Sometimes crime hits close to home. The True Crime genre explores the crimes that happen in our neighborhoods, cities and families. This genre reminds us that the world we live in can sometimes be scary and dangerous. The Sistas explore these stories.
Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Lawrence grew up in Harlem during the Depression. Harlem was an active cultural center then, and Lawrence became interested in the arts while still a teenager. He received early training at art workshops sponsored by the federal government’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Harlem and then studied at the American Artists School in New York. From 1938 to 1939, Lawrence worked in the Federal Arts Project and produced some of his earliest major works. His first important solo exhibition in 1944, at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, secured his place as an important commentator on the American scene, particularly African American experiences. Lawrence died on 9 June 2000.
Jacob Lawrence with a panel from the Frederick Douglass series, c. 1939. Harmon Foundation Collection, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.
I didn’t know anything like this was in existence. But it is fun. Imagine an art competition that is on people’s faces. This show is from the UK currently runs on Netflix. Make up artist are given challenges that are pretty mind stretching. Although the judges are annoying. I found it very interesting so check it out.
I am most grateful for those amazing writers and artists that have share their words with the world over the past couple of centuries. Even though they have not been lauded, people of color have been telling their truths for as long as we have been in the world. These truths are powerful, encouraging, and enlightening.
Alexander Dumas, Phillis Wheatley, Simon of Cyrene, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Priscilla Shirer, Nat Turner, James Baldwin, Cora Jakes Coleman, Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry, Ntzoke Shange, August Wilson, Nelson Mandela, J California Cooper, Lecrae.
Big G little ratefu big L. I try to be grateful which looks like a big G in the beginning. I become complacent. Then I am reminded of all I have and end with a big L. It is not something you can just be once. You have to work at it.
This month I remind you to have a grateful heart all month, not just on the designated day. Instead of looking for new stuff to make us better, lets look at what we already have. Be grateful. There are Tess, Tanks, Crews, Sweats and Hoodies.
When murder is more than just a mystery, it can be very entertaining. The Sistas discuss some period stories like The Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake who solve crime at the turn of the 20th Century. How do these old timey detectives hold up?
“Sharecropper” is a powerful portrait of an anonymous woman that calls attention to the hardships experienced by tenant farmers of the American South, who were required to pay for the land they rented with part of their crop and thus often faced lifelong debt. She created “Sharecropper” at the Taller de Gráfica Popular (People’s Graphic Workshop) in Mexico City, which was dedicated to the production of socially engaged prints.”