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Praise & Protest: Voices of the Chicago Black Renaissance will open at the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection at Woodson Regional Library on Wednesday, September 17. The exhibition explores the impact of Chicago’s Black artists, scholars, and activists from the 1930s to the 1950s.
This period, known as the Chicago Black Renaissance, was marked by significant contributions to American culture and identity by Black creators in the city. Their work laid a foundation for later cultural movements such as the Black Arts Movement.
The exhibit uses archival records from the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection to highlight this important chapter in history. According to organizers, “Praise & Protest shines a light on this distinguished yet understudied history whose seminal scholarly, literary, and artistic explorations of Black life in America are a beacon and a guide to confront injustices that echo still today.”
Opening night will feature a conversation with poet, publisher, and activist Professor Haki Madhubuti. Madhubuti is described as “a cultural son of Chicago Renaissance artists Gwendolyn Brooks and Margaret Burroughs, founder of Third World Press, and an architect of the Black Arts Movement.” The discussion will be moderated by Tonika Johnson, founder of The Folded Map Project and recipient of the 2024 Gordon Parks Fellowship.
The exhibition is part of Magnitude and Bond: Linking and Building Relationships Across Chicago’s Black Visual Art Collections project at the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection. This initiative seeks to raise awareness about African American art archives within Chicago Public Library collections while supporting emerging scholars from underrepresented communities.
Organizers note that these events are supported by funding from both the Getty Foundation and the Chicago Public Library Foundation.
A public program titled Praise & Protest: Voices from the Chicago Black Renaissance with Haki Madhubuti will take place on opening night at 5:00pm. Organizers invite attendees for “a moderated discussion” where Professor Madhubuti “will reflect on his legacy, his connection to the Chicago Black Renaissance and how his work as founder and publisher of the oldest independent Black publishing house in the country has contributed to the preservation of this transformative cultural era.”
