American Legacy Magazine
The March 2008 issue of The Atlantic magazine has an interesting article about religion in Nigeria, and the online version has web-only multimedia features, such as a slideshow. "God's Country" intructs us on how "[u]sing militias and marketing strategies, Christianity and Islam are competing for believers by promising Nigerians prosperity in this world as well as salvation in the next. [It is a] report from the front lines."
The New York Times has posted a slide show about Martin Luther King Jr. public art. The photographer Camilo Jose Vergara provides the following summary: "In America's poorest ghettos, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s portrait is one of the most popular subjects of public art. These images, which I have been documenting since 1977, regularly appear on the walls of the liquor stores, auto-repair shops, fast-food restaurants, mom-and-pop stores and public housing projects of Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and many other cities across the country. The majority are the work of amateur artists. Though Dr. King is usually front and center, he is often accompanied by other inspirational figures: Nelson Mandela, John Paul II, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, Pancho Villa. He is often accompanied by his famous phrase, 'I have a dream' -- a reminder that in many of the communities where these murals exist, the gulf between hope and reality remains far too wide."
Zimbabwean graphic designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies uses "creative defiance" to "cut through complacency and apathy while trying to raise consciousness about an array of social issues from discrimination and human rights, to health and the environment." His work is very powerful.
Interested in supporting the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.? Visit the M.L.K. Memorial website.
The blog Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast has an interesting post about the Little Rock 9.
American Legacy Magazine "publishes African-American history and culture, factually and positively; material that is both informative and inspirational." Check out their web page for more details.
The Utne Reader has compiled a list of 50 top African artists.
If ever in San Francisco, make a plan to visit the Museum of the African Diaspora.