In its 60th Anniversary Forum Series The Bay State Banner presented on February 12, “The State of Black America.” Two open forums complemented the newspaper’s special essay section to commemorate Boston and black history. WGBH sponsored mid-day talks at the Boston Public Library moderated by the Banner’s editor Ron Mitchell. Panelists included Dr. Noelle Trent, executive director of the Museum of African American History of Boston & Nantucket, who spoke about the effort to restore last year’s funding cuts from the Institute of Library and Museum Services. Because black museums are grassroots efforts, the funding has been crucial to the health of the organization. With the community activated an appeal was filed, which resulted in an injunction and restoration of funding. She also elaborated on how other American black museums have contributed to laying the foundation for African American museum scholarship. Continue reading
Tag Archives: arts
Work of Allan Rohan Crite on View in Boston
Cover of A.R.C. Neighborhood Liturgy (Princeton U. Press, 2025)
The Gardner Museum and the Boston Athenaeum are hosting exhibitions of the work of Allan Rohan Crite, artist and chronicler of life in Boston’s Lower Roxbury and South End neighborhoods. Both shows opened on October 23, 2025. Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory and Allan Rohan Crite: Griot of Boston are creating a resurgence of interest in the work of Crite (1910-2007), who was known as a civic leader, storyteller, and community activist. Influenced by his lifelong devotion to his faith and to local Episcopal churches he supported and loved, his work is again in our midst.
Black History Month
March 10, 2024
“African Americans and the Arts” is the theme of Black History Month 2024. Celebrations of Black History Month at the Washington National Cathedral included its Annual HBCU Welcome Sunday and a spoken word, dance, and music event.
In addition, the Cathedral is highlighting its “Now and Forever Windows” (those replacing the 1953 Lee-Jackson windows), which were dedicated and blessed this past fall. The public event was held on September 23, 2023. The windows, designed by artist Kerry James Marshall, depict the struggle for justice as a religious struggle. It was important for the windows to, in Marshall’s words, “capture both darkness and light, both the pain of yesterday and the promise of tomorrow, as well as the quiet and exemplary dignity of the African American struggle for justice and equality and the indelible and progressive impact it has had on American society.”
As noted by Cathedral staff, the windows project prompted a wider community discussion of “What exactly is sacred art?” For a closer look at the effort to broaden the understanding of history at our nation’s cathedral, and for more about the creation and symbolism of the windows, the following resources are online:
- Now and Forever: A Story of Freedom on the Move (video, 22 minutes)
- Smart History’s conversation with artist Kerry James Marshall and poet Elizabeth Alexander (video, 9 minutes)
—Mary Beth Clack, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin, Mary Blocher
–Published in This Week @Emmanuel Church February 21, 28 & March 7, 2024