JACOB BANKS
Jacob Banks is a Nigerian-born English singer and songwriter from Birmingham. His music is influenced by a range of genres including soul, R&B and Hip Hop. Banks is currently signed with American label Interscope Records.
In our journey toward the perfect musical accompaniment, we were graciously offered the Jacob Bank’s song ‘Found’ and are so thankful to Music Supervisor, Martin Mycoo who sourced it for us. It quickly became the entire score and transformed our film.
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“I was raised by culture: African culture, Caribbean culture, youth British culture, which is Caribbean culture,” he says. “I was raised by the streets. I was raised by the nerds. I was raised by cartoons. I was raised by happily ever afters and real life tragic endings as well.”
-In Conversation with Shenequa Golding for VIBE
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“What I’ve learnt from a mirror/Look too hard and you’ll find you a stranger/Love is just a decision/The choice is yours .. when I look back, I think I was eight. I remember thinking—well, obviously at the time I didn’t know, it was just life happening.”
-In Conversation with Shenequa Golding for VIBE
TIMOTHY WASHINGTON
Timothy Washington is a notable LA-based Artist living in Leimert Park. He has had several solo exhibitions over his lengthy career, including LA’s CAAN and Folk Art Musuem and NYC’s Duane Thomas Gallery and Salon 94 more recently.
His work defies boundaries and his prolificity is unmatched. We were introduced to him via our friend Steve Irwin and lucky enough to be invited for an afternoon studio visit. After he heard about our project, he graciously offered a few of his pieces to help our film. We were thrilled.
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Timothy Washington was born in 1946 and raised in the largely Black communities of South Los Angeles. Washington’s early childhood placed him in close proximity to the Watts Towers, which, as a child, he and his brothers would boldly climb. Washington’s investigation of the seventeen monumental, interconnected mosaic towers was at once architectural, visual, and formal and serves as a lasting and important touchstone.
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Timothy Washington studied at the Chouinard Art Institute with Charles White, alongside fellow artist David Hammons. Washington’s work has long been associated with others in the Black Arts Movement – the aesthetic and social sibling to the Black Power Movement – as well as those catalyzed by the Watts Rebellion of 1965 including Noah Purifoy, Betye Saar, John Outterbridge and John Riddle. Many of these artists, like Washington, came to create artworks repurposing debris from burnt and destroyed buildings, recovering debris from abandoned homes and the environment at large.
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Washington is known for his graphic and pictorial works – which include mixed-media collages, metal etchings and drypoints, painting, and drawings on paper – as he is the volumetric sculptures; his object-based processes accrued from the material process of sculpture inform the creation of his visual works.
WRITTEN BY ILYASAH SHABAZZ ILLUSTRATED BY AG FORD
Malcolm X grew to be one of America’s most influential figures. But first, he was a boy named Malcolm Little. Written by his daughter, this inspiring picture book biography celebrates a vision of freedom and justice.
Together with acclaimed illustrator AG Ford, Ilyasah Shabazz gives us a unique glimpse into the childhood of her father, Malcolm X, with a lyrical story that carries a message that resonates still today—that we must all strive to live to our highest potential.
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“A daughter’s proud...tribute to her father and his parents."
– Kirkus Reviews, November 2013
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“Shabazz (Growing Up X) pays affectionate tribute to her father, Malcolm X, and his parents in this account of the activist’s childhood.... Shabazz relays...Malcolm’s resolve to succeed and remain true to his parents’ values after he loses his father “to the brute force of racism and the narrow-mindedness of the Ku Klux Klan,” and his mother is deemed “no longer fit to care for her children."
– Publishers Weekly, October 2013
WRITTEN BY ASSATA SHAKUR
This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.
Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides.
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“I believe in self-defense and self-determination for Africans and other oppressed people in America.”
-Assata Shakur
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“i Believe In The Fire Of Love And The Sweat Of Truth”
― Assata Shakur
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“I don’t have to live up to that Superwoman myth. I can cry and be human and lean on people who take care of me. That can be very liberating.”
― Assata Shakur
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“Schools in Amerika are interested in brainwashing people with Amerikanism, giving them a little bit of education, and training them in skills needed to fill the positions the capitalist system requires. As long as we expect Amerika's schools to educate us, we will remain ignorant.”
― Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography
WRITTEN BY DANA SATTERWHITE
Black Haistory Month is a self-published book by author Dana Satterwhite. Dana is a Writer, Copywriter, Creative Director, Creative, and Arts/Human Rights Advocate.
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Art often takes a backseat to other subjects and gets relegated to a trivial pursuit. I think that needs to drastically change. I would love to see art and all forms of creativity be championed and elevated, globally, to its proper status … Making kids aware of all the opportunities out there when they’re young is vital to these industries and future generations.
-Dana Satterwhite, in conversation with Canvas Rebel
Screenings
Coming Jan 2024ARTWORK Timothy Washington
Timothy Washington was born in 1946 and raised in the largely Black communities of South Los Angeles. Washington’s early childhood placed him in close proximity to the Watts Towers, which, as a child, he and his brothers would boldly climb. Washington’s investigation of the seventeen monumental, interconnected mosaic towers was at once architectural, visual, and formal and serves as a lasting and important touchstone.
Timothy Washington studied at the Chouinard Art Institute with Charles White, alongside fellow artist David Hammons. Washington’s work has long been associated with others in the Black Arts Movement – the aesthetic and social sibling to the Black Power Movement – as well as those catalyzed by the Watts Rebellion of 1965 including Noah Purifoy, Betye Saar, John Outterbridge and John Riddle. Many of these artists, like Washington, came to create artworks repurposing debris from burnt and destroyed buildings, recovering debris from abandoned homes and the environment at large.
Washington is known for his graphic and pictorial works – which include mixed-media collages, metal etchings and drypoints, painting, and drawings on paper – as he is the volumetric sculptures; his object-based processes accrued from the material process of sculpture inform the creation of his visual works.
More on Timothy Washington Here
Jacob Banks
More on Jacob Banks Here
Jacob Banks is a Nigerian-born English singer and songwriter from Birmingham. His music is influenced by a range of genres including soul, R&B and Hip Hop. Banks is currently signed with American label Interscope Records.
“I was raised by culture: African culture, Caribbean culture, youth British culture, which is Caribbean culture,” he says. “I was raised by the streets. I was raised by the nerds. I was raised by cartoons. I was raised by happily ever afters and real life tragic endings as well.”
Re: Slow Up: It was written as a note to himself that he wished he stayed younger for longer, Banks reflected on exactly when he knew he wasn’t a kid anymore:
“What I’ve learnt from a mirror/Look too hard and you’ll find you a stranger/Love is just a decision/The choice is yours .. when I look back, I think I was eight. I remember thinking—well, obviously at the time I didn’t know, it was just life happening.”
-Jacob Banks, in conversation with Shenequa Golding for Vibe Magazine
BLACK HAISTORY MONTH | Dana Satterwhite
Black Haistory Month is a quietly published book by author Dana Satterwhite. Dana is a Writer, Copywriter, Creative Director, creative, and arts/human rights advocate.
Art often takes a backseat to other subjects and gets relegated to a trivial pursuit. I think that needs to drastically change. I would love to see art and all forms of creativity be championed and elevated, globally, to its proper status. Making kids aware of all the opportunities out there when they’re young is vital to these industries and future generations.
-Dana Satterwhite, in conversation with Canvas Rebel
ASSATA: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY | Assata Shakur
This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.
Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides.
“I believe in self-defense and self-determination for Africans and other oppressed people in America.”
-Assata Shakur
“i Believe In The Fire Of Love And The Sweat Of Truth”
― Assata Shakur
I don’t have to live up to that Superwoman myth. I can cry and be human and lean on people who take care of me. That can be very liberating.
― Assata Shakur
“Schools in amerika are interested in brainwashing people with amerikanism, giving them a little bit of education, and training them in skills needed to fill the positions the capitalist system requires. As long as we expect amerika's schools to educate us, we will remain ignorant.”
― Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography
LITTLE MALCOLM | David Michael Max
Malcolm X grew to be one of America’s most influential figures. But first, he was a boy named Malcolm Little. Written by his daughter, this inspiring picture book biography celebrates a vision of freedom and justice.
Together with acclaimed illustrator AG Ford, Ilyasah Shabazz gives us a unique glimpse into the childhood of her father, Malcolm X, with a lyrical story that carries a message that resonates still today—that we must all strive to live to our highest potential.
A daughter’s proud...tribute to her father and his parents."
– Kirkus Reviews, November 2013
"Shabazz (Growing Up X) pays affectionate tribute to her father, Malcolm X, and his parents in this account of the activist’s childhood.... Shabazz relays...Malcolm’s resolve to succeed and remain true to his parents’ values after he loses his father “to the brute force of racism and the narrow-mindedness of the Ku Klux Klan,” and his mother is deemed “no longer fit to care for her children."
– Publishers Weekly, October 2013