C hange takes a long time, but it does happen. As we round the final turn to the homestretch of this election cycle, it’s important to remember that history is being written every moment we’re alive. It is worth considering that progress is almost always incremental; it occurs slowly and steadily, moment by moment, day by day, month to month.
And so it is with September, which arrives with a new infusion of artistic gifts to remind us that real change occurs as the result of individual and collective creativity, vision, tenacity, selflessness and, yes, love.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Martin Luther King, Jr
Fine Art
Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas (born January 28, 1971) is a contemporary African-American visual artist best known for her complex portraits of Black women through collages of acrylic, enamel, and rhinestones—a central material to her practice. Mickalene Thomas: All About Love is the first international tour of the artist’s work co-organized by the Hayward Gallery, London, and The Broad, Los Angeles, in partnership with the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia. The showcase, featuring more than 80 works from the last two decades, examines topics including beauty, politics, memory, erotica, and sexuality, with a focus on the people who have been marginalized and excluded in art history.
Works by Mickalene Thomas: Afro Goddess Looking Forward (2015), Look at What You’ve Become (2005), Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe les Trois Femmes Noires d’aprés Picasso (2022), Din avec la main dans le miroir et jupe rouge (2023), La Leçon d’amour (2008).
Music
LL Cool J, The FORCE
Photo by Chris Parsons
This Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, NCIS: Los Angeles star, Kennedy Center honoree, and grandpa is also a prolific philanthropist involved in numerous causes including “Jump & Ball,” his annual charity dedicated to bringing wholesome fun to young people in his hometown of Queens, NY.
Hip-Hop legend LL COOL J celebrates his 40th anniversary as a recording artist with THE FORCE, his first new album in more than a decade. Produced in its entirety by A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, The FORCE (an acronym for Frequencies Of Real Creative Energy) represents years of intense work. The result is an album that sounds thoroughly modern—full of razor-sharp writing and nimble, elastic vocals—but rooted in a rich tradition.
“LL Cool J is still a force to be reckoned with.” — AV Club
Film
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat
“Deep friendship is among the most enchanting inventions after all. And Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean show how to honor it.”
~Variety
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat is a 2024 American drama film directed by Tina Mabry, written by Mabry and Cee Marcellus, and based on the 2013 bestselling novel of the same name by Edward Kelsey Moore. The movie follows a trio of best friends known as “The Supremes” who, together for decades, have weathered everything through marriage and children, happiness and blues. Starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Sanaa Lathan, and Uzo Aduba. Streaming on Hulu.
Bonus! For anyone in the Columbus Ohio area, September brings a rare and delightful treat: Pioneers of African American Cinema is a collection of the earliest African American films, celebrating the work of our nation’s groundbreaking filmmakers. Presented by Gateway Film Center, September 8 – November 7, 2024,
Featured Writing
Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson
In her inspiring, intimate memoir, the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States chronicles her extraordinary life story.
With this unflinching account, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson invites readers into her life and world, tracing her family’s ascent from segregation to her confirmation on America’s highest court within the span of one generation.
