This past Friday evening, The Betty Mae Kramer Gallery held the opening reception for rise + fall, an exhibition of new works by Adjoa Burrowes and Lendeh Sherman. Organized by Kramer Gallery Curator Amina K. Cooper, rise + fall addresses current social and environmental issues through exploratory mixed media processes and installation based works.
Read MoreThis past weekend Brooklyn's own Commodore Barry Park hosted the 2015 AFROPUNK Festival . The borough was the epicenter of the diverse subcultures of the Afro-Diaspora. It became the meeting grounds where artists, activists, and a multitude of others came to play, protest, and party together. Moving through the crowds effortlessly, you soon realized this was one of the last of the few places where black men, women, boys and girls could let their guards down, be completely carefree, just be themselves in whatever way they wanted to be. This annual festival attracted thousands of people from all backgrounds who were pierced, tattooed, braided, apologetically black and proud.
Kendrick Lamar didn’t make an album. Or at least not in the traditional sense. To Pimp a Butterfly isn’t an album you’re going to want to just throw on. Its shuffle play value is low. This is an album you revisit. It’s an album you sit with. It’s an album you study. Kendrick didn’t make an album. He recorded a thesis. Kendrick recorded the 2015 State of Black America for posterity. And he did it brilliantly. It’s accurate. It’s artful.
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