Black history month is such a powerful and exhilarating time for me. This month, I decided to do activities that allowed me to honor the legacy of my people while simultaneously trying something new.
To kick off the month I attended an art class inspired by Alma Thomas. The art class was hosted by The Art Club East Village which is owned by passionate women artists. I first fell in love with Alma Thomas while at the Brooklyn Museum. She creates bright, bold and colorful artwork, some of which are inspired by florals. What I also admired about Alma Thomas was that she was an educator that started her art career later in life. She was the first black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum. Her abstract art is striking and many years ago before I knew a class like this existed, I tried to imitate her art while painting for leisure. This turned out to be a special night for me. I came out of my shell and did something I knew I would really enjoy.
“I’ve never bothered painting the ugly things in life. People struggling, having difficulty. You meet that when you go out, and then you have to come back and see the same thing hanging on the wall. No. I wanted something beautiful that you could sit down and look at. And then, the paintings change you.” – Alma Thomas
In the name of art and culture I needed to visit the Spike Lee exhibit before it ended. Two days after the Alma Thomas art workshop I visited the Brooklyn Museum to get engulfed in all things SPIKE. It was like an inside look into his mind, creativity, and passions. The exhibit explored history, politics, race, culture, and all things Brooklyn. The portrait he has in his art collection of Toni Morrison is captivating. He has one of the last photos of Denise McNair, one of the four little girls who was killed in the church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. He also directed the documentary “4 Little Girls” about the incident which was something new that I learned while at the exhibit. I left on a high motivated to create but also with so much pride. Brooklyn is the birth place to creative geniuses like Spike who is one of my local heroes and creative inspirations.
Ginger turned 3 years old this month. Being a dog mom is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It is truly a blessing. I love Ginger and I am so grateful she’s my pup baby. To celebrate her big three birthday, I bought decorations for the house and kept up with the tradition of taking her to Starbucks, she is obsessed with her pup cups. Later that evening Ginger’s twin brother Blaze came over with my mom, and we hosted a Super Bowl party(or shall I say Usherbowl party) for them since it was the same day.
Can we talk about the Usher half-time show? It was one of my favorites. I saw Usher in concert many years ago during his confessions era, which to me was peak Usher, but I am loving this evolved version of Usher. The half time show and subsequently listening to Confessions for the following two weeks on repeat, brought back so many memories, from high school. I remember I held out on listening to the “Confessions” album until one of my friends urged me to do so one day in school and it became one of the most pivotal and legendary albums during my coming of age era. I remember this was the album we were blasting during my 15th birthday in my bedroom (yes a bunch of friends and I gathered in my bedroom when I wasn’t allowed to go to the skating rink). Usher is a lege-[]nd!
LifestyleByKy 