For more than 500 years, Western notions of Black masculinity have been largely filtered through the lens of racism, relying upon distorted notions of theology, “science”, and philosophy to uphold systems of power to kidnap, enslave, torture, kill, and oppress — all while reaping the profits gleaned from unpaid labor and cultural capital.
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So much of Black history around the continent and across the diaspora has been whitewashed or erased, much like the noses hacked off the faces of Egyptian sculptures to destroy evidence Black power and leadership — but as Malcolm X wisely observed, “Truth is on the side of the oppressed.”
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Enter Laylah Amatullah Barrayn and Adama Delphine Fawundu, photographers, curators, and co-founders of MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora. Together, they have organized In Conversation: Visual Meditations on Black Masculinity, a new exhibition featuring the work of 55 women and non-binary photographers of African descent currently on view at the African American Museum in Philadelphia through March 1, 2020.
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