What to the Slave Is The 4th of July: The Evolution of The Black Aesthetic Under Fascism
COMMUNITY FORUM
Featuring jill moniz
As part of The Black Aesthetic Interview Series, Rebecka Jackson will interview moniz on the lineage of black literature through times of authoritarianism. The relevance of Douglass’ speech, “What to the slave is the 4th of July, has become increasingly pronounced as fascistic encounters have proliferated through the reawakening of white supremacists movements. Black artists struggle to contend with the political implications of their practice for their communities.
The Black Aesthetic, first released in 1971, was a seminal text composed of a series of essays from the most prominent black writers, musicians, artists and poets. Edited by Addison Gayle, it remains a staple of the black literary oeuvre.
This forum was made possible through a grant from the Rema Hort Mann Foundation.
jill moniz is an independent curator in Los Angeles. She holds a doctorate in cultural anthropology from Indiana University. moniz worked in community engagement at Museum of Latin American Art before becoming head curator at the California African American Museum. Additionally, she served as curator to Dr. Leon O Banks, a founding trustee of MOCA, before returning to large-scale exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. Dr. moniz serves as the curator of the historic Golden State Mutual Art Collection, and as an advisor for community engagement and programming for the Getty Center. She runs the project space Quotidian that has a mission to build visual literacy by exhibiting strong narrative visual content.
