We’re concluding our eight week retrospect on Maurice Berger’s Race Stories by revisiting "On the Streets of Harlem, a Sense of Erase and Replace.” This article features large-scale color photographs of Harlem by photographer Dawoud Bey, which address the gentrification and erasure of the mecca of Black heritage and history. The photographs expose the unsettling juxtaposition of fading Black cultural hotspots with the colonialist connotations of the white tourist.

Article: https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/on-the-streets-of-harlem-a-sense-of-erase-and-replace-dawoud-bey/

Thank you for joining us for the past eight weeks to reflect on Black American history and culture, as well as to commemorate Maurice Berger’s contributions to and research on Black narratives. We encourage you to continue to revisit the remaining essays in Race Stories that are archived on our website (https://cadvc.umbc.edu/race-stories-essays/).

While this eight week retrospect has come to an end, our dedication to Black artists, voices, and communities has not. 

We look forward to seeing you this fall at our upcoming exhibition, Southern Rites, that features the work of photographer, Gillian Laub and looks at one community’s struggle to confront longstanding issues of race and equality in Montgomery County, Georgia.      

Today, we’re continuing our audio meditation series, “Nature as Teacher,” with our second meditation, “Creating a Space of Nonjudgment.” This meditation focuses on acknowledging our tendency to quickly react to situations, rather than manifesting understanding or acceptance, so that we can learn to let go of expectation and judgment. 

Each meditation is kindly presented by UMBC’s Director of Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness and Founder & CEO of Wardell Development Group LLC., Jill Wardell and supported by the Joseph Beuys Tree Partnership with a generous gift from Nature Sacred (https://naturesacred.org/).

Check out the meditation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_wi359PxUQ&t=3s

Website: https://cadvc.umbc.edu/nature/

"One Drop, but Many Views on Race” this week's featured article from Maurice Berger’s Race Stories, realizes race as not simply biological or genetic, but a matter of how one is seen and treated by others. The article looks at the arguments of scholar-activist Yaba Blay in her book “(1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race” and accompanying portraits by photographer Noelle Théard. “The book challenges narrow conceptions about Blackness, both as an identity and as an experience, and the stereotypes and rigid boundaries of color that continue to divide us.”

Article: https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/one-drop-but-many-views-on-race/

This week, in our discussion with the Association of Black Artists on Maurice Berger’s Race Stories, ABA President, Vice President of Student Orgs, and performing artist, Joshua Gray, has reflected on “Framing— and Reflecting— Beauty.” In his response, Joshua deconstructs the stereotypical ideals of beauty and proposes a new definition of how we see ourselves. 

Check out his full reflection here: tinyurl.com/yyuzxwm9

Today, we’re beginning our audio meditation series, “Nature as Teacher,” with our first meditation, “Manifesting Inner-Awareness.” This meditation focuses on recognizing patterns of giving and receiving in our lives and finding a balance between the two in order to find space in yourself to heal and recharge. 

Each meditation is kindly presented by UMBC’s Director of Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness and Founder & CEO of Wardell Development Group LLC., Jill Wardell and supported by the Joseph Beuys Tree Partnership with a generous gift fromNature Sacred (https://naturesacred.org/).

Check out the meditation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwzaAZglDTc

Website: https://cadvc.umbc.edu/nature/  

“Framing — and Reflecting — Beauty,” this week’s article from Maurice Berger’s Race Stories, looks at African-American artist Deborah Willis’ photography from her exhibition, “Framing Beauty” that not only considers how present-day Black women construct their identity and image, but also how the communities and routines they create are imbued “with both a sense of history and continuity with the past.” Many of the photographs focus on the role of the beauty industry in Black history and culture and how it empowers Black women to seek economic independence and create “vibrant communal spaces where women supported each other in the service of social and culture change.”

Article: https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/11/framing-and-reflecting-beauty/

Join us over the next three weeks for a new iteration of our Joseph Beuys Sculpture Park-inspired “Nature as Teacher” program, featuring three audio mindfulness programs that focus on the three principle of mindfulness— awareness, non-judgement, and peacefulness. Starting Tuesday, July 28 our first of three “Nature as Teacher” meditations will be released across CADVC social media and web platforms. Special thanks to UMBC’s Director of Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness and Founder & CEO of Wardell Development Group LLC., Jill Wardell and @NatureSacred for making this possible!  

Check out the introduction here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/beuyspark/posts

https://cadvc.umbc.edu/nature/

We’re so excited to start collaborating with the Association of Black Artists over the next few weeks to further discussion of Maurice Berger’s Race Stories. This week, ABA Vice President and cinematic artist, Manal Murangi, has reflected on “Holding A Mirror to Race,” discussing artists’ intentionality when prompting viewers to reflect on their art, how curatorial intent contributes to the larger issue in the art field of curating versions of reality that uphold racism, and the role of and pressure on artists to create work that teaches viewers about history and racial inequality. 

Check out her full reflection here: https://tinyurl.com/yyuzxwm9

This week, we’re revisiting Maurice Berger’s Race Stories article, “Holding a Mirror to Race,” which looks at Derek Burrows, Greg French, and Gregory Fried’s interactive website called “Mirror of Race.” The website presents viewers with 19th century photographs that picture people of different races in varying settings, but only provides the accompanying caption after viewers click on the photo. This is meant to allow viewers to sit with their initial assumptions and perceptions about race, “privately self-examine” their unfiltered reactions, and prompt the internal and interpersonal dialogue that is crucial to eliminating racism.

Article link: https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/holding-a-mirror-to-race/ 

Website link: http://mirrorofrace.org/