Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean
Presents:
August Wilson?s Way
August in April ? Documentary Screening
IRADAC will host a screening of the documentary, ‘August in April’ by Dr. Dale Byam, Associate Professor at Brooklyn College. How does August Wilson’s contribution to the American literary tradition serve to inform our understanding of American History? Though Wilson’s works are fictionalized accounts of the African American experience throughout the 20th century, does it find congruence with American history? What connections can be made to the arts movement of the period, the emerging writers, and the historical milestones that informed the growth of an African American identity? This video documentary answers important questions about August Wilson’s literary legacy.
Included are testimonials from celebrated actors and designers who previously worked with Wilson including Phylica Rashad, Suzan Lori Parks, Charles Dutton, James Earl Jones, Viola Davis and others. The documentary also comprises footage from the Pittsburgh hill district and excerpts from the 10 plays that comprise what has now come to be known as the Pittsburgh cycle.
Thursday,
October 7, 2010
The Martin Segal Theatre, 6:30-8:30PM
The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
212-817-2076, iradac@gc.cuny.edu
“Black Women and Commercialized Beauty.?
Panel Discussion
Our panel of distinguished guests will discuss the use of Black women in public media, which has been and continues to be a complex and controversial subject. From the Mammy caricatures that exaggerated distinct features of the African woman to the slick Europeanized print ad models of today, realistic aesthetic portrayals of Black women in the media are not commonplace. One could say realistic portrayals are purposefully avoided. It is unquestionable that the establishment of the Black entertainment industry has increased the visibility of Black women, but have the presented images moved towards Black women?s everyday reality or male fantasy? What explains the absence of spokespersons in the mainstream media with afros or natural hairstyles and the virtual non-existence of dark skinned Black women in print, online, in television and film? Is bi-racial the new black? What role does technology play ? including the use of Photoshop, which allows for identifying ethnic traits such as a wide nose, dark skin, or heavy thighs, to be easily trimmed, cut or even erased. Is this a new type of cultural genocide? What effect if any, will First Lady Michelle Obama have on the way that the world sees Black women?
PANEL:
· Dr. Dana-ain Davies, Associate Professor Urban Studies, Queens College
· Eisa Ulen Richardson, Author, ?Crystelle Mourning?.
· Dr. Deborah Willis, Chair Department of Photography & Imaging, NYU, Author, ?Posing Beauty?, and Co-Author, ?The Black Female Body: A Photographic History?
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Room 9204 6:00-8:00PM
The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
212-817-2076, iradac@gc.cuny.edu
Zee Dempster, Assistant Director – IRADAC
Institute for Research on the African Diaspora
in the Americas and the Caribbean
The Graduate Center