# data[].attributes.body
How are African Americans represented (or left out) in the media?

# data[].attributes.body
Why is representation important in the classroom?

# data[].attributes.body
The Blind Side is a popular film in which a white family takes in a Black boy, whose life they change forever. The blind side creates a negative representation, as the white woman comes and “saves the day” for the black boy who “needs her” help. The movie is mainly told from the family’s point of view, and even received criticism from the person who it was based on because the film made it seem like he “needed” the family.

# data[].attributes.headline
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty — Gregory Neri

# data[].attributes.subject
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty — Gregory Neri

# data[].attributes.body
Yummy is the story of a boy who is involved in a gang and how his life is affected because of it. This book helps to represent the real struggles that African American students experience and how it affects them throughout their life. One thing that is missing from the story is the main character’s point of view, which is important to understand what really happened and the reasoning behind it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison — Shaka Senghor

# data[].attributes.subject
Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison — Shaka Senghor

# data[].attributes.body
This is the story of a man who was incarcerated due to gun violence, and completely changed his life around. This is a realistic experience that many minorities face and can be relatable to many students. One thing that is missing is how this affected the lives of his family members.

# data[].attributes.body
This TEDx Talk discusses a man’s personal experience with representation, and how it positively affected him throughout his life. This video doesn’t specifically talk about representation in the classroom, which would make it more relevant and could add to the argument that representation is essential in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why representation matters | Jesse Beason | TEDxMtHoodSalon

# data[].attributes.headline
The Evolution of Black Representation in Film

# data[].attributes.subject
The Evolution of Black Representation in Film

# data[].attributes.body
This video explains how the representation of African Americans in film has changed over the years. This video shows how representation is getting better, but lacks to acknowledge that film still has a long way to go before it is fully inclusive.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The evolution of black representation in film

# data[].attributes.body
This is a film about a teacher who inspires her students to learn by giving them culturally relevant learning material. This film is extremely important in understanding why culturally relevant material is essential to learning. This movie shows the progression of students from uninterested and failing to successful and thriving. I wish this movie included the afterthoughts of the characters - for example how their lives were affected long term by their teacher and her passion for teaching.

# data[].attributes.body
This is a Netflix series about five black teens falsely accused of an attack. This series shows how people’s lives can be impacted by being stereotyped and misrepresented. This show is heartbreaking and hard to watch but it is important to see in order to understand why it is so essential to properly represent people and to not make assumptions.

# data[].attributes.body
This is a film about a young man who spends his life trying to defend those on death wrong that were wrongly convicted. This is another example of why it is so important not to make assumptions based on how people are represented. This movie is hard to watch but again, is important and relevant. I wish that this movie discussed how the inmates got to where they were - which was misrepresentation and stereotyping.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
10 wins & 11 nominations. See more awards "

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:

Storyline

A powerful and thought-provoking true-story, "Just Mercy" follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan might have had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Larson.) One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Foxx,) who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds-and the system-stacked against them. Written by Gregg Brilliant

Taglines:

Based on the true story of a modern hero.

Did You Know?

Trivia

In one scene, Bryan and Eva are sitting on the banks of the Alabama River watching a recreation of a nineteenth-century riverboat (the Harriott) sail by. Bryan says to Eva, "Nobody wants to remember that this is where thousands of enslaved people were shipped in and paraded up the street to be sold. Ten miles from here, black people were pulled from their homes and lynched and nobody talks about it. " This is a nod to the fact that years after this movie takes place, during the 2000s, Stevenson's organization the Equal Justice Initiative expanded its mission; although it continues to provide legal defense and advocacy for prisoners on death row, children in adult prisons, people who have been wrongfully convicted, and others in need of defense, they also started to memorialize the history of slavery and lynching in America. In April 2018, EJI opened two new facilities. One was the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, a museum located in a former warehouse where black people were enslaved in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. The other was National Memorial for Peace and Justice, dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people and people terrorized and murdered by lynching. EJI also works with communities to install historical markers that acknowledge lynchings in those cities' pasts. See more "

Goofs

When inmate Herbert Richardson is put to death in the Alabama electric chair known as "Yellow Mama", his face is not covered with a mask. See more "

Quotes

Bryan Stevenson : [in the US Senate Hearing on the Death Penalty] Through this work, I've learned that each of us is more than the worst thing that we've ever done; that the opposite of poverty isn't wealth, the opposite of poverty is justice; that the character of our nation isn't reflected on how we treat the rich and the privileged, but how we treat the poor, the disfavored, and condemned.
See more "

Soundtracks

Higher Ground
Traditional
Performed by J. Alphonse Nicholson
See more "

User Reviews

Details

Release Date:

10 January 2020 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$107,858, 29 December 2019

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$50,401,502

Company Credits

Technical Specs

See full technical specs "

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
10 wins & 11 nominations. See more awards " Cast overview, first billed only: A powerful and thought-provoking true-story, "Just Mercy" follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan might have had his pick of lucrative jobs.

# data[].attributes.body
This music video shows the lack of representation of minorities in art. The video shows the Louvre in Paris, and how all of the art and artists represented are white. By filming their music video in this setting, the Carters are making an important statement about how African Americans are often left out of art and often do not receive the recognition they deserve.

# data[].attributes.body
This music video dives into the issues that the black community is facing. The video celebrates and is a good representation of black culture. This video and song shows that African Americans can be successful, however one thing that I don’t like about this video is that it makes it seem like it’s easy for everyone to succeed, and doesn’t take into consideration the opportunity gap.

# data[].attributes.body
To Kill A Mockingbird is a popular book in the literary cannon. It tells the story of a black man who is wrongfully committed of raping a white woman, and fails to receive justice. This book is a good example of how African Americans are represented negatively in the media, and could be a good way to start conversation about racism in the cannon.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Current, from Minnesota Public Radio, Great Music Lives Here

# data[].attributes.body
This is the story of a young, African American boy whose gets entangled in a mess of killings. His brother is killed by another man, and the rules he has always been taught tell him that he must kill the man that killed his brother. On his way to kill him, he encounters several people from his past who share their stories with him and make him second guess his choice. This story reveals many hard things that young African American boys have to face, and the choices (or lack of) that they have in order to keep their family safe.

# data[].attributes.headline
Art so white: Black artists want representation (beyond slavery) in the Met, National Gallery — Niquel Terry Ellis

# data[].attributes.subject
Art so white: Black artists want representation (beyond slavery) in the Met, National Gallery — Niquel Terry Ellis

# data[].attributes.body
This article covers the idea that African Americans are often left out when it comes to art, unless they are the subject. Many African American artists are fighting for their art to be represented and appreciated the way it deserves to be. They also explain why representation is so important in any place; it brings a sense of belonging.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ATLANTA - A black female model leans on a stool atop a platform in a second-story studio in the city's historic arts district.

She is nude, stoic and motionless. A half-dozen students have formed a U-shape around her as they draw her, using charcoal pencils.

George Morton, the instructor who opened the Atelier South in January, stops by each student's workstation to offer a critique.

The model, Morton says, symbolizes what he believes is missing in fine art: the fair representation of black people.

Artists say African Americans are absent from historical art collections in some of the world's largest museums, galleries and major auctions. They insist that most of the paintings and portraits hanging on the walls of these institutions were created by white men and feature prominent white figures in American or European history.

Morton is part of a movement of black artists and curators from New York to Atlanta who are hosting exhibits, teaching classes and creating work that shines a light on black culture.

"We have been largely overlooked, historically," said Morton, who graduated from the Florence Academy of Art US. "We weren't seen fit as a worthy model, unless we were ... somehow an object that has been subjugated in a painting."

For example, the 1862 portrait "Men of Progress" by Christian Schussele shows 19 white, male American scientists and inventors but neglects the women and black inventors of the time.

And in Dutch painter Jan Verkolje's 1674 portrait of Johan de la Faille, a black slave is at his side holding the hunting spaniels.

Getting the work on the walls

Directors at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, two of the nation's largest museums, admit there is a disparity.

The Met has hosted eight exhibitions focused on African American artists in the past 10 years. The museum has about 40 exhibitions every year.

At the National Gallery of Art, there are 986 works by black artists out of the 153,621 total works.

The Met has made key acquisitions of black art in recent years, including the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift and a group of African American portrait photographs from the 1940s and 1950s. The two collections numbered more than 200 works.

Max Hollein, director of the Met, says he is working to diversify the collections and exhibitions at the museum. This may mean rewriting art history in a way that includes all cultures, Hollein says.

"To look back and look at what may have been overlooked, and what may have not been properly appreciated, what may have been misunderstood" is important, Hollein says.

Kim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, says the gallery has been working to diversify its portrait collections for the past decade. When Sajet joined the gallery in 2013, staff members decided that 50% of all money spent on art would support diverse artists and portrait subjects.

Sajet says white men dominated famous portraits because they owned land and art was historically reserved for the rich and elite.

Sajet says she wants the gallery to tell the story of ALL Americans.

"We owe it to Americans to reflect them because we owe it to accurate history," Sajet says. "I'm not interested in only having a museum for some people."

The National Portrait Gallery unveiled an exhibition last year called "UnSeen: Our Past in a New Light: Ken Gonzales-Day and Titus Kaphar," using their work to show how people of color are missing from historical portraits and that their contributions to history were ignored.

In Kaphar's "Behind the Myth of Benevolence," an iconic portrait of Thomas Jefferson is being peeled away from the canvas to reveal a portrait of an enslaved black woman.

Kaphar re-creates well-known historical paintings to include black subjects. His work sends a message that while people in power were glorified in art history, the powerless were sidelined, according to thePortrait Gallery.

New York-based visual artist Kehinde Wiley, who painted Barack Obama's presidential portrait, also takes young black men and places them in the historical poses from classical European paintings of noblemen, royalty and aristocrats. The paintings are meant to show black men in a position of power.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) unveiled the exhibition "Mapping Black Identities" in February that showcases work by black artists who celebrate black identity.

Gabriel Ritter, curator and head of contemporary art at MIA, says the exhibition is meant to "dismantle a structure of white supremacy" that has defined the museum and many others for so long.

Ritter says he was adamant about selecting black art that demonstrates joy and pride, and not the narratives of pain and struggle that some museums display.

"It's really about recognizing who the public is and who the audience is and making sure there is equitable representation," Ritter says. "It can't constantly perpetuate a white male stereotype of who is important in the art world."

The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles is also boosting support for black artists.

Last year, the institute launched its African American Art History Initiative to collect archives and records. Previously, unless an artist was represented by a major museum or gallery, his or her historical record was not preserved, says Andrew Perchuk, deputy director of the Getty Research Institute.

"I think that it's one of the really underrepresented stories in American art," Perchuk says. "And we really don't have a full picture of American art without doing a better job of documenting the history of African American art."

The initiative will give museums the resources they need to host more exhibitions on African American artists, Perchuk says.

Artists such as Wiley, Kaphar and Kerry James Marshall of Chicago have their art on display at galleries across the country.

Last year, Marshall's painting "Past Times" sold at a New York auction for $21 million.

Demands unmet

Jennifer Tosch, founder of Black Heritage Tours in New York and Amsterdam, says people of color have been excluded from the ranks of fine artists in America and viewed only as "objects of observation."

"You can certainly connect it to structural and institutional racism," Tosch says. "There's been a systemic history of race and racism as its byproduct that has situated black people in a certain way."

It's not just black artists but patrons who push museums to change.

Black millennial travel groups and black baby boomers alike who have disposable income visit museums and request more of a "black experience" on their tours, Tosch says.

"There is an increase in black patrons of the art," Tosch says. "They are exploring and looking for this representation and not seeing it."

Michelle Obama's portrait by Amy Sherald remains popular at the National Portrait Gallery.

Opening doors

Morton is working to overcome disparities by selecting more people of color to be the subjects of live drawings in his art classes at Atelier South and engaging and training more black artists and young people in the majority-black city of Atlanta. Most of his students are white.

Black people, Morton says, have shied away from art because it was dominated by the white elite and wasn't considered a field where black families could make a living.

"When you look in the museums and don't see yourself represented in the galleries ... it never even occurs to you that that's even for you," Morton says. "There's a message implanted in your mind that you don't belong here.

"A lot of it has to do with those doors being closed for so long. And only now are we able to catch up."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Art so white: Black artists want representation (beyond slavery) in the Met, National Gallery

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ATLANTA - A black female model leans on a stool atop a platform in a second-story studio in the city's historic arts district. She is nude, stoic and motionless. A half-dozen students have formed a U-shape around her as they draw her, using charcoal pencils.

# data[].attributes.headline
“Projects that feature black actors and are created by black people are so important because what we see in the media dictates how we think about the world. Representation is so important for black kids growing up” — Amandla Stenberg 

# data[].attributes.subject
“Projects that feature black actors and are created by black people are so important because what we see in the media dictates how we think about the world. Representation is so important for black kids growing up” — Amandla Stenberg 

# data[].attributes.body
This is poem about Black Magic and all of the beautiful and amazing things that black people have done

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Chucky Black - "Black Magic" @WANPOETRY (Southern Fried 2015)