After last night’s #Superbowl win with Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens, we take a moment today to highlight anNFL pioneer who paved the way for not only every other black professional football player to follow, but also for the NFL black head coaches. 50 Shades of BLACK Salutes Fritz Pollard.
Read Complete Story at http://50shadesofblack.com/?p=1280
The first of a series of historic photos launching the new OFFICIAL 50 SHADES OF BLACK facebook page. Like us on facebook to see the series and to learn more about each photo.
Tell a friend.
—-
Book Coming Soon
http://www.50shadesofblack.com/
…and the creek don’t rise.
THE BLACKER THE “BERRY”…?
-an alternative view of Halle
This piece is a continuation of the project 50 SHADES OF BLACK that I started just 4 days ago.
If you don’t know about my 50 SHADES OF BLACK project please visit http://carltonmackey.tumblr.com/post/23292472010/50-shades
The response has been extraordinary. I THANK EACH OF YOU for the hundreds of likes, re-blogs, comments, and critiques. KEEP THEM COMING! This is what it is all about.
One of the most reoccurring observations was that the closer you are to the top of the 50 SHADES (ie the darker the complexion) the less women there are. The question folks are asking of me (as the artist), of society, and of themselves is… whether or not this is intentional (on my part) or are there simply not as many African American females as males who have been iconized to the status of “sex symbol” who are on the darkest end of the spectrum?
Today I created this piece NOT to answer the question but to hopefully further the conversation and to elicit even more feedback.
Thoughts?
50 SHADES OF BLACK
African American Sex Symbols & the Complexity of Skin Tone
***PROJECT UPDATE***
Due to your positive response to this piece, the domain www.50shadesofblack.com has been developed to further advance the conversation.
BACKGROUND
(originally posted 05/18/2012)
My latest art piece is fashioned in the style of a book cover. Its title (most certainly) and its subject matter (very loosely) are the result of a creative play on the very popular contemporary novel Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James.
*I NEED YOUR HELP*
Now that the art/cover is created, it’s time to write the book. This is where you come into play. While this subject could very easily lead to a book written by a sole individual, I am interested in a conversation…in a dialogue. I’d like for that dialogue…those contributions from you to be the basis of the manuscript.
Share with me your responses to this piece. It may be in the form of quick comments, reflections, essays, personal stories, anecdotes, memories of things you heard your mama say about Billy Dee Williams, etc. Over time, I’ll organize, synthesize, group, copy and paste these comments into a document with the goal of ultimately producing a FREE downloadable e-book of your contributions to the topic. It’s a book written on the Internet by Internet users. Just like any other piece of art, it’s open for interpretation.
Who knows how this will go? I don’t. I don’t even know if it has ever been done before. But I am very curious what you have to say…and something tells me other people are too.
Let’s talk.
50 SHADES OF BLACK
African American Sex Symbols & the Complexity of Skin Tone
Conceived and Designed by Carlton Mackey – Written by You
***PROJECT UPDATE***
Due to your positive response, the domain http://www.50shadesofblack.com has been purchased and is being developed to continue to build the conversation!
Photo by Carlton Mackey
A vintage inspired photo shoot and tribute to jazz legend John Coltrane. The Sacred Side of Jazz…
with International Jazz Artist Dalan Vanterpool.
Photos by Carlton Mackey.
For the past several months we’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with an amazing group of artists for the 50 Shades Of Black project, spearheaded...
me: 12.24.12.
Two phenomenal poets: Sonia Sanchez & Yasiin Bey (Mos Def)
THE WAY WE WERE - THE BLACK VICTORIANS | 1898
Formal portrait of African American woman of the Victorian Age (1890s).
perks of being a wallflower.
my fave<3
