For Question Bridge: Black Males, Chris Johnson and Hank Willis Thomas, with Bayeté Ross Smith and Kamal Sinclair, spent years traveling to twelve American cities and towns speaking with 150 Black men, who represented a range of geographic, generational, economic, and educational backgrounds. The varied speakers seem to be in dialogue with one another, their reflections sharing common self-selected themes, usually left unspoken, that challenge generalizations often based on racist systems of oppression and white supremacy. Considering Question Bridge nearly a decade later, and under the changed and newly charged political context of 2020, shifts in priorities and language are notable—and discussions about Black self-definition and self-determination remain incisive and urgent calls.
Tune in to Screen Time on our Instagram Live, today at 1pm, where Hank Willis Thomas amd Bayeté Ross Smith will discuss Question Bridge: Black Males, and view an excerpt of it out on our plaza as part of our Art on the Stoop: Sunset Screenings series, showing each Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday through November 8, starting at 6pm.
Chris Johnson (born Brooklyn, New York, 1948), Hank Willis Thomas (born Plainfield, New Jersey, 1976), Bayeté Ross Smith (American, born 1976), Kamal Sinclair (American, born 1976). Excerpts from Question Bridge: Black Males, 2011. Single-channel video (color, sound): 15 min. 22 sec. excerpt from 2 hr., 53 min. Brooklyn Museum; Alfred T. White Fund 2012.52
