding is the drastic racial disparity among people sent to a special management unit (SMU), because the BOP defines them as having “unique security and management concerns.”

In keeping with studies demonstrating that Black people are treated more harshly at all steps of the criminal justice process, the report found African Americans were 59 percent of the SMU population in 2022, but 38 percent of the prison population.

The figures were just the opposite for White prisoners. They were 58 percent of the population, but just 35 percent of those in the special units.

What emerges from GAO’s report portrays an agency that makes little effort to improve. Of 87 recommendations in two prior studies, from 2014 and 2016, only 33 have been fully implemented.

“BOP has made slow progress,” GAO auditors found, in part because prison officials have not assigned appropriate staff to implement the recommendations and haven’t established timelines to get the job done.

Agency officials did not respond to questions for this column, but BOP did agree with GAO recommendations that included setting timelines for implementing recommendations and identifying causes of racial disparities.

The unfulfilled recommendations cover a range of issues, including protective custody, reentry programs and serious mental illness. GAO noted that the 2016 Justice Department study “found that the long-term placement in restrictive housing adversely impacted the mental health of incarcerated individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness.” Yet, BOP continued to place those who were seriously, mentally ill in restrictive housing from 2018 through 2022.

That can make a bad situation worse.

Johnny Perez described solitary “as a second-by-second attack on your soul.” He spent a total of three years in solitary, he said, out of 13 years of incarceration in New York state facilities. The longest stretch was 10 months.

“I went to solitary confinement for smoking pot while I was incarcerated,” said Perez, 44. He now has a degree in criminal justice and is director of the U.S. prisons program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

He described solitary as torture, “absolutely.” That characterization is shared widely, including in a 2011 United Nations report that called for the “absolute prohibition” of solitary confinement more than 15 days, because it is “a harsh measure which is contrary to rehabilitation.”

First on Perez’s isolation torture list is the “extreme lack of human contact,” followed closely by little sunlight, not enough nutritious food, inadequate health care and poor grievance procedures.

“I remember stuffing tissue in my ear, so the roaches don’t get in at night while sleeping,” Perez said. “And most importantly,” he continued, are “the irreversible effects for almost everyone that goes into those spaces,” which create “a sense of hopelessness, despair,” and in some cases of serious mental health consequences.

The tiny cells are oppressively hot in the summer and frigid in the winter. “I’m 6 feet tall,” he said. “If I stretch both my hands out, I can touch both walls.” Many isolation cells have no windows and the isolated have no watches, leading them to lose track of time.

Perez recalled hearing “people yelling, screaming, banging on their doors … just bored or whatever, … reacting to this environment which is sensory deprived.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, supports Colette S. Peters who became BOP director in 2022, but said he was “extremely disappointed” and “disheartened” that BOP officials “have not implemented multiple recommendations to curb restrictive housing. This issue has been studied extensively, and now is the time for action.”

Ready for action is the End Solitary Confinement Act, which was introduced last year by two Democrats, Rep. Cori Bush (Mo.) and Sen. Edward J. Markey (Mass.). It would prohibit solitary confinement except in specific, limited circumstances and declares it “a form of torture.”

Humans Or Bots: Who Really Likes The Trump Sneaker?

… highlighted the ongoing issues of racism and discrimination that continue to … have been used to impersonate Black Americans and spread misinformation or biased … chatbot networks may be impersonating Black Americans online to create a narrative … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News

The Met’s Tremendous Harlem Renaissance Show Redefines Modernism

“The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism” on view at the Met. Photo: Courtesy The Met Photo by Anna-Marie Kellen

The first thing you’re likely to read about the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition dedicated to the Harlem Renaissance is that it’s a long-overdue atonement for past sins. Specifically, 1969’s “Harlem on My Mind,” the museum’s first survey of African American culture, which included photographs of Black people and no other art at all — as if the people themselves were curiosities on display. Denise Murrell, curator of “The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism,” is keenly aware of the “stupefying, clueless racism” of that earlier fiasco, as she told the New York Times. Boasting more than 150 paintings, sculptures, and photographs by mostly Black artists, the current show dances on the old show’s grave.

But there is more going on here than a mere righting of historical wrongs. The clue is in the second half of the show’s name — “Transatlantic Modernism” — which gestures at the scope of its ambition. The Harlem Renaissance largely took place in the 1920s and ’30s, just when modernism was reaching the zenith of its influence across art, literature, and music. Yet these two periods of heady artistic activity have been walled off from each other in the collective memory, the Black portion of the story having gone mostly ignored. The Met’s show about Harlem suggests that we have gotten modernism — the big bang of 20th-century art — all wrong and that it was wilder and even more radical than we had known.

A whoosh of fresh air blows through this show. It treats us to a mini-survey of the great Archibald J. Motley, whose paintings of music halls and gambling back rooms depict what Alain Locke, a great theorist of the era, described as “the beauty which prejudice and caricature have overlaid” in one of his essays on “the New Negro.” The suave, dapper figures in Motley’s pictures are among the 6 million people who escaped to large northern cities from the Jim Crow South during the Great Migration, creating the conditions for an artistic efflorescence across the country and beyond. In fact, there were many Harlem Renaissances: This exhibition features scenes from Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and even Paris, which Motley visited in 1929.

We see parades and bands by Malvin Gray Johnson. There are incredible portraits by Elizabeth Catlett, including the quasi-Cubist Head of a Woman, and Laura Wheeler Waring, whose Girl With Pomegranate is an exercise in profuse color and quiet sensuality. William H. Johnson’s Moon Over Harlem shows a Black woman and a Black soldier being mercilessly beaten by policemen on New York streets — one of several references to the discrimination and violence Black people continued to face after fleeing the white-hooded South. Everywhere there are epic photographs of contemporary Black life by James Van Der Zee, who, with Gordon Parks, was one of the only Black photographers in the Met’s 1969 show. And then there is Romare Bearden’s multi-panel work The Block, a street scene packed with everything from a coffin-bearing procession to façades festooned with collaged posters that peer out from the buildings like windows into the city’s soul. It is a masterpiece.

Murrell has said the show foregrounds “the portrayal of the modern Black subject by Black artists” and spotlights perspectives “that had historically been excluded from artistic representation and obliterated in the histories of art.” This noble goal is the culmination of larger trends in the art world, in which long-neglected Black artists now command sky-high prices for their work and museums, galleries, and biennials are featuring more marginalized artists in what amounts to a giant course correction.

But it would be a mistake, I think, to emphasize Black subjectivity too strongly, for while it is surely different from white subjectivity, neither is totally unknown to the other. Until now, these pieces have been kept in racial silos — the labels of the Met’s exhibition reveal that much of this work comes from private collections, historically Black colleges and universities, and institutions devoted to Black culture — echoing the art world’s own tacit message that Black art has run on a different track from modernism and all the avant-garde movements it birthed, from Expressionism to minimalism.

Murrell and her team at the Met have not only unearthed these pieces for a broader audience but also shown that Black art is a part of modernism, which is so much more than Picasso, Matisse, and other practitioners of white-guy aesthetics. Modernism dissolved old forms while restoring a connection to a past that had been sundered by technological revolutions and social disruptions — breathing life into the grand tradition of art by, as Ezra Pound put it, making it new. Black artists, of course, experienced those changes and more, which is reflected in work featuring broken narratives, discontinuous lives, and a ceaseless groping for novel visual vocabularies.

The white modernists on display at the Harlem Renaissance show reveal that they, in turn, were influenced by Black life. There’s a tremendous portrait by Edvard Munch, Abdul Karim With a Green Scarf, that goes against the era’s exoticism by showing a Black model in western dress, and a crazy painting by Kees van Dongen of a Black woman decked out in a wild
circus act of a hat.

Experienced all together, these works testify to the immense pathos that can bloom from a very specific time, place, and viewpoint. “It was loving the City,” the great modernist Toni Morrison once wrote in a novel set in Harlem’s gigantic furnace of creativity, that “made me think I could speak its loud voice and make that sound sound human.”

“The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism” on view at Metropolitan Museum of Art through July 28.

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Lycett, Acosta and Duran Duran condemn Birmingham’s 100% arts budget cut

Birmingham’s cultural figures from Carlos Acosta and Joe Lycett to Duran Duran and Napalm Death have criticised the 100% cut made by the city council to its arts funding which they say will “devastate” the arts ecosystem in Britain’s second city.

The complete defunding of arts organisations, including Ikon Gallery, Birmingham Royal Ballet and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, was announced this week as the council plans £300m worth of cuts over the next two years.

Lycett compared the lack of central government support for local councils with bank bailouts after the financial crash of 2008, calling the culture cuts “horrifying”.

“The people of this city are strong, resourceful, and wildly creative,” the comedian said. “We have a brilliant and unique art scene; thankfully much of it does not rely on council money. But there is no denying that these cuts are a short-termist national disgrace.”

Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran said the decision was “disgraceful” and called for local politicians to “reconsider and rapidly reverse” the cuts, which will leave regularly funded organisations facing a 50% reduction this year and 100% in 2025.

His bandmate Roger Taylor said it was “devastating news” for his home town, which he thinks is under threat of losing its position as a “vibrant, exciting and diverse” place of art and culture.

He said: “It saddens me that future generations could potentially fail to have the same access to music and the arts that I was very fortunate to have during my youth in Birmingham.”

Acosta, the director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, said his adopted city was in a “really difficult moment” where not just the arts but also social care was being hit by the cuts.

The council’s plan to overcome the £300m hole in its budget caused by a large equal pay claim brought by employees and a troubled IT upgrade includes a 10% rise in council tax, which has been called a “tax bombshell on Brummies” by local politicians.

“We’re a resilient organisation so will make it work, but it’s the wider city and other cultural organisations that don’t have the resources of Birmingham Royal Ballet that I’m really worried for,” said Acosta. “Birmingham is a great world city and it’s a serious blow to all areas of Birmingham’s life.”

Many councils have cut funding dramatically in recent months, including Thurrock, Woking and Slough, which have issued section 114 notices, effectively meaning they are bankrupt. Somerset council also voted for £36m of council savings this week.

Pogus Caesar, the visual artist who emerged during the British Black Arts Movement of the 1980s that flourished in the West Midlands, said things would now be harder for the institutions that helped him as a fledgling artist.

“The arts is the one thing that has always stabilised Birmingham and kept us together,” he said. “[The cuts decision] doesn’t give the organisations time to regroup and think about where they’re going to find that money from.”

Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, told the BBC he hoped politicians would not see the arts as a “luxury”, while arguing that the creative industries in the city would continue to flourish despite the setback.

Sabra Khan, the executive director of Sampad – a South Asian arts and heritage institution that will lose all its funding as part of the cuts, said the decision could mean they have to reduce their offering in local communities. “This cut in funding will drastically reduce opportunities for local residents to engage with creativity where they live,” she said.

Actress, the electronic artist whose real name is Darren Cunningham, said the 100% cut was “a dangerous demolition of culture” in his home town.

“Birmingham has such an inspiring history in music and culture that needs to be continually nurtured and developed because art benefits people,” he said. “It makes people happy, it gives people an identity.”

Mark “Barney” Greenway of Napalm Death said the move was “extremely shortsighted” and would have a devastating impact on the arts, especially those who value alternative culture away from the mainstream.

“People in the city perhaps looking for experiences outside the mainstream cultural touchstones have therefore been poorly served,” he said. “This is an area where funds definitely need to be channelled if such ‘underground’ experiences aren’t to be entirely decimated.”

The Birmingham rapper Marnz Malone said the cuts would affect the lives of young people from less privileged backgrounds.

Malone grew up attending events at the Drum arts centre in Newtown, which he said was part of a network of cultural institutions that “was one of the things that kept us off the streets in an area known for gang violence and activity”.

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