As a woman who grew up with a painter/percussionist for a father, I’ve always appreciated the arts. Recently I tried to think of some acclaimed black female visual artists—and I couldn’t think of one for our times. I know of a few black female artists personally who have been painting since the 50’s and 60’s—but they are mostly unknown in general. Then I tried to think of some women from the early 19^th century and I could only think of black men (Henry Ossawa Tanner and Ellis Wilson). Read the full story

When I was in grade school, I always had butterflies in my stomach on the first day. Why? Because I was worried the teacher was going to butcher my name during roll call. I’m sure some of you can relate. You always knew when your name was about to be called because the teacher takes a long pause, and then there’s a look of panic on their face before saying, “Um…now, I hope I get this right…” Teachers called me “New-by-uh,” “Nuhh-be-ah,”and even “New-bah (totally forgetting the fact that there is an “I” before the “A” in Nubia). Giggling in the classroom always surmounted while I raised my hand, and said, “It’s Nubia (new-be-uh).” Read the full story

Four years out of college (and finally having most of my books in one place), I am rediscovering some of the great literature I was exposed to at Barnard. For one of my senior thesis classes, I took this amazing class, Black Images and Stereotypes in Literature and the Arts. A few months ago I was looking at my bookcase and came across an author we touched on briefly in class: Nella Larsen.
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It’s a shame most of us have never heard of Edmonia Lewis. She used her talent to replicate life through clay. In the 1840s she was born in a wigwam to a Chippewah woman and an African American man, she became an orphan at age four. Through the financial support of her older brother, Edmonia attended boarding school and was accepted to Oberlin College to study music in 1859. While there she endured some racial tension (and was later forced to leave Oberlin), but came out of that experience with a love for sculpture. She relocated to Boston to hone her talent. Read the full story