(Image: Kwame Brathwaite, b. 1938, Abbey Lincoln singing at an AJASS event, Harlem, ca. 1964. Archival pigment print. Courtesy of the artist and Phillip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles)

MoAD presents a four-week film series in conjunction with Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite, a photographic exhibition focussing on how the Black Pride movement manifested in fashion and in jazz & soul music. Dr. Tanisha C. Ford writes in the catalogue, “Jazz set the rhythm for all of Brathwaites’s work… he is a son of the modern Jazz age.” The Black Power & Jazz film series complements the exhibition with works on representative and still influential icons of the era — from the widely celebrated performer Abbey Lincoln to the community-based California Jazz musician Horace Tapscott — as well as touching on the era’s “L.A. Rebellion” independent film movement.

ABBEY LINCOLN IS (Paul Raoux, 52 minutes, 1998) A Bay Area premiere.

For more than 50 years, jazz singer, songwriter and movie actress, Abbey Lincoln lived her life in a way that demanded respect – as an artist and as a Black woman.  In this rare portrait, she discusses her career, her relationships with other musicians such as former husband/collaborator Max Roach and Miriam Makeba and how she integrated art and activism   The documentary features clips from live musical performances and from her film appearances.

Independent curator Ashara Ekundayo and music scholar Angela M. Wellman will introduce the film and lead a post-screening discussion.

Ashara Ekundayo is a Detroit-born, Oakland-based independent curator, artist, creative industries entrepreneur and organizer working internationally across cultural, spiritual, civic, and social innovation spaces.  Through her company AECreative Consulting Partners and her projects Omi Arts Project + Space and Ashara Ekundayo Gallery, she places artists and cultural production as essential in equitable design practices, real estate development, and movement-building.

Additionally, her worldview offers an Afrofuturist, intersectional framework to the public sector that centers the lives, traditions and expertise of Black womxn of the African Diaspora.  She is the author of the forthcoming book, “Artist As First Responder.”

‍Ashara.io

Angela M. Wellman, an award-winning musician, scholar, educator, and activist, is the founder of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music which centers the Black experience in the development of American musical culture and identity. She is presently completing her dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison exploring the impact of racism and white supremacy on access to music education for Black students.

Find our Curated Bookstore Selections based on Black Power & Jazz in the MoAD Store!

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non- profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org.