Black art has shaped American culture since enslaved Africans arrived on U.S. soil more than 400 years ago. From music, dance, theatre literature, or visual arts, African Americans have been trailblazers in the arts and created works that have shaped American culture as a whole, all the while, serving as a form of protest, empowerment, strength and resilience.
This February, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the creators of Black History Month, chose “African Americans and the Arts,” as the 2024 theme, in order to celebrate Black artists contributions to American culture.
“Artists shift culture. Artists make new realities and different ways of being accessible to the collective imagination. Artists encourage truth seeking and open-hearted connection with those who are different. Artists make us confront the reality of our connectedness,” said native Washingtonian theater-maker, teaching artist, and artivist, Chelsea Dee, creator of the Free Black Chesapeake Experience. “This truth- that we are all equal, connected, and responsible for one another- is at the core of our democracy. There has been a concerted effort in the last few years to obscure the truth of our connectedness- but artists refuse to let us forget. I suppose that is why dictators and authoritarians fear the power of artists and seek to silence them first.”
Kailasa Aqeel, lead singer of the D.C.-based band Black Folks Don’t Swim, emphasized…
