State of Black Design: Family Reunion

Welcome to a live version of the Works in Process podcast. As part of the State of Black Design Conference and theme: Family Reunion, I am looking to revisit previous guest conversations. This is a way to catch up with them and learn more about people we should keep our sights on. Thank You Episode 8 guest, Dr. Fahamu Pecou, Ep 17 guest Mike Nicholls and welcome Ariel Dannielle and Akintunde Ahmad.

Enjoy this conversation about the State of Black Design and Creativity and hear the power of owning our stories, owning our narratives, and determining how people see us.

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Guest Info

Dr. Fahamu Pecou. Fahamu is an interdisciplinary artist and scholar whose works combine observations on hip-hop, fine art, and popular culture to address concerns around contemporary representations of Black men. Through paintings, performance art, and academic work, Dr. Pecou confronts the performance of Black masculinity and Black identity, challenging and expanding the reading, performance, and expressions of Blackness.

Dr. Pecou is also the founding Director of the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta (ADAMA).

Mike Nicholls is an Oakland-based award-winning creative director, book designer, visual artist, and community builder. He translates ideas into visionary creative solutions utilizing over 20 years of design experience and natural talent. Mike founded Umber, a media platform highlighting creative perspectives that matter, which has been recognized by Blavity, Print Magazine, KQED, and Communication Arts.

As a community builder, Mike is an advisor to Inneract Project, a nonprofit that empowers underrepresented youth through design. Through his work with Umber, he collaborated with renowned creatives around the world like Saul Williams, Tonya Rapley, Souls of Mischief, and Deanna Van Buren.

Ariel Danielle is an African American painter born and raised in Atlanta, GA. She graduated from the University of West Georgia, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Drawing directly from her life, Ariel creates large-scale paintings that depict the daily experiences of young Black women. She believes in the importance of her artwork to provide new lenses through which Black womanhood can be represented, understood, and related to.

Akintunde Ahmad is a writer, podcaster, and filmmaker from Oakland, CA. He has also been an educator with the Oakland Unified School District’s African American Male Achievement Program. He is currently the co-host of the podcast series Viewers Like Us, and an associate producer for Proximity Media’s non-fiction department.

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