Holding Lightning The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston The Center for Black Visual Culture welcomes author and cultural critic Emily Lordi for a talk and signing of her new biography, Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston, in conversation with ethnomusicologist Dr. Fredara Hadley. Drawing on unprecedented access to Houston’s inner circle, Lordi reframes the icon known as “The Voice” as a serious artist and woman of conviction who insisted on being the architect of her own career. Join us for an evening that places Whitney Houston’s life and legacy within the larger history of Black celebrity. Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston is the first major biography of an artist whose soaring voice defined a generation and helped open the door for Black women in pop music. Lordi moves beyond the familiar narrative of Houston as a tragic figure shaped by others, instead revealing...

Caught in the Act: Desire, Womanhood, and the “Good Woman” in Nollywood Programmed by Gallatin MA Candidate Eliel Peterson, join NYU’s Center for Black Visual Culture for a screening of the 2008 Nollywood film Caught in the Act, directed by Charles Inojie and co-presented by Nolly Babes. The film follows separated twin sisters, played by Genevieve Nnaji, whose lives collide as one sister deals with an abusive mother-in-law, and the other, a life of crime. The screening will be followed by a conversation featuring Venessa Appiah, Jediael Peterson, and Baaba Annan, current doctoral scholars whose work engages questions of gender, identity, and visual culture. Together, the panelists will consider how Nollywood has represented women’s desire and agency, the cultural expectations attached to the figure of the “good woman,” and the ways African filmmakers use popular cinema to negotiate, and challenge, ideas of respectability, womanhood, and gendered life across African contexts. The evening will...

Dejha Carrington Artist-Scholar in Residence Welcome Reception Join the Center for Black Visual Culture as we welcome Dejha Carrington, CBVC’s 2026–27 Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, for a celebratory reception marking the start of her fellowship. Carrington is an arts leader and co-founder of Commissioner, a collaborative model and social practice that brings locals together to support contemporary artists and collect art in their cities. Come welcome Dejha to CBVC as she begins a residency dedicated to storytelling, process, and meaning-making in the arts. Dejha Carrington is an arts leader and cultural practitioner. In 2017, she cofounded Commissioner, an innovative membership model and social practice that brings locals together to support contemporary artists and collect art in their cities. As Executive Director, she has cultivated an inclusive community that has collectively funded over 50 curated artist commissions in Miami, Detroit, Montreal, and Mexico City, with plans for national expansion through 2030. Through programs that offer transformative access,...

Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America The Center for Black Visual Culture and the Asian Pacific American Institute welcome author Jeff Chang and cultural critic Bakari Kitwana to discuss Chang’s new publication Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America. This conversation will be followed by a book signing, where copies will be available for purchase.As the best-known martial artist and one of the most celebrated action stars ever, Bruce Lee is a global icon. He symbolizes swagger, strength, and the unbeatable spirit of the underdog. But in more than fifty years since his untimely death at age thirty-two, the legend has eclipsed the real man. During his lifetime, Bruce fought to be seen—from Hong Kong to Hollywood, Asian tenements to American ghettos, the lonely garret to the international screen. He emerged as a star in an era when Asian Americans were fighting against exclusion...

Larry Cook and Dr. Nicole Fleetwood in Conversation The Center for Black Visual Culture, the Department of Social & Cultural Analysis, and Tilt Institute are pleased to present a public conversation with artist Larry W. Cook and scholar and curator Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, focusing on contemporary photographic practices among system-impacted artists on January 30 from 6:00 - 8:00 in Flex Space (4th Floor of 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY) Cook and Fleetwood will discuss how system-impacted photographers are generating new image cultures that exceed the limits of criminal index/surveillance strategies and their aesthetics: experimenting with self-representation, collaborating across distance and time, building personal and collective archives, and creating new visual languages of representation, refusal, and futurity. Together, they will reflect on how photography becomes a medium not only for survival and testimony, but also for re-imagining identity, kinship, and belonging.Wherever There Is Light is on display at the Cooper Square...

Wherever There is Light Exhibition Opening On January 29, TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image (TILT) and Center for Black Visual Culture at the Institute of African American Affairs unveil Wherever There Is Light, an extraordinary traveling exhibition featuring the photography of four formerly incarcerated artists as they share their experiences within the United States penal system. Through emotional and powerful images, the exhibition explores the profound impact of mass incarceration on individuals, families, and communities. The show is curated by Dr. Melanee C. Harvey and is led by Washington, D.C.-based photographer Larry W. Cook. Exhibiting artists include José Díaz, Don “Ike” Jones, Vernon Ray, Akeil Robertson, and Larry Cook. Through digital photography, portraits, and vernacular photography, these artists share their personal stories and perspectives of the prison system, offering an intimate and powerful exploration of life within and beyond incarceration. They also explore themes that invite audiences to reflect, connect with...

International Students in Limbo Presented by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU. Co-sponsored by the NYU Migration Network and NYU Center for Black Visual Culture. International students studying in the United States have found themselves in the cross-hairs of many current federal policies and strategies. A majority of international students hail from Asian nations, the rate of those arriving from Sub-Saharan Africa is growing at the fastest rate, and Latinx students make up more than half of those who are undocumented and now increasingly being treated as international, despite having lived in the United States for many years. From travel bans to visa revocations, punitive measures against campus protests and cuts in federal funding of research, recent actions have made the position of all these students quite precarious.      Of institutions with large shares of international students, NYU ranks amongst the highest. With approximately 44% of its student body made up of international students,...

“I Was There”: Stories from the Elders of the House/Ball Community Presented by The Hemispheric Institute at NYU. Co-sponsored by The Center for Black Visual Culture This evening summons past and present in an oral history listening session with Pioneers and living legends from the New York Ballroom Community. Confirmed Participants: Tommie LaBeija, La Duchess Wong, Egypt LaBeija, José Disla Xtravaganza, and Kevin Ultra Omni (virtual). The event will be moderated by Victor Ultra Omni (Emory). This is an in-person event that requires registration. All non-NYU attendees must RSVP in advance. Video documentation will be made available on the Institute website following the event.   RSVP Date:  September 18, 2025 Time:  6:00pm to 8:00pm Location: 5th Floor,20 Cooper Square, 5th floor, New York, NY 10003

Join the Center for Black Visual Culture as we welcome our Fall 2025 Artist-Scholar-in-Residence, dream hampton. dream hampton is an award-winning filmmaker and writer from Detroit. For three decades her essays and cultural criticism helped shape a generation. Her most recent works include the award winning short film “Freshwater” (NYT OpDocs/PBS, 2023) and “Ladies First” (Netflix, 2023). In 2019 she was showrunner and Executive Producer of the Emmy nominated docuseries, “Surviving R. Kelly” (Netflix), which broke ratings records and earned her a Peabody Award. That year she was named one of TIME 100’s most influential people in the world. Register for the Event This welcome reception will feature remarks from the Center for Black Visual Culture and dream hampton. Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm EDT (23:00 - 00:30 BST) Location: 20 Cooper Square Room: 3rd Floor Lobby Cost: Free

Reflections in Black: A Reframing. The Center for Black Visual Culture and Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Photography & Imaging are pleased to announce Reflections in Black: A Reframing. Curated by Dr. Deborah Willis, this exhibition accompanies the release of the 25th anniversary edition of Willis’ internationally acclaimed publication Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present; the first comprehensive history of black photographers. Reflections in Black: A Reframing showcases the profound visual archive Black image makers have established since the late nineteenth century, and expands upon the publication’s first iteration originally published in 2000. Reflections in Black: A Reframing includes modern and original prints and extends Willis’s pioneering effort to reshape the narrative of American history, by centering the indisputable aesthetic, political, and cultural contributions of Black photographers from the 19th century to the present. Featured in the exhibition is The Missing Chapter: Black Chronicles,...