Avenue 50 Studio with Alternative Field is proud to present the book release celebration of:
Black Powerful: Black Voices Reimagine Revolution
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2022 | 7PM
IN HIGHLY VENTILATED SPACE (BUT MASKS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED)
LIGHT SNACKS, WINE, CAKE, ICE CREAM
Black Powerful is a breathtaking collection of 100+ Black voices from across the globe, including Jason Reynolds, Destiny O. Birdsong, and Ravi Howard. Celebrate its release with a conversation between Natasha Marin, its curator, and writer and community-builder Amanda Choo Quan!
Books will be available for sale.
Featuring a foreword by Jason Reynolds.
Award-winning viral curator and poet Natasha Marin follows up her acclaimed Black Imagination with a brilliant new collection of sharply rendered, breathtaking reflections from more than one hundred Black voices.
When do you feel most indigenous?
What does it sound like when you claim yourself?
When do you feel most powerful?
Black Powerful explores the monumental resilience, joy, and triumph of Black People everywhere.
What people are saying:
“Gather these words around you like a prayer, a spell, a circle of protection. Each section of Black Powerful reinforces our magical presence on this Earth, beloveds reaching for one another across generations and metaphysical barriers. To enter into this book is to reclaim momentum in a world bent on our stagnation―and to remember Black power is perpetual.”
―Monica Prince, author of How to Exterminate the Black Woman
“Black Powerful is vibrantly validating.”
―Keith Knight, creator of The K Chronicles
“In Black Powerful, Natasha Marin has again curated a stunning collection of stories from deep in our Black imaginations. The short pieces featured here both dare everyone to consider the ways in which a better world is possible, and celebrate how much we currently have to lavish in. These pieces are connected by the ideas of where we are rooted, what we consider home internally and externally, and the ways in which we show up for ourselves. Where we have grown―not only where we have bent or broken―is where the power stems from. Each perspective and interlude calls to you, to invite you in to claim yourself. These voices will move and captivate you, and I look forward to returning to them when I am in need of a reminder of my own power.”
―Katrina Otuonye
“Black Powerful is an amulet, a treatise of affirmations, testimonies, and sketches that remind us of the enduring power of Black memory and our own eternal belonging.”
―Amber Payne, co-editor in chief of The Emancipator
“A proud chorus offers afrofuturistic visions, love, and a tall, cool glass of water for all kinfolk with hearts facing homeward.”
―Ron Austin, author of Avery Colt Is a Snake, a Thief, a Liar
“Natasha Marin’s Black Powerful is a beautiful convening of Black voices reflecting on what makes them rooted, powerful, and named. Black Powerful is a conjuring for a (re)imagined space of joy, a balm for our souls.”
―Junie Désil, author of eat salt | gaze at the ocean
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Natasha Marin is a conceptual artist whose people-centered projects have circled the globe and have been recognized and acknowledged by Art Forum, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, and others. In 2018, Marin manifested BLACK IMAGINATION: The States of Matter, The (g)Listening, and Ritual Objects— a triptych of audio-based, conceptual art exhibitions in and around Seattle, WA. BLACK IMAGINATION is community-based, ongoing and continues to amplify, center, and hold sacred a diverse sample of Black voices, including LGBTQIA+ black youth, incarcerated black women, black
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Notes on parking:
Limited parking is available in our lot. It is an unpaved dirt lot with uneven grounding. Some may have trouble navigating the parking area. There is also street parking. We have access to bus line 81 at Figueroa and Avenue 50, we're within walking distance or a bike ride away from the Highland Park or Southwest Museum Metro station stops along the gold like. We do have space to lock the bike outdoors, and we are also bike-friendly indoors.