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TORONTO, March 31, 2022 /CNW/ - Created in collaboration with the Black Inmates and Friends Association, Toronto Black Farmers and Growers Collective, and Keep6ix, Black Lives Matter - Canada has established a re-entry support program at Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism. Launching on March 28, 2022, Earthseed Community Garden Program builds on established programming led by Toronto Black Farmers and Keep6ix. An abolitionist experiment, the program is grounded in commitments to Black food justice, equitable employment, community support, political education, and self-expression through art.

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"Through a combination of paid and volunteer opportunities, we are excited to extend our support, creating a space for land-based community engagement alongside formerly incarcerated Black people," said Jessica Kirk, Black Lives Matter - Canada's Executive Director.

Formerly incarcerated Black people face numerous barriers resulting from racism, stigma, violence, and trauma upon reentry. Through programming and access to trauma-informed support networks, Earthseed is working with formerly incarcerated Black people to build community for those returning from incarceration. Additionally, Earthseed's harvest will feed its neighbours, offering free access to a community fridge. Creating a space for formerly incarcerated Black people to find support and reconnect is a necessary step towards healing and building networks of collective care.

Jacqueline from Toronto Black Farmers and Growers Collective said, "The earth grows everything we need. Here, it provides empowerment through therapy, healing and nourishment to those tending to it with love and kindness. This supports us giving back to others in a humane, caring and humble way.

Richard Miller from Keep6ix stated that, "Providing support to formerly incarcerated Black people that is based in an ethic of love, mutual aid, and collective care, can help create systems that empower individuals to not only thrive professionally but to also work towards personal healing."

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Black Lives Matter - Canada is a national network that resources and supports grassroots Black liberation efforts from coast to coast to coast.

SOURCE Black Lives Matter Canada

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Black Lives Matter - Canada, Black Inmates and Friends Association, Keep6ix and the Toronto Black Farmers and Growers Collective launch 'Earthseed,' a...

The protest is being promoted by EDL founder Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, while anti-fascists organise a counter-demo.

Racists are coming to Bristol to hold an anti-Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest at the plinth where slave trader Edward Colstons statue used to stand.

On Saturday 9 April, Anne Marie Waters, anti-Muslim activist and leader of far-right party For Britain, will give a speech celebrating Colstons legacy and condemning BLM from the vacant plinth. For Britain are asking their supporters to arrive at 1pm.

A Bristol Against Hate counter-protest, advertised by flyers circulating on social media, which describes the anti-BLM protest as a disgusting event, will be meeting at the empty plinth on Colston Avenue from 11am on the day.

For Britains protest is being promoted by anti-Muslim hate preacher Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson. Yaxley-Lennon has used his channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, which has over 156,000 subscribers, to publicise the protest.

In January, a protest organised by Yaxley-Lennon in Telford against Muslim grooming gangs attracted around 800 supporters. Since then Yaxley-Lennon has publicly joined For Britain and emailed his supporters encouraging them to also join the party. It is unclear if Yaxley-Lennon, who recently missed a High Court appearance, will join the protest in April.

White identity and anti-vaccine campaigns have been at the heart of the far-rights recent activism. There has been a significant backlash against Black Lives Matter, which means that we have witnessed a return to explicitly racist ideas in British far-right networks.

Waters, a long-time associate of Yaxley-Lennon, once stood to become UKIP leader. After narrowly missing out on UKIP leadership, she split from the party to found For Britain. Since then, For Britain has attracted former British National Party (BNP) organisers, including Eddy Butler, an ex-activist from neo-Nazi terrorist organisation Combat 18, and ex-BNP councillor Julian Leppert, who were seen as modernisers in the BNP.

While For Britain are one of the more noteworthy far-right parties in the UK, they have struggled to make a name for themselves. Last May, For Britain stood 59 candidates in local elections and did poorly; only eight received votes greater than 5%, with nearly half of their candidates receiving less than 2%. Of the two council seats For Britain held prior to the elections, they lost their seat in Hartlepool and retained Lepperts seat in Epping Forest.

When asked by the Cable to explain why For Britain were making such a provocative visit to the city, Waters said: BLM claimed they tore down Colstons statue because of historic links to slavery, yet they are silent on the slavery that takes place in the world today. The reason is simple; todays slave traders arent white, and BLM are anti-white.

For Britain say they are also protesting over the disappearance of money raised to support a Bristol-based BLM group. The Cable asked Waters if they were concerned about the allegations that, prior to joining For Britain, Yaxley-Lennon misspent donations he recieved on cocaine and sex workers. Waters said: I expect no better than your approach. Journalism is of a shockingly low standard and you are the perfect example.

In September 2017, Waters organised a poorly-attended march and rally against Islam in the centre of Bristol. Since then, For Britain has set up a branch in the city which holds regular meetings, which are advertised on social media. They are not the only far-right group to be active in Bristol. Fascist party Patriotic Alternative (PA) were leafleting in the city in October, and in August 2021 Bristol residents supported a White Lives Matter social media campaign.

Hitting back against the accusation that BLM is anti-white, a spokesperson for Black Lives Matter UK told the Cable they were fighting for liberation for everyone.

We believe that racism and oppression are not contained in skin colour but structures of power and wealth, they said.

White people arent the problem, its the politicians and bosses who use race and culture wars to push poverty wages and cut benefits. They are the problem.

Buster Twotone, a spokesperson for Bristol Anti-Fascists, told the Cable: For Britain and Tommy Robinson are deliberately promoting the idea that Colston should be celebrated and historical statues are beyond criticism even though Colston made his money from the slave trade and his statue was paid for and erected by a business man and not the people of Bristol.

It is thought by some that by organising these demonstrations For Britain is hoping to rally a waning supporter base. Alex Roberts, presenter for anti-fascist podcast 12 Rules for What, said: Over the past couple of years For Britain has remained a marginal force on the British far right, despite attracting some experienced ex-BNP activists, a party that won a million votes at its peak.

Roberts added: Coming to Bristol to celebrate Colston after his statue was ripped down by the people of Bristol and the four citizens accused of pulling it down were acquitted by a randomly selected jury, appears to be a cynical attempt to rejuvenate For Britains declining prospects. Im sure Bristol will give these idiots a warm welcome.

The upcoming protest can be seen as part of a return to streets by the far-right. Julia Ebner, senior research fellow for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think-tank specialising in extremism, said: Over the last few months weve seen a revival of far-right street activism, especially since the end of the lockdowns. Groups like [Patriotic Alternative], Britain First and For Britain have stepped up their real-life recruitment and communication efforts by leafleting and staging protests.

Patriotic Alternative and Britain First have both targeted hotels housing migrants with unannounced protests. PA have been holding weekly events across the country, with their South West regional group holding a hike in the Mendips two weeks ago. Britain First have also been leafleting ahead of local election campaigns in south east London and Manchester.

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Ebner added: White identity and anti-vaccine campaigns have been at the heart of the far-rights recent activism. There has been a significant backlash against Black Lives Matter, which means that we have witnessed a return to explicitly racist ideas in British far-right networks. We saw the effects of this in the shocking extent of racist hate and harassment that targeted Black football players during the Euros.

The size of the anti-BLM protest in Bristol will depend largely on how heavily figurehead Yaxley-Lennon promotes the event. Without him, For Britain will struggle to mobilise dozens of supporters. If Yaxley-Lennon starts to mobilise hard, there could be hundreds or thousands of racists coming to Bristol and clashing with anti-fascists.

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police told the Cable: Were in contact with the organisers and our aim is to facilitate the event while also balancing the needs of people who live, work and who are visiting the city. Proportionate plans will be in place to monitor the protest and to ensure it takes place safely and with minimal disruption to the wider community.

On Saturday 9 April, Bristol Against Hate will meet at 11am at the vacant Colston plinth. For Britain will try to give an anti-BLM speech from the plinth at 1pm.

See original here:
Far-right to hold anti-Black Lives Matter rally in Bristol celebrating Colston's legacy - The Bristol Cable

Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last nights Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jadas medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally. I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness. Will Smith

I had no intention on responding to the Will Smith slaps Chris Rock incident. Enough people have already chimed in on social media after the slap heard round the world.

I did not feel a need to add to the overwhelming number of articles written. However, two things changed my mind. First, was the over the top remarks and headlines which would have made you think Will Smith pulled out an Uzi and sprayed the crowd. Second, the people who decided that their outrage at Smith was more important than the feelings of Jada Pinkett Smith.

Let me tell you a personal story. Years ago I learned in the most visceral way the power of words. I spoke about this incident in my TEDx talk entitled, What I Learned From a Lynching Survivor About Anger. Words matter.

I was at a staff meeting when a top executive of the company asked us for honest feedback about fixing the issue of low morale. He had made some suggestions and asked us what we thought. I responded that I did not think his suggestions would work. This White man I only say his race because it is an important part of the story, responded to my remark immediately with a blood red face and said Well, thats how its going to be boy!

Needless to say, I was shocked. I asked, What did you just say? and he said it again, even more angrily, with increased venom in his voice than the first time. I had to be held back by co-workers. I was emotionally distraught at this unprovoked verbal attack. I reported it to human resources. He offered to issue an apology. I refused to talk to him. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said. No apology would have changed my feelings of hopelessness in that moment. I knew all too well the restraints on Black men who are disrespected regularly.

In that moment, I felt the rage Will Smith felt. Disrespect is disrespect, no matter who it comes from. That does not necessarily justify his actions, but it puts it into perspective. For Black men in this country, we are never fully allowed to be angry. We have to keep our emotions in check.

No one else is held to such lofty standards. The nation itself is not held to such lofty standards. When America is disrespected on the international level, it has used massive doses of violence to retaliate.

For all of the people who claim Smith attacked Rock and this is somehow making Black people look bad, I have a message. Keep my name out of your mouth. When one Black man does something it has nothing to do with the rest of us. He did it. Not we did it.

The host of Today Craig Melvin claimed Will Smiths Oscar slap aided this long-held perception that men of color cant control their rage and anger. He went on to say, If youre rearing a boy, especially in this country, you spend so much time talking to our kids about keeping your hands to yourself, controlling your emotions and then theres also this long-held perception in this country that men of color, especially, cant control their rage and their anger, and to see someone whos been that beloved for decades it was troubling on so many levels.

Melvin was castigated on Twitter for his remarks because he feeds into this narrative that one Black person is a representative of every Black person.

America has a bad habit of making the actions of one Black person somehow mean all of us are responsible. I have written about this group guilt we feel before. Whenever one Black person does something negative it becomes a conversation about the flaws of all Black people and our so-called culture. This never happens when one White person does something bad. The White community is never held responsible for the negative actions of one White person.

ESPN talking head (I could just as easily say yelling head) Stephen A. Smith, went on Twitter to say, You cannot do that S$&@!! Especially as a BLACK MAN, in that position, to ANOTHER BLACK MAN (@chrisrock) on THAT STAGE.

If this was one White man slapping another White man, I would guess that their race would not be mentioned.

These are some of the headlines I read about the incident.

Judd Apatow Deletes Tweet Stating Will Smith Could Have Killed Chris Rock After Backlash

Celebrities Condemn Will Smith for Chris Rock Slap at Oscars: Pure Rage and Violence

Howard Stern: Will Smith And Donald Trump Are The Same Guy

Comedians react with horror at Will Smiths Oscar slap

Will Smith punches Chris Rock on live TV over Jada Pinkett-Smith joke

Furious Oscars bosses hold secret crisis talks over stripping Will Smith of Best Actor gong after Chris Rock slap

Jeanine Pirro Says Oscars Are Not the Hood, Calls for Will Smith to Be Charged

We should make something perfectly clear. Will Smith did not punch Chris Rock. He slapped Chris Rock, after Rock unnecessarily insulted his wife. Rock did something similar at the Oscars in 2016.

I am not going to condone Smiths act, but neither will I condone Rocks joke. I am amazed at how many people lining up to defend Rocks joke. Yeah I guess a joke can be funny as long as you are not the butt of the joke. The pained look on her face after Rocks joke tells you how deep that joke cut. Jada Pinkett Smith has alopecia. She has struggled with this auto-immune condition for years. She, like many Black women in this country deal with issues related to their hair. These issues need to be contextualized.

People of African descent have hair that is naturally curly. We came over from Africa with this type of hair. We were not ashamed of or self-conscious about our hair when we arrived. White people in this country told us that there was something wrong with our hair. They claimed they had good hair and we had bad hair.

The standard of beauty in this country still celebrates the look of White people. Look at the so-called supermodels, most of whom have always been White. Their long, straight hair is the standard of beauty. Everyone receives this message. The fact that a handful of Black women have overcome this standard and been put into that stratosphere of supermodels does not change the rule. Take a look at the hair of Black women that America claims are beautiful and you would be hard pressed to find a Black woman flaunting her natural hair style.

So when Chris Rock digs into the psyche of Jada Pinkett Smith by insulting her hair, it is problematic. I do not see all of these outraged people coming to her defense. She was an innocent bystander. Will Smith felt the need, justified or not, to protect his wife from this verbal attack. Smith has apologized, Rock has not.

For all those people calling for Smith to be charged because of this incident, I want to address how you responded.

Jeanine Pirro said Oscars Are Not the Hood You talk about criminal privilege. You talk about celebrity privilege, that guy has it. He wasnt walked out of the Oscars. He could have been taken out in cuffs.

Howard Stern said What you saw on TV was a guy with real issues. Thats crazy, thats crazy when you cant contain yourself.

Judd Apatow Tweeted, He could have killed him. Thats pure out of control rage and violence.

Where was this outrage from these people when police were beating the living daylights out of peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors around the country in 2020? Why was that not called pure out of control rage and violence also? These double standards really are sad. Pirro using purely racist language about the hood should be condemned.

Apatow claiming a slap could have killed Rock was so outrageous, he had to delete the tweet. Some have said White people need to stay out of this. People have every right to respond. By the same token, they need to be called out for these outrageous takes. Chris Rock had no desire to press charges. Im sure he knows he crossed a line disrespecting Jada Pinkett Smith.

Very few people came to the defense of Jada Pinkett Smith and spoke about her husband simply defending her honor. For most of American history Black women have been disrespected. During the centuries of slavery and decades of Jim Crow segregation, any man could sexually assault a Black woman or girl any time they chose to. No laws or law enforcement protected Black women.

On the other hand, there were consequences, usually death, for any Black man who tried to defend his wife, daughter or mother from the disrespect and sexual assaults. Black men were forced to sit back and accept that they had no power to defend their loved ones. By the same token, White men would beat, kill, and lynch Black men and boys who even looked at a White woman or girl the wrong way. Nothing was more sacrosanct than the honor of White females.

Emmett Till was murdered because a White woman, Carolyn Bryant, accused him of flirting with her. The two men who kidnapped and murdered Till were acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury. They later confessed to Look Magazine.

This is one of the things Bryants brother-in-law J. W. Milam said in the confession:

I never hurt a nigger in my life. I like nggers in their place I know how to work em. But I just decided it was time a few people got put on notice. As long as I live and can do anything about it, nggers are gonna stay in their place. Nggers aint gonna vote where I live. If they did, theyd control the government. They aint gonna go to school with my kids. And when a nigger gets close to mentioning sex with a white woman, hes tired o livin. Im likely to kll him.

Violence to protect the honor of White women has been the order of the day in this country for centuries. When Will Smith uses a slap to defend his wife, the world goes crazy. Comedian Tiffany Haddish had a different take on the slap.

When I saw a Black man stand up for his wife. That meant so much to me. As a woman, who has been unprotected, for someone to say, Keep my wifes name out your mouth, leave my wife alone, thats what your husband is supposed to do, right? Protect you. That meant the world to me. And maybe the world might not like how it went down, but for me, it was the most beautiful thing Ive ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.

Haddish was able to see the events at the Oscars from the perspective of a Black woman who values that protection from Black men. Many others saw it differently.

During the Civil Rights Movement, Whites applauded the non-violent movement led by Dr. King. At the same, time they refused to be outraged by the violence imposed upon those innocent Black people. Black people are always supposed to be non-violent or not accepted. When Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, talked about Black people defending themselves from racist violence, they became public enemy number one.

The double standard when it comes to violence is nauseating. We hear people talking about black-on-black crime but those same people are silent about white-on-white crime. American movies are full of violence. Multiple, very violent American movies have won awards at the Oscars over the years.

The 1972 film, The Godfather, was nominated for 11 awards and won three, including Best picture and Best Actor for Marlon Brando. Its sequel, The Godfather: Part II received another 11 nominations and won six Oscars including best film and Robert De Niros Best Supporting Actor award. These graphically violent films are loved by Americans. Hollywood spends billions of dollars a year producing violent films.

Here is a short list of beloved American films full of violence: Goodfellas, Str Wrs, Pyscho, Raging Bull, Bonny and Clyde, The Godfather: Part II, Taxi Driver, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Unforgiven, Pulp Fiction, The Deer Hunter, Rders of the Lost rk, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar, Iron Man, and Transformers.

American criminals, actually White criminals, are celebrated by Hollywood. How many movies have been made about the Mafia? How many films have been produced about Al Capone, Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dllngr, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, and Bonnie and Clyde? What do they all have in common? Two things, they were all violent criminals, and America loves making movies about them.

How quickly we forget that Denzel Washington, who consoled Will Smith after the slap, won a best actor Oscar for the most violent role he ever played, in the film Training Day in 2001. How quickly we forget the degrading role Halle Berry won her best actress role in Monsters Ball in 2002. Black men and women are constantly celebrated by Hollywood and the American public for playing criminals, prostitutes and violent thugs all the time. No one seems to be outraged over the fact that Black actors and actresses are forced to play these degrading roles in order to make a career in Hollywood.

After all of the fake outrage over the slap heard round the world dies down, we will still as a nation deal with the consequences of American violence that is celebrated and sanctioned. We will ignore the millions of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotians killed by our military in Vietnam.

We will ignore the missiles fired from American military drones in Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other places. We will ignore the fact that in President Bidens latest budget he is allocating $813 billion for military spending in fiscal year 2023. How about the $782 billion spent in fiscal year 2022?

One slap viewed by millions is no reason for this nation to once again attack the manhood of Black men. One slap is no reason to ignore the sanctity of Black men protecting the honor of their wives. One slap will not make us forget the constant violence imposed on a marginalized community based simply on the color of their skin. One slap will not make the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery disappear from our consciousness. One slap will not define the millions of Black men in this country. One slap will not define Will Smith.

I think those are two men who had a real disagreement, and its up to them, not to the Academy, not to any of us. Its up to those two guys to work it out. I want to know more and what provoked it and all that. But, I did think that Wills speech was coming from that great place, that heartfelt place. He meant every word of what he said. Sd Gns, Former Academy president

Read the original post:
Reggie Jackson: My problem with how the American public reacted to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock - Milwaukee Independent

The climate was tense in Paris in 2017, following news of several individual terror attacks on French landmarks, aimed at security officers. But that didnt prepare one 22-year-old student at a prestigious art school in Paris from being perceived as a threat by his professor because of the color of his skin.

The professor asked me if I was Muslim, and whether I was capable of a similar act [of terror] at the school. I was shocked. He said other professors were wondering too, said the artist, referred to as Samuel. He was the only Black student in a class of 70 and commuted from a low-income Parisian suburb to the school known for its homogeneous, upper-class student body.It was very violent for me, he said of the experience.

Samuel dropped out and never went back to finish his degree. After three years of being treated differently because I was Black, he had had enough. It was a fact which also carried into how his work was interpreted, which was mostly seen through the lens of race. I tried to make art they wouldnt assume was all about my [racial] background, but that was impossible, he said. Barring a few teachers who kept him going, he added the climate was very limiting and exhausting, and that it ultimately blocked his ability to create work.

He is not the only one. Artnet News spoke to five students and recent graduates in France from three different art schools about forms of discrimination they directly experienced as students, including sexual harassment, and how those dynamics may have ricocheted into career obstacles. Ten current art students from the same schools additionally spoke to Artnet about their views on the topic, and what their scholastic experience has been like.

What became clear is that, rather than functioning as safe havens, art schools were often marred with instances of discrimination and sexism. Nevertheless, many of those interviewed felt that while much was still left to be done, there is a new awareness around the problem and that student-led initiatives created in the wake of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements have sparked positive change.

Sophie Vela, who is 23 and a student at the Ecole Europenne Suprieure dArt de Bretagne in Rennes, said the contradictory nature of liberal art education and abuse can mask the issue. You think of art schools as open-minded places. And they can be, but that is not incompatible with forms of violence; she said. On the contrary, it can camouflage it.

Protesters during a demonstration called by feminist movements in front of the city hall in Paris, on July 10, 2020. Photo Mehdi Taamallah/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Vela and two other art students created an online initiative called Les Mots de Trop in late 2019 after one professor allegedly sexually harassed them on several occasionshe is the subject of an ongoing administrative investigation, according to the school. The trio boycotted the professors class and launched their platform, which documents discrimination recently experienced in French and some Belgian art schools.Offensive remarks are then printed and hung in schools around the country. As words flooded our mailboxes, we started to realize the magnitude of the issue, said Vela. They have received more than 400 testimonials.

Les Mots de Trop was formed after its founders felt their complaints were not being heard by the school administrations, according to the group. The school denied this allegation, noting the director at the time looked for tangible elements that could have permitted the start of a procedure addressing this teacher, but she could not gather a single element at the time. Later, additional evidence permitted the school to take further action.

Screenshot of the website Les Mots de Trop. Courtesy Les Mots de Trop.

A sense of dismissal was also the case for a 2018 incident now seen as a turning point in France, when students at the cole Nationale Suprieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris hijacked a school ceremony to protest then-director Jean-Marc Bustamantes alleged total absence of consideration for repeated alerts of harassment by professors towards students, accordingtoone student at the time. Students doused the director with flour and launched a petition condemning the schools inaction. They also created their own support hotline. The director stepped down that year, though the reasons reported for this are varied.

The historic Paris school has made important changes since 2018, including hiring of new staff. Like many other art schools in France, a listening center was established to gather testimonies from victims, and its first woman director, Alexia Fabre, began her job in March 2022. According to one student, there is still room for improvement: Things are a lot better, but theres still more that can be done.

Former director of the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Jean-Marc Bustamante. Photo: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images.

The problem is of course not unique to French institutions or art educationdiscrimination and sexism occur on campuses all over the world. But the less formal, closer personal relationships between art teachers and students, common at such institutions, can blur the lines between what is appropriate versus inappropriate behavior, according to Vela, school administrators, and researcher Mathilde Provansal, a postdoctoral fellow in sociology at LMU Munich, Germany.

That dynamic is set within a context where those same, closer relationships play an outsized role in how artwork is judged, and teaching is conducted. Additionally, student work, which is often of a personal nature, can leave their creators in a particularly vulnerable position. It should also be noted that students can be the aggressors, and that teachers can also suffer from abuse by their superiors or colleagues.

Sexual harassment and sexism, as well as other forms of discrimination in art schools, have been shown to have a harmful impact on art careers, according to Provansal. Her research backs the notion that art schools are in many ways at the heart of inequalities seen in the professional art world. Indeed, a majority of art students around the world are women, and yet, as of 2019 women still only accounted for about a third of artists represented by international galleries who participate in Art Basel, according to sociologists Alain Quemin and Kathryn Brown.

After observing a major French visual arts school, Provansal found that female students were less likely to form the informal, yet crucial, mentor-like relationships with professors, and that concerns around sexism and harassment were among their stated reasons. Women who changed classes to escape a student-professor relationship based on seduction, were at a disadvantage, Provansal told Artnet News, citing research she published in 2018. It made it harder to build that closer relationship with the professor, she said, which is so important for benefiting from his network and career knowledge.

She also found that racial stereotypes of minorities worked against chances of acceptance at the school. Provansal observed how, on an unspecified date between 2010 and 2017, kept secret to protect the identity of those involved, a faculty-led jury charged with selecting students ultimately caricatured and limited the artwork [by one applicant of Algerian descent] to an identity-focused reading. The jury rejected the applicant and suggested she come back and add more babouches, referring to traditional North African slippers.

Alexia Fabre, the new director of cole Nationale Suprieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, said Things are a lot better, but theres still more that can be done. Photo: Alain Nogues/Corbis via Getty Images.

Today, more schools have been working towards change. Since 2018, Frances ministry of culture began offering training programs on discrimination in schools and created a free legal hotline. It also required art schools to adopt equality charters. In 2015, the National Association of Higher Schools of Art, a network of French art schools, also federated an anti-discrimination charter. But the charters can also be seen as performative, said Vela, the art student.

Indeed, one top French art school which devoted considerable attention to its commission for equality and diversity on its website could not answer Artnet Newss questions about the work it has done, due to having formed only a few months prior. When another school was asked about their hotline for victims of abuse, a press representative asked whether Artnet Newss intentions were benevolent, because everything is fine now.

Creating a climate of trust among students remains a major challenge, said Emmanuel Tibloux, director of the Ecole des Arts Dcoratifs in Paris. Like many prestigious schools in the capital, the school lacks diversity. Since his arrival in 2018, Tibloux has initiated several reforms, including adapting the entrance exam. Creativity often benefits from differences, he said, noting that the faculty is still in the majority masculine and very largely white. He told Artnet News that future hires will better represent Frances diverse population.

Today, people are speaking up more freely, as Tibloux put it, with initiatives like the school-supported, teacher and student-run Chres Toutes platform, candidly voicing the experiences of women at the school. Yet resistance remains. Theres a lot of work still needed to educate older generations, who are slower at getting on the same page, but thanks to students, theyve been forced to get with it a little [more], said Marine Multier, in charge of preventing discrimination and sexual violence at La Fmis film school. There are still people who are clearly not convinced theres a problem, but with new training programs, we see a real before-and-after.

Theres a new level of consciousness today, said Vela, the art student, who nevertheless asserts most perpetrators keep their jobs with no real consequences. Not long ago, we were alone. A few years later, about 40 students showed up to a meeting. Also, teachers are paying attention to how they address students, she added.

With greater awareness, students have been filing more claims, which some administrations also feel unprepared to handle. Its very positive that people are talking more about this now. It complicates our lives, but its very important, said Danile Yvergniaux, the general director of the Ecole Europenne Suprieure dart de Bretagne. Its very difficult for us to evaluate cases. Were not professionals of this kind of thing. Were always struggling. Even if we think were doing everything we can We feel like were walking on eggs.

Today, Samuel feels his decision to leave the school was the right one in terms of his creative process, despite losing access to a network of contacts, and never earning a degree. Not long after the incident, he did go back to notify the director about what happened and was offered his spot back. Artnet News contacted the former director about it, but he could not recall the incident and noted that if a complaint was not put in writing, there is little that can be done.

In any case, Samuel said he declined the offer. At school, my work was extremely structured, so that when I left, I literally exploded. [The artwork] became a kind of chaos that spread and grew, that became brighter and bigger [Leaving school] was a chance to be myself artistically, to be able to make a work of art and know that it comes from what is deepest within me. Nothing else.

Read more:
The #MeToo and BLM Movements Transformed French Art Schools. But Some Say They Have a Lot Further to Go - artnet News

Making careful brush strokes, Warren Stylez Harvey uses bold shades of blue in his bright Midtown studio. He's painting a young Gordon Parks holding a camera to his eye. The portrait is one of a series of 10, depicting filmmakers, actors and pioneers who are being inducted into the Black Movie Hall of Fame.

At 34, Harvey is a Kansas City artist to watch. His work appears in the TV drama Bel-Air, a reboot of the classic sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Harvey was also one of six artists in 2020 who worked on the Black Lives Matter street mural project. At more than 300-feet, Harvey's mural, in purple, green and yellow, made a bold statement at 63rd Street and Troost Avenue.

Harvey's commission for the Black Movie Hall of Fame is his biggest project yet. The series includes portraits of Parks, Harry Belafonte, Kevin Willmott, Janelle Mone, Oscar Micheaux, Tressie Souders, Chadwick Boseman, Don Cheadle, Forest Whitaker and Hattie McDaniel.

Harvey said the hours he spent working have taken his art to a new level and left him with a greater respect for history.

Its really helping me actually see more of what's inside me and what's possible," Harvey said. "But it also gives recognition to these these brilliant people that really paved the way for a lot of what is today.

The project involved research on Harvey's part. For him, finding the right image to represent each person was key.

"Some of them are pretty far back, so it was just an awesome opportunity to learn and to bring to life to what they've accomplished," Harvey said.

Of the 10 paintings, the Belafonte portrait is one of Harvey's favorites. He says depicting the actor, in character as the gangster Seldom Seen from Robert Altman's 1996 film "Kansas City," was challenging to get just right.

"It's a stained-glass type of feel with the lines, the separation of the colors, but also bringing those colors in together," Harvey said. "The focus is on Harry Belafonte, but in the background you still get the energy of the scene, and it really brings him out. It moves him into the forefront, just because of how it's been expressed."

Harvey said years of painting have taught him to trust his instincts.

"Just learning my voice, being confident, you know, because sometimes it's hard for an artist to find an authentic style," Harvey said. "There's so much art that you can see that can steer you in a direction of someone else's style instead of just kind of flowing with what feels right to you. And I'm grateful that I've taken that journey."

The project has opened a new chapter in his artistic career.

"These 10 years of being an artist are definitely paying off, and the sky's the limit, really not even the sky's the limit," Harvey said. "I think beautiful blessings are going to come from this."

Shawn Edwards, executive producer of Celebration of Black Cinema, unveiled the portraits Wednesday evening during a reception and movie screening at B&B Theatres Mainstreet Kansas City.

Edwards said the plan is for the portraits to hang in the The Black Movie Hall of Fame at the Boone Theater, located at 1701 E. 18th Street in the historic 18th & Vine jazz district.

Harvey's portraits give their subjects an iconic look, he said.

"They have that feel like they belong in in a cathedral," Edwards said. "There's a very spiritual connection with each of the pieces, and it's just great to see."

Since the hall of fame will be located in Kansas City, Missouri, all of the initial inductees have a connection to the area. Each has made a unique contribution in the history of cinemalike Micheaux, who is buried in Great Bend, Kansas.

"If you were to build any Black Movie Hall of Fame, you have to start with one person and one person only, and that's Oscar Micheaux, the grandfather of black filmmaking," Edwards said. "He was the Tyler Perry of his day. He wrote, produced, directed and distributed his own movies way back in the early 1900s."

Edwards said Harvey's portrait of Parks, a photographer and filmmaker, captured something of the man.

"His eyes sort of pierce your soul, and you can feel him thinking cinematically," he said. "You can almost feel his genius by looking at the portrait."

Born in Fort Scott, Kansas, Parks is perhaps best known for the photographs he made for Life Magazine. He also directed "The Learning Tree" and "Shaft." Parks was one of the first filmmakers who advocated for other Black artists to work behind the camera on his films.

"What would Hollywood be like without Gordon Parks?" Edwards asked. "If there's no Gordon Parks, there's no Quentin Tarantino."

Also included is Willmott, an Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter. Willmott, a film professor at the University of Kansas, won an Oscar in 2019 for adapting "BlacKkKlansman" along with Spike Lee.

Edwards said that, when he commissioned Harvey, he was looking for a unique way to tell a story that is often overlooked.

"I wanted to be something that would be like visually stunning, something that would make you pay attention," Edwards said. "That's what you want from art. You want to be stopped in your tracks. You want your eyes to open just a little wider. And then we want you to stop and think and have a conversation about it."

Edwards said the Black Movie Hall of Fame, which is slated to open next year, is a way to honor pioneers of American cinema.

"We can't ignore figures like Oscar Micheaux and Gordon Parks, because they went through extraordinary odds so we could take things like a Tyler Perry movie for granted," Edwards says. "Those people should be talked about because it's not just Black history, it's history. What they did is important because, you know, they paved the way."

The portraits were unveiled March 30 at B&B Theatres Mainstreet KC in The Power & Light District in conjunction with Kansas City FilmFest International, Critics Choice Awards and Boone Theater Project.

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A Kansas City artist paints film legends inducted into the planned Black Movie Hall of Fame - KCUR