The August Wilson Center, Pittsburgh’s African American Cultural Center, offers interesting shows and exhibits. I recently experienced
Kaki King, a unique visual guitar experience in it’s 472-seat theater (see
Day 234). The center also has multiple
exhibition galleries(see schedule). Recently, by chance, I visited, “Funky
Turns 40: Black Character Revolution”, a show that focused on the significance of the positive change in Saturday morning black
cartoon characters in the 1970's-80’s.
 |
| This looks like the TV we had when I was a kid |
Reflection
I as a kid in the late 70’s, I remember enjoying "Fat Albert and the
Crosby Kids". I religiously watched the cartoon
repeating the jolly iconic “Hey Hey Hey” that was always a part of Fat Albert’s dialogue.
My friends and I loved the gang and laughed along with them each Saturday morning. I
did not realize that they were shaping positive images in my young mind. Apparently in the 1960's, the Black images
were ugly stereotypes. Fat Albert and other shows were a “revolution” of positive Black characters in
animation history.
 |
| Harlem Globtrotters |
There was a section dedicated to the Harlem Globetrotters and
I also remembered that cartoon. I think
I was more excited than my young son to see the Globetrotters when I took him
to a show in Pittsburgh when he was 8 years old!
 |
| Star-Trek -Lt. Uhura |
I had forgotten about
Star-Trek Lt. Uhura who was one of the first black TV beauties and of course
the Jackson 5 had us all singing and dancing on Saturday morning.
The change in the media reflected the changes in the civil rights advances during this time in history. For me this exhibition brought back positive happy childhood memories and maybe that is what we all need -more positive dialogue about any race. I guess when you think about it there was a bit of a paradigm shift on Saturday morning and that is something that should be celebrated!
 |
| Jackson Five, "ABC is easy as 123" |
I will continue keep the August Wilson Center and its
exhibition galleries and shows in my toolbox of new experiences. The next exhibition, “Went Looking for Beauty:Rehashing Self", a photography exhibit
by Deborah Willis, PH.D, opens on September 22, 2017.
Other Sources
https://culturaldistrict.org/pages/awc/
