Elizabeth City State University News February 2020 Internationally Acclaimed Photographer and ECSU Alumnus Joshua Rashaad McFadden Examines Black Masculinity in Latest Exhibit Elizabeth City State University graduate and internationally acclaimed photographer, Joshua Rashaad McFadden's latest exhibition, "Evidence," aims to share new ideas on black masculinity. Mr. McFadden's work is on display at Visual Studies Workshop from Feb. 21 to June 27, and marks his hometown debut in Rochester, New York. A 2012 ECSU graduate, Mr. McFadden has held exhibitions and workshops at his alma mater. Mr. McFadden was recognized as one of Time Magazine's "American Voices" and received the Duke University Archive of Documentary Arts Collection Award for Documentarians of Color. His "I Am A Man" photographic series with the Smithsonian Magazine won him the 2018 Communication Arts Award of Excellence. Mr. McFadden uses portraiture and archival imagery to explore themes and concepts related to identity, masculinity, history, race, and sexuality. "Evidence" is the latest in his ongoing series centering on black men. In his acclaimed exhibit and award-winning book, "Come to Selfhood," Mr. McFadden presented a collection of portraits culled from a random sampling of young adult black men displayed alongside photos of their fathers and father figures around their age with handwritten meditations on masculinity and race. "Evidence" features images of the men he photographed in the North and South that also serve as documentation of their existence, according to Mr. McFadden. Mr. McFadden says the public arts project incorporates The North Star, the newspaper published by Rochester adopted son and American icon Frederick Douglass, who was once enslaved, as well as explorations of black male identity and ruminations on freedom. Original editions of Frederick Douglass' The North Star newspapers dating back to the 1800s will be displayed in the exhibition at Visual Studies Workshop. As a public art project, "Evidence" also distributes its own "newspaper" filled with fresh essays and prose examining black male identity historically and in the present-day. The voices of award-winning playwright and "New Amsterdam" TV series writer Jireh B. Holder, actor/singer Dyllón Burnside (best known for his role as Ricky Evangelista in the series "Pose"), historian K. Anthony Jones, renaissance man Thomas Allen Harris who is a director, photographer, writer, and professor, as well as Mr. McFadden himself, shed light on the multifaceted existence of black men while exploring issues critical to the past, present and future. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> Honor the ancestors, honor the children and those yet to come. Building Capacity for Humanities Special Collections at HBCUs - Become an ally and partner with us to protect, preserve and share a more authentic record of American history. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/humanities-2019.html for more information. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/ and click on the Donate Now button to invest in this project. Your support is appreciated. 2020 Summer Conservation/Preservation Internships - eight fully-funded, eight-week summer internships in library and archives preservation in 2020 at eight nationally recognized library preservation/conservation laboratories. Follow this link http://hbculibraries.org/2020-interns.html for more information. The application finishline is Saturday, February 22. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/