Arts and Literature
Kabby Mitchell: ‘Radically imaginative’ ballet dancer
From Crosscut (by Jasmine Mahmoud) – A retrospective on Kabby Mitchell, the first Black dancer in the Pacific Northwest Ballet and co-founder of the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center.
Japanese American Literature Traces Changing Relationships between Nikkei and African Americans Over Time
From Densho (by Brian Niiya and Greg Robinson) – A new essay details research on the history of depictions of African Americans in Japanese American literature.
Frank Abe’s Search for an Authentic History
From Discover Nikkei (by Elaine Ikoma Ko) – After a successful media career, Frank Abe has produced acclaimed literary and film works on resistance to Japanese American incarceration — a living legacy more relevant than ever today.
On the 21st-Century Renaissance of Native American Fiction
From Lithub (by Erika Wurth) – Indigenous writers Erika Wurth and Margaret Verble discuss today’s proliferation of Native writing and what it means to be part of it.
Indigenous film takes top honors at Sundance
From Indian Country Today (by Carina Dominguez) – Among nine Indigenous-made pieces selected for the Sundance Film Festival, Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan’s film “The Headhunter’s Daughter” received the Short Film Grand Jury Prize.
WA farmworkers’ labor as seen through their art
From Crosscut (by Sarah Sax) – “In making the varied and distinctive experiences of Latino and Latina farmworkers in Washington the subject of the art, the works celebrate both farm labor and the people who do it.”
Soaring into community
From Real Change (by Ashley Archibald) – With program manager Nicole Suyama, Red Eagle Soaring provides a space for Indigenous youth to connect with their tribal customs through music and theatre.
Soul Pole Preserved for Generations
From Art Beat Blog (by Erika Lindsay) – The 1972 sculpture honoring African American history is undergoing a conservation process to ensure it can stand in the Central District for years to come.
Artist Michelle Kumata creates two exhibits that preserve Japanese American heritage
From International Examiner (by Ron Chew) – On the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, Michelle Kumata’s new art installations “explore the forgotten contributions of Japanese American pioneers”.