Friday, December 16, 2016

Herikita con K


I cannot get over the work of Herikita con K. It is just so so so good. "The good news is that your heart is in perfect shape, you are ok, you only ate too much. The bad news is that the procedure wasn't necessary." Here you go, enjoy!





Thursday, December 15, 2016

Poem #19


1986

when I was in the fifth grade my 
friend and I marched from my bedroom 
out to the backyard where my parents were 
gardening and calmly announced that we were going 
to ride our bikes to the shopping plaza a mile or so away

my mother and father exchanged 
a strangled look over the tops of our heads 
then turned their faces towards us forced smiles 
and said ok have fun girls and away we went hair flying

all afternoon most weekends for years thereafter we 
slung our legs across bike seats rode down there 
flung bikes with no locks on the rack by the 
supermarket and wandered around

eating corn dogs and crinkle fries out of red plastic baskets in
orange vinyl booths trying on oversized purple cowl-neck 
sweaters and tiny shrunken jean jackets and one time 
transgressively prom dresses buying candy and tiny 
ceramic animals and babysitters club books and 
ninety-nine-cent bottles of wet-n-wild nail
polish in fuchsia and rainbow sparkle


image source is here

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

The V&A Fashion Collection


What with one thing and another I never showed you the astonishing clothing from the astonishing fashion room at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Through some odd twist of fate which I still don't fully understand, I'd never been to this museum before, and so had never witnessed firsthand the wonderment that is their displays of apparel from the last several hundred years. People had of course told me how cool it is, but the high level of inspiration is something you really have to see to believe. So here's a glimpse--















Monday, December 12, 2016

Warm Winter Clothes


This morning I bundled almost-six-and-a-half-year-old Mabel into her warm winter coat for a blustery day of first grade. Six years ago in December we bundled not-quite-half-a-year-old Mabel into a cozy dress and cardigan and leg warmers, most likely for a busy day of rolling around on the rug. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Monday, December 5, 2016

All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50


All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 at the Oakland Museum is an amazing exhibition, full not only of astonishing artifacts of art and design, but also of myriad opportunities for education and the dispelling of myths. And it runs until February. If you're in the Bay Area, or will be in the coming months, I strongly urge you to get over there!

Above, a reproduction of a poster by Emory Douglas, 1969


Elizabeth Catlett, 1970


Ellen Bepp, 2015


Jail cell bars, circa 1966, provided courtesy of the Oakland Police Department


Sadie Barnette, 2016


Student Research Facility, mid-1970s


Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s


Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s


Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s


Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s


Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s


Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s


Page from The Black Panther newspaper, 1969


Detail of above page


Memorial wreath given courtesy of It's About Time Archive, 2016


Unknown maker, circa 1960


Library of books for picking up and browsing


Party certificate of community service, 1972


Ducho Dennis, 1969


Hank Willis Thomas, quilt made from decommissioned prison uniforms, 2015


One of thousands of bags of groceries given away to community members by the party


Stephen Shames, 1970


More recommend reading


Ruth-Marion Baruch


Dolores Huffman, dress with black panther pattern, 1968


installation for museum visitors to list party members or others they want memorialized


Unknown artist, 1971


architectural fragments from a house demolished during redevelopment in Oakland, 1968


Ducho Dennis


Official list of demands