Film Screening of ”AJASS: Pioneers of the Black is Beautiful Movement“

The Herb Lubalin Study Center at The Cooper Union in conjunction with Cultural Caravan Productions, Inc., presents a screening of the award-winning documentary by Louise Dente, “AJASS: Pioneers of the Black is Beautiful Movement”.

The award-winning documentary by Louise Dente chronicles the journey of AJASS from its start in the South Bronx, where they first hosted jazz concerts, to Harlem where their projects expanded helping to shape the visual landscape of the second Harlem Renaissance in the process. The documentary will feature commentary from several prominent voices on the impact of AJASS and the Grandassa Models.

Everyone must show proof of vaccination (and an ID), or a negative PCR test taken within three days of their visit, or a negative rapid test result from a third party (not a home test) taken on the day of the visit.

For information regarding covering this event, please contact Louise Dente at Cultural Caravan Productions, Inc at: [email protected]

ABOUT AJASS

The African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS) was founded in 1956 by a group of four talented creatives, Elombe Brath, Kwame Brathwaite, Bob Gumbs, and Chris Acemandese Hall. Inspired by the writings of activist and Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, and his protégé, Carlos Cook of the African Nationalist Pioneer Movement (ANPM), AJASS was a collective of artists, playwrights, designers, musicians, and other Black creatives who sought to produce and promote their own work. Elombe Brath said that one of AJASS’s primary purposes was to “spread the idea of Black unity through appreciation of self, beauty of self — and to establish a Black standard."

In 1962, AJASS created the Grandassa Models, a modeling group for Black women, aiming to challenge white beauty standards. They also began hosting the annual “Naturally” beauty shows which featured the Grandassa Models. The shows featured Black women adorning afros and African attire to promote Afrocentric beauty. The Naturally shows launched the influential “Black is Beautiful” movement in the USA and throughout the African diaspora. AJASS also created the AJASS Repertory Theatre group which included noted actors Frank Adu Robinson, David K. Ward, Ernest Baxter, and Leroy Satch Giles.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, 41 Cooper Square, New York, United States