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Black is Beautiful 2023 – Nelson Vails

 

Welcome to Black Is Beautiful 2023! My first pick for the year is Nelson Vails, a pro cyclist from Harlem NYC. Born in 1960, he began riding a bike as a kid and received his first track bike from a member of a motorcycle gang. Eventually he grew into it and not only became a NYC bicycle messenger but would ride in central park before and after work to train. He joined the TOGA racing team named after the famed NYC bike shop and then made the move to live and train in Europe and Japan. Nelson was known as the “cheetah” and became the 1st Black man to win an olympic medal for cycling in 1984. In 2009 he was inducted into the Bicycle Hall of Fame and has many accomplishments, He speaks 5 languages, is an innovator of cycling equipment, been sponsored by companies (Raleigh, Rensho, Rapha), produced a documentary about his life, and has served as an advocate for cycling for youth. Salute to this OG of cycling!
Dig this? Check out this post about Justin Williams, L&M Tourers, or Greg Liggins
Sources: NelsonVails.com, The Cheetah Documentary, Rapha, Wikipedia
February 2, 2023
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Black Is Beautiful 2021 – Transgender Cultural Center

 

I’m listening to Alicia Garza’s podcast “Lady Don’t Take No” when she mentioned the Compton Cultural District. Then I found about these three ladies. Janetta Johnson (54)- who is the executive director of an organization called TGIJP or the “Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project”. Honey Mahogany (35)-An artist, activist, social worker, and candidate for office in SF. And Aria Sa’id (29)-Former program director at St James Infirmary, current founder of Kween Culture, and the executive director of the Transgender Cultural District. 
Each of these women have worked in some capacity as advocates for the Trans community. They came together to help found the Transgender Cultural District which is now the worlds first cultural district in a city that honors transgender people. Its 6 city blocks of the Tenderloin neighborhood located in San Francisco California. And it is one of the places trans people come to when they first enter the city.
The story is, a developer wanted to build a new condo, the community pushed back because it was not lifting up the people who live there currently and it did not preserve the local history such as the Compton Cafeteria riot of 1966 which is one of the first documented times the queer community fought back against police harassment (Stonewall 1969). A coalition of activists fought to preserve the history and got Jane Kim (Dist 6 supervisor) to make it happen at the city level. This cultural district has plans to help Trans folks with tenant rights, jobs, space for arts & culture, historical preservation, and cultural competency. 
Sources: TransgenderDistrictSF.com, Forbes, Out Magazine, NPR
Did you catch the ptg of Miss Major?
The last one before this was Wilhelmina Godfrey

February 22, 2021
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Black is Beautiful 2021 – Phase2

 

Rest in peace to the legendary artist known as Phase2. Lenny Wood aka Phase2 was born in 1958 and grew up in the Bronx, NY. He started drawing as a kid and would enter the world of Writing or “Graffiti” as some know in 1971 around the birth of hip hop culture. Writing has so many pioneers but Phase is known for developing the “bubble letters” style so many have grown to love. Starting first on paper, then walls, then trains Phase2’s also developed and was one of the great pioneers of “wild style” lettering. His work has influenced writers in the millions all over the country and across the world. For that alone he is a King. But there’s more.
Phase is one of the graphic artists alongside artists such as Buddy Esquire and Eddie Ed to literally design hip hop’s early flyer style and aesthetic. His designs using starts, symmetry, and geometrical shapes are still being used today. He created one of the first Graffiti zines called International Graffiti Times in the late 80s. He had a major role as did so many writers in the early design of hip hop logos and albums as well as flyers. Add to that , he went beyond visuals and rhymed, danced, and DJed under many names. Check out his record “The Roxy”. Shout out to his crews UGA-“United Graffiti Artists” and “Electrified Movement”. 
I first came across his work in the film Beat Street and so many graff magazines and books. Automatically you could see his thinking was light years beyond most. And his name Phase2 alluded to “the next step” or constant growth. He’s said to be influenced by Romare Bearden, Jack Kirby, and countless writers such as LEE 163. Do yourself a favor and check out AIGA’s “Eyes on Design” interview with him by Jerome Harris, the book “Yes Yes Y’all”, and i’m sure i’m missing some info. Please feel free to comment with further research for budding artists to follow. Writing or Graffiti Art was pioneered by Black and Brown artists from Philly and NYC.
Sources: Throw it Up, Video Graf, The Source, Museum of Graffiti.com, AIGA
In case you missed the last Black is Beautiful piece, here are a few:

February 2, 2021
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Black is Beautiful 2020 – Arlan Hamilton

I first came across Arlan in 2017 through Tech Crunch. I was listening to talks about tech to understand how it was changing my hometown rapidly. That’s when I heard Arlan speak about putting other Black women, people of color, women, and queer folks on. Originally from Texas Arlan was a big music fan who became tour manager and production coordinator for bands. She also was curious about tech and did enough research to earn a Masters Degree in venture capitalist funding. Once she saw the opportunities venture capitalists were missing and got to work to establish Backstage Capital.

Fast forward four years and they’ve invested in over 100 companies! All of them are run by Black women, people of color, queer folks, and women. Why? The big tech companies we use daily started as tiny companies that needed seed money to grow. but who gets that money is incredibly unequal. Surprise, surprise! Actually over 90% of the large Venture Capitalist are white men which unfortunately means the folks Backstage now funds were overlooked and ignored. Arlan secured over 30 million in funding to seed these people to kickstart their small companies who could one day be the next big thing. And she is one of the only queer Black women ever to do this.

She is now in demand as a public speaker, she created several podcasts, has graced many magazines and news outlets and created a company that is truly giving folks a shot who were previously being blocked. Some of the companies her company (which is now a big team) has invested in are travel, financial tech, music instrumentation, self care, facial recognition, renewable energy, and healthcare. Her company started in Silicon Valley and has grown to include programs in the Bay Area, LA, Detroit, Philadelphia, and London. If you get the emails from Backstage they also include monthly highlights of successful new companies, jobs, tips, accelerator, and all kinds of resources to get your business idea going.

And she’s only 39! Big ups for being smart and betting on people who were previously ignored Arlan.

Sources: Tech Crunch, Fast Company, Backstage Capital, Medium

Wanna see more?
Jessica Matthews – Uncharted Play
Kimberly Bryant – Black Girls Code

February 17, 2020
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Black is Beautiful 2020 – Black Love

This piece is to celebrate Black Love in all its forms. I just imagine two flowers and the words because I wanted it to be a statement that both heterosexual and queer couples could get into. Also, it could be used for family too. Either way, I want to celebrate the Black love that I’ve seen and continue to see. I am a mixed kid (Black, Korean, Mexican, Apache), I am in a mixed relationship, and my kids are mixed. But I can still celebrate Black Love.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am trying something new for Black History Month. Each year for the past four or five years I have been working on portraits and designs of Black folks from many different walks of life to celebrate Black folks during Black History Month. But, I didn’t want to shine more light on folks who are already famous or folks we all know the story of. I wanted to work on artwork about people that not everyone is familiar with. Recognition and money wise that is not the most rewarding in terms of praise or dollars. But, I feel that the breadth of who we are as Black folks is extremely vast and folks need to know more stories. We need to hear about Black futures, young people who are alive and just starting to make history. We need to hear about Gay, Lesbian, Queer, Trans, and or gender non conforming Black folks too, which I feel even Black folks shy away from. And we need to hear about radical Black people.

BUY A PRINT HERE.

Check out some close ups here.

Did you see the previous post? See Black is Beautiful type art
February 17, 2020
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Black is Beautiful 2020 – Justin Williams

This is Justin Williams, one of the fastest people on a bicycle right now. Justin is from South Central Los Angeles by way of Belize. He grew up with cycling in his blood and started racing at the age of 14. He’s 30 now and has been a bit busy not only winning races but blazing a path for more Black folks and people of color to enter the very white world of cycling. After racing with many teams and trying to assimilate into this world, he decided to create his own team (Legion of Los Angeles) and just be himself. That means bringing some style the cycling world isn’t used to seeing. It also means providing mentorship and a home for more to start racing. As a young man he mentioned being inspired by Rahsaan Bahati (cyclist) and is inspiring countless people young and old. People are literally coming up to him and his younger brother Cory Williams (who also races) and asking them to sign their copies of Bicycling magazine (where I first saw him).

Justin described racing by not only using your legs, but your shoulders, you head, your mind, and your whole body to win. And win he does. Justin is the 2018/2019 Road Race National Champion, the 2018/19 Crit National Champ, a 10 time National champion, the 2018 UCI Cross Country Classic, 2017 PRT Dana Point Grand Prox, 2017 B.C. Superweek Ladner Grand Prix, and the 2017 Sprint Class Grand Prix winner. Known for his speed and power Justin has raced all over the US and internationally. Besides having family support he is also sponsored by Specialized Bicycles, Shimano, Rapha, and MedTerra CBD’s. Most people consider the Tour De France the pentacle of racing, but I think Justin is bringing more eyes to the “Crit” or closed circuit course where you have to be the first in shorter faster races. He is living Black history. Follow his journey.

Wanna see more? Check out:
Greg Liggins– Bmx rider

Sources: State Bicycles, Cycling Weekly, WSJ, Velo news, and Med Terra

February 14, 2020
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Black is Beautiful (2018) 13 – Greg Liggins

Greg Liggins is a BMX Rider from Hayward California. He came to prominence in the mid 80s for his speed and abilities on the track. He was so fast that he was called “lightning”. He won hundreds of  trophies in his teens and early twenties. He would go on to break a record as the first rider to win four ABA (American Bicycle Association) races. He would ride for large bike companies such as Hutch and Jag. But, in the 80s his team for Hutch was invited to ride in South Africa. Although he was excited to travel he declined in protest once he found out about the apartheid and how Black folks were being treated. For this act of protest, much like Kapernick, he was let go and black balled from racing and his team. But, he stood by his principles and later went on to be a newscaster for KTVU. If you have any connections to Greg, please show him this piece.

As a kid who loved to ride my BMX bike, my GT, I was really excited to learn about Greg!

You can purchase a print for $20 (includes shipping) , email at info@robdontstop.com 



Sources: Home Turf, BMX Life, 38th Notes, and Super Kids

February 27, 2018
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Black is Beautiful (2018) 11 – Marlon Riggs

Marlon Riggs was a pioneering Black gay filmmaker. He was born in 1957 in Fort Worth Dallas and  grew up there as part of a military family and moved around a lot. He lived in Georgia and Germany as a result. Always an incredible student and queer he faced discrimination, racism, and alienation from both many people. In the mid 70s he got a scholarship to Harvard University and although he excelled academically was hiding his true sexuality. Then Marlon moved to the Bay Area where he attended UC Berkeley study film and Black history. He became a filmmaker and shot his first documentary “Long Train Running” about West Oakland blues history in 1982. He also began to embrace his sexuality and bean what would become a life long relationship with Jack Vincent. They were among the first gay couples in the Bay to apply for domestic partnership. He went on to become a faculty member at UCB an self funded and produced another film called “Ethnic Notions” about the historic portrayal of Black folks which aired on PBS. He went on to join a group called the “Black Gay Men United” and made a film called “Tongues Untied” which was revolutionary in its portrayal of queer Black men. The film received wide acclaim and criticism. Riggs would go on to make several more films, to win international film awards, to become a young tenured UCB faculty member, and to receive an honorary degree from CCAC (now CCA). Marlon learned after having kidney failure that he was HIV positive. He would later die from complications of AIDS and he vowed to not stay silent about the disease which was ripping apart both queer and straight communities across the US. Marlon was a pioneer in film, Gay pride, and Black history.

Sources: MarlonTRiggs.com, Current.org, I Shall Not Be Removed (film)

February 23, 2018
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Black is Beautiful (2018) 10 – Ruth E Carter


Ruth E. Carter was born in 1960 and is from Springfield Massachusetts. In her early days of college she wanted to be an actress. Once after auditioning for a play and being passed over for the part she was offered the job of doing costumes for the play and she loved it. She loved it so much she began to design countless costumes for dance shows and theater productions at her school Hampton University. After getting some more schooling at USC and an internship for the Los Angeles Theater Center she would meet a young filmmaker named Spike Lee. In her early career she worked with Keenan Ivory Wayans, but it was with Spike that she would work on more than 12 of his projects. Films such as Malcolm X, Crooklyn, and Do the Right Thing. Carter described her process with a ton of research using photographs, oral history, and books. She uses many references to make a mood or inspiration board in her studio, set trailers, and online that is both physical and digital. Ms Carter has worked on over 40 films and TV shows to date with projects such as Being Mary Jane, Love & Basketball, Selma, The Five heartbeats, Meteor Man, Empire, Serenity, and most recently she designed costumes for Marvel’s Black Panther. She has been nominated for an oscar, an academy award, an emmy, and she has won the “career achievement” award from the American Black Film Festival. Word has it she is training new costume designers as well.


Sources: Slate’s Represent podcast, Fashionista, Imdb, Black Reel Awards

Dig this? Check out this piece about Brenda Banks
February 21, 2018
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Black is Beautiful (2018) 6 – J Dilla

The first record I purchased that had Jaydee’s name on it was a remix of “Woo ha” by Busta Rhymes. I thought that beat was amazing. The 2nd time was a beat he did for Phat Kat’s “don’t nobody care about us” that Harley (drummer for Wild Hunt) had. I played it over and over again. Then tribe LP. Then the Slum Village stuff, then it felt solidified that this guy was one of my favorite producers. I’m not gonna do the whole bio today, go look it up. But for you young musicians, this guy truly studied, made art w/ the likes of D’Angelo, Q Tip, Blackstar, Pharcyde, De La Soul, Janet Jackson, The Roots, Common, Erykah Badu, Madlib, Elzhi, Amo Fiddler, too many to name and his sound lives on through so many musicians today. Dilla! 1974-2006! I remember the day he passed. RIP.

You can purchase a print for $20 (includes shipping) , email at info@robdontstop.com  -a portion will go to Ma Dukes! 


Sources: Music, lots of music

February 7, 2018
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