Glenn Ligon--Conceptual Artist-at the Whitney Museum

Glenn Ligon works in multiple media, including painting, neon, video, photography, and digital media. Mr. Ligon's work is informed by his experiences as an African American and as a Gay man living in the United States. The Whitney Museum here in New York City will be presenting a mid-career retrospective of his work; starting March 10th, 2011. With his work in the permanent collections of the Tate Modern in London, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington,DC and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Mr. Ligon continues to push the envelope of racism and its context within the realm of this country. Mr. Ligon uses the text of famous authors to convey the social climate of the times. The title of his retrospective is, "Negro Sunshine" taken from a Gertrude Stein novella titled,"Melanctha", which describes a mixed race woman. One of Mr. Ligon's work resides in the private quarters of the White House,"Black Like Me #2" on loan from the Hirshorn to the Obamas. Do see this wonderful work at the Whitney in New York.

Sidenote: Approaching the Whitney Museum in bright neon signage is "negro sunshine" in lower case lettering. The exhibit is a journalistic overview of a mid career retrospective of Mr. Ligon----I found the exhibit to have it's good points and also it's "What's the fuck's going on here?" for example, the Robert Maplethorpe photographers of nude black men, and I forget the name of this famous book, but, this is something i've seen time and time again---this work was exhibited in a room alone and a museum docent sprouting rehearsed dialogue to her patrons on Mr. Maplethorpe and how Mr. Ligon collected quotes from famous and not so famous individuals to corespond with the nude black photos. Hmmm...not much of a stretch. I thought the most remarkable quartet of art--was in the next to last room...somewhat hidden...words were printed on black paper to denote that the viewer should create whatever scenario to complete the picture. This was by far the most incredible work presented by the artist.

Congratulations President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize today in Norway. President Obama work and leadership for this nation is evident with the selection of this young President. The voting members of the Nobel Organization chose a person with deep committments to world peace on numerous issues across the board. President Obama is the leader of the free world and he works tirelessly to provide safety for all mankind. Let's take some time today and thank President Obama for this wonderful achievement.

Van Jones---Leading the Way Towards Greening Our Planet

Van Jones, environmental activist, has been in the media recently for sheding light on green initiatives. President Obama has set aside monies dedication to different communities around this great country of ours and Mr. Jones would like the African-American community to take advantage of this money. Greening our communities is an intricate part of redeveloping and saving our homes and environments from the harmful effects of waste not deteriorating fast enough for consumers. This creates jobs within our communities and fosters a village of hope and pride. My community needs green sustainable solutions to propel people to recommit to developing a clean environment, not only for ourselves, but our children as well. Mr. Jones organization: Green For All, runs a campaign on the numerous ways that your community can become a green solution. Let's join this incredible campaign and let's get going!

Happy Birthday!!! President Barack Obama

Today is President Barack Obama's birthday. There are so many birthday wishes that i want to bestow upon you, such as the passing of your Health Care Plan, Judge Sotomayor's confirmation this week, the end of the two wars we are in, the recognition and passage of the Gay Marriage Act, the recovery of our out of control economy and lastly but not the very least-to your good health and prosperity.

NAACP's 100th Year Anniversary

The NAACP is celebrating their 100Th Anniversary on Thursday. This organization is one of the oldest and most influential on civil rights in the United States. The mission of NAACP is to ensure political, educational, social and economic equality for all persons and to eliminated racial hatred and discrimination. In the 1960's the NAACP pressed for civil rights legislation under President Kennedy(after his assassination- President Johnson persuaded Congress to pass the civil rights bill) to end racial discrimination in employment, education and public accommodations. This bill was passed in July 1964. Then this followed by the Voters Rights Act of 1965-which provided federal oversight in the areas of this country where voter turnout was low. Today, the NAACP is looking towards the future with our youth leading the way-in forms of technology, voter registration and volunteerism. Benjamin Todd Jealous is the new head of the NAACP and the New York Times did a question and answer format with Mr. Jealous. Take a look at the article. President Barack Obama will be the headline speaker on Thursday evening. Let's all give a big birthday kiss to this outstanding organization-because without the numerous political stands, we wouldn't have the many opportunities today.

NAACP: 100 YEARS - BOLD DREAMS, BIG VICTORIES