IUPUI’s Center for Africana Studies launched new series with A’Lelia Bundles

The IUPUI Center for Africana Studies and Culture introduced a new webinar, “In Conversation with A’Lelia Bundles: Critical Discussion Series,” on Oct. 5. The post IUPUI’s Center for Africana Studies launched new series with A’Lelia Bundles appeared first on Indianapolis Recorder.

IUPUI’s Center for Africana Studies launched new series with A’Lelia Bundles

The IUPUI Center for Africana Studies and Culture introduced a new webinar, “In Conversation with A’Lelia Bundles: Critical Discussion Series,” on Oct. 5.

Bundles, the great-great-granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker and founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives, joined three other panelists to analyze how Black Midwesterners are portrayed in pop culture. The panelists were author Tamara Winfrey-Harris, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans, and artist and curator Mariah Ivey. Joseph Tucker Edmonds, associate professor of Africana studies, was the moderator.

Panelists talked about how the Black Midwest is often overlooked in conversations that involve popular culture, although the region has produced many successful people, movements, films and trends.

“If you don’t see the Black Midwest, you cannot see America,” Winfrey-Harris said.

Indianapolis native Kenneth Brian Edmonds, known as Babyface, is a singer and songwriter; Toni Morrison is an Ohio native and author; Michael Jackson is an Indiana native. These individuals represent just a few of the Black Midwesterners panelists spoke about.

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During the conversation, some panelists noticed a trend: Most successful Black Midwesterners leave the Midwest and migrate to different cities to pursue their careers.

Ivey explained there’s this idea of moving and taking things elsewhere because Black people must create their own spaces living in the Midwest, while in other places those spaces for Black creatives are already there.

“This is going to spark something in people to know that your stories are important,” Bundles said.

Contact staff writer Timoria Cunningham at 317-762-7854 or email timoriac@indyrecorder.com. Follow her on Twitter @_timoriac.

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