Politics & Society
The March on Washington
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A powerful milestone in the struggle for justice and dignity.
Reviews of Books & Films
Baseball is Much More than the National Pastime
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A rich exploration of race discrimination and resistance in baseball.
Reviews of Books & Films
Another American Horror Story
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The U.S. is guilty of murdering an innocent but flawed woman.
Arts & Cultural Critique
An Artist for the Ages: John Outterbridge (1933-2020)
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John Outterbridge, a truly great artist, died on December 23. He was my friend for many decades and a friend and mentor to the entire community of Black artists in Los Angeles and to artists throughout the county and even the world.
Global Capitalism
Making Sense of the Struggle Between Azerbaijan and Arstakh
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An Armenian Democracy Under Assault.
Anxiety in Academia: Trump Trauma Observed
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SINCE THE Donald Trump election victory, I have spoken to hundreds of students in my UCLA identity community. Most have expressed severe distress, telling me of their anxieties about the future. Young women and men seeking to work for environmental change, for racial and gender justice, or to pursue creative careers in the arts have been disheartened by Trump’s retrograde actions and appointments and his sexist, racist, and xenophobic rhetoric before and since his inauguration. I share these reactions entirely. But these conversations have taken a far grimmer turn when I discuss Trump and his policies with DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students, Muslim students, and others whose anxieties are more immediate and more intimately personal.
A Journey to Armenia: Visual Reminders of Genocide and Oppression
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One of my objectives was to link the Armenian tragedy to a broader historical and global context, not to diminish the tragedy of the millions of Armenians who lost relatives, but rather to highlight the deeper pattern of oppression that will, among other things, advance the long overdue international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
2015
“I Still Can’t Breathe”: Artists Decry Racism from the Watts Rebellion to the Present
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A new exhibit speaks to America’s enduring legacy of state violence against African Americans and the revolutionary power of visual art.
Activism
On Busboys and Poets, Andy Shallal, and D.C.’s Progressive Visual Culture
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These restaurants and cultural centers are important sites for artistic expression, providing artists additional opportunities to disseminate their works and to gain more exposure beyond the traditional avenues of commercial galleries and museums.
2014
Political Posters for the Twenty-First Century: A Spotlight on the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative
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Surveillance. War. Immigration. Palestine. Social justice heroes. Occupy. The political posters of the Justseeds collective take on all this and more.
2013
In Defense of Identity Politics
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The great promise of identity politics is its ability to raise powerful consciousness among oppressed groups of people and also build bridges among those groups. When that occurs, the results have the power to create more permanent alliances that challenge the egregious injustices that still pervade American society and politics.
2013
A Visual Critique of Racism: African American Art from Southern California
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One of the most valuable functions of socially conscious art is its power to personalize and humanize what can easily become an abstraction. This power was evident again and again at BAILA con Duende, a recent Los Angeles exhibition featuring the works of seventy-four black artists.
Activism
A Salvo Against War, Torture, and Racism: The Art of Mariano Gonzales
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Working in political isolation from most of his artistic colleagues in Alaska, Mariano Gonzales continues a noble tradition of critical visual consciousness that goes back many centuries and that thrives in the early decades of the twenty-first century. His politically and socially charged images challenge his audiences to think about the major issues of their times.