The Underground Railroad—the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, through the end of the Civil War—refers to the efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage. Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape. At first to maroon communities in remote or rugged terrain on the edge of settled areas and eventually across state and international borders. These acts of self-emancipation labeled slaves as "fugitives," "escapees," or "runaways," but in retrospect "freedom seeker" is a more accurate description. Many freedom seekers began their journey unaided and many completed their self-emancipation without assistance, but each subsequent decade in which slavery was legal in the United States, there was an increase in active efforts to assist escape.

Artomatic strengthens the artist community and builds an audience for that community by bringing together artists to temporarily transform available space into a creative place.

“We don’t trust each other. Who is we? YOU. In our greetings and dealings, we find it hard to trust each other. Trust in money. Trust in love. Trust in politics. Trust in what identifies us as a culture. The “Black Trust with the work of Maurice James Jr explores the story of the Afro-American Banks in our community, and expands into a trusted source that holds all things Black that we value as a people. This exhibition will take you on a historical exploration of Black Trust through communication based art as the artist, Maurice, challenges you to invest and put faith back into your own.

Welcome to the Black Trust Bank.”

Welcome to All Black Errything where it’s possible that a mirthful Black history took place! “Errything” is a phonetic moniker of the pronunciation of “everything” in the local dialect of the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia). As we pay homage to our ancestral Native American lands the Monacan Nation, including the Manahoke people, the traditional owners of the lands upon which George Mason University stands. We are also homaging the African descendants who are creating new narratives in the present day.

SHAOLIN JAZZ is pleased to present the next edition in our SOUND PATTERNS Art Exhibition

series with No. 8: An exploration of martial arts within the Black aesthetic, on view in

Washington, DC at The Honfleur Gallery from 3.4.23 – 4.8.23.

There has long been a relationship between martial arts and the African diaspora which goes

back for centuries. This relationship has been exhibited in a range of martial arts films where the

poor and disenfranchised fight against an oppressive force. This same sense of resiliency and

affinity towards martial arts culture has also been referenced in hip hop and black music

throughout the ages.

A museum should take you on a trip through History and time. Black People often talk about and create spaces just for Black People with a utopian idea but never just call it what it is, a Black Utopia. This Museum at the Anacostia Art Center is created to be the best of those two ideas. A Black Utopian space that tells the history and showcases the Power, Beauty, and Magic of Black People. My hope is that everyone who visits The Museum leaves with an increased level of Black Confidence. The Art on display was created to affect not only the observer's conscious thoughts but also their subconscious. The intention is to create a full mind, body and soul experience - new ideas to lead you into the Afro Future!