CALIFORNIA FUTURES FORUM | Question Bridge: Black Males Blueprint Roundtable

Question Bridge: Black Males is an innovative video installation created by artists Chris Johnson and Hank Willis Thomas in collaboration with Bayeté Ross Smith and Kamal Sinclair after traveling around the country, interviewing 150 Black men in eleven cities. They created 1,500 videos of conversations with men representing a range of geographic, generational, economic, and educational levels. They then wove the conversations together to simulate a stream-of-consciousness dialogue, allowing important themes and issues to emerge, including family; love; interracial relationships; community; education; violence; and the past, present, and future of Black men in American society.

 "Why didn't you leave us the blueprint?"

The roundtable responds to a question posed by a member of the Hip Hop generation to members of the Civil Rights generation, "Why didn't you leave us the blueprint?" This question is the catalyst for a multigenerational discussion about local barriers to communication between Black males; values; leadership; and strategies for overcoming social issues that have emerged in local communities over the past 40 years. Artist Chris Johnson and actor Jesse Williams (Grey's Anatomy) join moderator Chris Chatmon, executive officer of OUSD's Office of African-American Male Achievement, and a panel of local Black male youth, young adult community leaders, and established Black male community leaders. Panelists include: Abel Habtegeorgis, Pendarvis Harshaw, Gregory Hodge, Sean Johnson, Abbas Khalid, Ise Lyfe, Joshua Merchant, Arnold Perkins, and you!

The event opens with a commissioned site-specific dance by Motif Performance Project with choreographer Rashad Pridgen.

Included with Museum admission. Seating is first-come-first served.
For group tickets, email groupsales@museumca.org or call 510-318-8470.

Join the discussion live! Stream Blueprint in real-time at www.ustream.tv/channel/question-bridge

Join the Blueprint dialogue with #oaklandblueprint and follow @questionbridge & @oaklandmuseumca on Twitter.

Download and share the eFlyer for this event!

This program is presented in partnership with the Office of African American Male Achievement, the Oakland Museum of California, and Question Bridge: Black Males.

Question Bridge: Black Males is sponsored by the Bay Area Video Coalition and supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Institute: Campaign for Black Male Achievement, The Tribeca Film Institute, The Sundance Film Institute's New Frontier Story Lab, the LEF Foundation, The Center for Cultural Innovation, UPM, DualStar Digital, and The California College of the Arts; and in collaboration with transmedia production partner Innovent, Inc. and general production partner farWorld, Inc.

OMCA'S "Question Bridge: Black Male Blueprint Roundtable" kicks off a series of Blueprint Roundtables in cities around the nation in venues including the Brooklyn Museum and the Atlanta Civic Center. For more information on OMCA's Question Bridge exhibition and related programs visit: museumca.org, or for more information on other Question Bridge: Black Male Blueprint Roundtables and community events visit questionbridge.com