Grio100: Bill T Jones, activism through movement

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By Talia Whyte

A revolution can occur in many ways. Some choose to protest with marches and picket signs. Bill T. Jones chose dance.

The acclaimed dancer and choreographer has informed audiences on race, politics and sexuality in modern dance productions around the world for over thirty years.

Born in Florida, Jones has said that growing up during the 60s and 70s, many of leading voices in the social movements of the time were artists who expressed their beliefs through their work. Jones started his dance career as a theatre major at the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he trained under famed dance instructor Percival Borde.

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Grio100: Kari Fulton, to be young, green, and black

By Talia Whyte

Did you know that it’s cool to be black and green? Kari Fulton has been leading the charge to let the black community know that environmental justice is an issue to be concerned about. The Denver native is considered one of the leading green justice activists of color in the country.

Fulton is a youth campaign coordinator for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC), and is co-founder of ChecktheWeather.net. After seeing the environmental devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Fulton awakened to the fact that environmental justice was a black issue.

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Grio100: Kadir Nelson, drawing from the past to illustrate hope

By Talia Whyte

You may not know Kadir Nelson by name, but you’ve probably come across his work. Whether you saw a commemorative U.S. postage stamp or a scene from a big-budget Hollywood film, this San-Diego-based artist and illustrator uses his art to record the black experience, and he’s leaving an observable mark along the way.

Born in Washington D.C., Nelson originally wanted to be a basketball player. But art has always played a central role in his life.

“It’s part of my DNA,” he says on his website. With the help of his uncle and his high school art teacher, Nelson began painting in oils at 16 and entered and won several art competitions, which led to an art scholarship to study at New York’s Pratt Institute. Upon graduation, Nelson received commissions from major corporations like Coca-Cola and Major League Baseball.

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Grio100: Kara Walker, activism through art

By Talia Whyte

Slavery left an indelible mark on the American psyche, and African-Americans have many different ways of exploring this part of history. Artist Kara Walker explores the racial and sexual politics of the Antebellum South through her black cut-paper silhouettes. One of her best-known pieces is The Battle of Atlanta, a 400-foot painting which graphically depicts the literal and figurative rape of black females by white males during the Civil War.

“All of the bad vibes, the bad feelings, all of the nastiness, and all of the sort of vulgar associations with blackness, and the more base associations in this culture about Black Americans or Africans bubble up to the surface of my brain and spill out into this work,” said Walker in a 1999 interview with the Museum of Modern Art.

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