Spotlight on the News: Black History Month; Inside Detroit art exhibit and Andrea Isom s roundtable
WXYZ Detroit
and last updated 2021-02-21 10:34:58-05
WXYZ DETROIT â On Sunday, February 21, Spotlight on the News will focus its attention on Black History Month featuring two important topics: The Souls of Black Folk art exhibition at Detroit s Scarab Club and a candid and revealing roundtable with African American men from Southeast Michigan. Our guests will be Mariuca Rofick, Board President of the Scarab Club; MaryAnn Wilkinson, Executive Director, Scarab Club; Donna Jackson, Artist/Owner, DMJ Studio & Curator, Art Exhibition and roundtable reporter Andrea Isom of Channel 7 Action News. It s a preview you don t want to miss!
Image credit: Courtesy of Scarab Club
“Souls of Black Folk: Bearing Our Truth” at the Scarab Club is a collection of works by African-American artists based on the essays from W.E.B. DuBois’ “Souls of Black Folk” from 1903 that focused on the dual identity of being Black and American.
When the writer and philosopher W.E.B DuBois wrote “The Souls of Black Folk” in 1903, his observations of being Black in America were prophetic. His series of essays looked closely at the concept of dual identity being Black and being American.
Today, his words are the foundation of a new exhibit at the Scarab Club. It’s called “
In a nod to Black History Month, Detroit s Scarab Club is presenting “Souls of Black Folk: Bearing Our Truth,” a monthlong exhibit of work by 20 local African American artists addressing what it means to be Black in modern America.
The show takes its name from a W.E.B. DuBois collection of essays about the Black experience in America that was published at the dawn of the 20th century.
Project director Donna Jackson began planning the exhibit in August. “It really started ramping up in December, though,” she said. “COVID-19 made everything so difficult, and it’s been amazing to be able to connect to art and artists again, especially Black artists, to tell our narrative. Curating all this has been so exciting, and the outcome has been great.”