Research Symposium

BIO

My name is Asiyah Ali-Salahuddin, and I am a first-generation, second-year student majoring in Retail Entrepreneurship and minoring in Psychology at Florida State University. During my time at FSU, I plan to build my network, grow personally and professionally, and utilize my resources in both my undergraduate and graduate programs so that I am properly equipped to fulfill a career within sustainable product development and fashion designing.

The Black Artists Way

Abstract

Disparities for talented Black Artists has caused many creatives to be shunned out of their desired avenue. Due to systemic racism, there is a long history of Black art either being stolen, copied with no recognition, or failure within the field. Without a doubt, Black creatives have been robbed and stripped of the many things that make them special. Our mission of our project is to highlight the many Black artists who have pioneered and paved the way through their courageous, inspirational and strengthening work. We selected artists who included their history through their work as a way to connect their identity. We selected 6 women to research this past year ( Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Dorothy Dandridge, Billie Holiday, Lorraine Hansberry, and Nina Simone) in hopes of identifying their character and their significant contributions to history that haven’t been celebrated.
With the influence of these women, “The Black Artists Way” was created in hopes to educate students, researchers, and many other educators on this discussion. We aspire to inspire people within the arts with a visualization of the brilliance that were these women. In efforts to create more diversification in the classroom, we put together archives that will be included in an educational film for students. To honor these impactful figures, we chose the photos that portrayed them in their glory as that was not always the case with the media in the age that they lived in due to racial injustices.

Keywords: black, art, joy, creative