During the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and ‘70s African American people exerted their artistic potential. The movement was full of black excellence across many spectrums, but most articles only mention three parts of the movement: the work of Amiri Baraka, the poets and jazz music. What’s missing from the narrative is visual arts and dance. 

Hannah Foster, author of “Black Past,” begins by describing Amiri Baraka, as he’s seen as the “Father of the Black Arts Movement.” She proceeds to write about how jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Archie Shepp and others were celebrated.

For an article dedicated to the understanding of African American history, I’m surprised that there isn't more discussion of other parts of the movement. For example, a Google Images search of “Black Arts Movement” yields a lot of artistic drawings. Yet, the drawing aspect of the movement is barely mentioned in articles that cover this topic. 

Non-profit website Poets.org mentions Baraka and his significance because they also view him as an important figure. The website focuses on the poetry aspect of the Black Arts Movement because “poetry was the genre that saw the most expansion and growth at the time.” The site shares information about Baraka and his poems, but it fails to acknowledge other important aspects of the movement such as the transformation of art or women's role in exhibiting the black aesthetic. 

Learning about the Black Arts Movements solely through the lens of writing, men and music is bad because it is a limited perspective. I find it saddening that only these aspects of the Black Arts Movement are displayed. Many sources accuse the movement of sexism, but these sources also exclude female artists who strived to make the Black Arts Movement even more popular. 

I could only find one article that focused on another type of art: painting. In “Widewalls,” notable journalist Patina Lee explores theater, dancing and drawing. For example, Lee mentions Jeff Donaldson, who was a respected artist known for his “Wall Of Respect” mural. Lee writes that he was “one of the most prolific visual authors.” If it weren’t for this article, I would have never learned about the art and theatre parts of the Black Arts Movement. If we are to learn about something as encouraging and powerful as the Black Arts Movement, I would want to learn every aspect of it. Wouldn’t you?

Why aren't we learning about the Black Arts Movement in its entirety? Firstly, sexism was much more prevalent in the ‘60s. Women, in general, were looked down upon by men and males were seen as the dominant gender. The Black Arts Movement was criticized for being sexist, and I believe it was. You can definitely find solid information on the web that explains how women contributed to the movement now, but the articles themselves would tell you that during the Black Arts Movement women seemed to be excluded. 

How come writing is so heavily discussed, and specifically poems? A partial answer that explains this is the fact that the start of the Black Arts Movement revolved around poems. Also, since poems were short and could be recited at rallies or protests to sway the people, poetry was one of the most popular aspects of the movement due to its effectiveness. 

The Black Arts Movement let people see the aesthetics of black culture and put black people from various many professions in the spotlight. The Movement can be criticized in any way, but you can’t deny the fact that the movement did a lot of good. It helped Black culture progress and thrive at a time where the dominant racial group was trying to aggressively oppress them.

Matthew Williams has been ahead of the fashion world for some time with his brand 1017 Alyx 9SM. It’s only been around for five years, but Williams never seems to let down with his work. His newest take on “minimalistic” fashion is no exception. 

Wiliams grew up in Chicago, surrounded by Californian trends of skating and LA skatewear. Since then, he’s gone from being a creative director for Lady Gaga to being a part of BEEN TRILL, a strictly streetwear brand from the minds of fashion legends like Heron Preston and Virgil Abloh. Williams brings a new wave of punk-inspired, cut and clean fashion. The date is June 23, 2019, and 1017 Alyx 9SM SS20 came to win at the Paris Spring 2020 Fashion Week show. 

Wiliams demonstrates how he wants businesswear to be the main focus by holding this show at Le Centorial, a bank in downtown Paris. As models walked, Williams gave us his best season to date, trading in the grunge heavy blacks and bright reds for his take on what a futuristic business aesthetic may be.

One piece that needs to be mentioned is the CAMO HOODED PUFFER JACKET. This is a piece that if you see it, you will want to see it again. The jacket consists of a print that will put you into a trance if you look for too long. As more models passed by the audience, we see more and more creative visuals of this new age. I believe the 29th model to walk was the best. The way his hair matched his jacket was perfect for the aesthetic. The jacket he wore covered most of his face, giving us a sense of menace; someone who shouldn’t be played with. Alongside him, we see Wiliams’ take on a messenger bag, included with the iconic industrial belt to give it the Alyx look.

Williams never regrets bringing his friends into his work. We see people like Skepta, Don C and Jerry Lorenzo in the crowd, and John Ross, a close friend of Williams who walks in his shows. Williams also brought his family into this season. Alyx is named after his daughter, and his wife walked in his show to applause from the audience. It seemed like another day of their wedding. Nothing else in that moment mattered; it was just a woman working for her husband. Women seem to be a big part of Alyx as the brand was originally for women, only adding men’s items in 2016.

Alyx 9SM SS20 is not a statement of current fashion. This is not a current idea. Alyx 9SM SS20 is what happens when we put everything into nothing. Williams makes his blank canvas into his ideas for tomorrow. The show stands in its own territory. It doesn't do what other fashion houses do — it does what must be done. From that, we get what some may say is the next Marc Jacobs. But I don't agree with this claim. We cannot compare two people who have different ideas and goals for what they want to bring into the fashion world. We cannot judge the past with the present, because then we would stay stuck in the past, trapped by previous ideologies.

Marc Jacobs is Marc Jacobs. Mathew Williams is Matthew Williams. And Alyx is a statement of that. 

Alyx SS20 is set to be released before June 2020 at https://www.alyxstudio.com/#shop and will be available in stores at All Too Human, 236 Clarendon St., Back Bay.
MBTA: Green Line at Copley

With the 2020 presidential election on the horizon, many Americans are interested in learning more about the types of people who would join them in support of certain candidates. The two most radical candidates in the coming election are the self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and far-right president Donald Trump. Trump has run under a consistent banner of bringing jobs and business back to America and strengthening border security, while the Sanders campaign has emphasized enforcing welfare and implementing universal healthcare. 

For many readers like myself, this will be the first time we participate in an American election, and unfortunately, many of us are uninformed when it comes to the candidates for whom we will vote. To better understand these two campaigns and the support behind them, I signed up myself and two 18-year-old classmates — Luca Cartewright and Ava Healy of Boston Latin Academy — to receive emails from each campaign. By looking at them, not only can we learn more about the attitudes of the campaigns themselves, but also the kind of rhetoric that their supporters respond to. 

The largest differences between the campaign emails were in the way they communicate their message to the reader. While the emails from the Sanders campaign were signed by his campaign manager, a person who conceivably could have written them, the Trump emails sought to suggest they were from a member of our president’s family, or even the president himself. Emails from the Trump campaign often worked to compound this idea of direct communication by referring to the email recipient by their first name, and by including a picture of the person they were “signed” by next to the signature. The Sanders campaign emails made no such attempt to connect with supporters on a personal level. This difference would suggest that supporters of the Trump campaign enjoy a strong feeling of individuality, while constant references to numerous supporters in the Sanders emails suggest that his supporters prefer to feel like part of a massive collective.

The tones of the emails also greatly contrast with each other. The Trump emails make a grand effort when it comes to maintaining the illusion of the recipient being spoken to directly by the president, with quotes like, “I really want to meet you, [recipient]. I’m having a very important, very exclusive lunch that day, and I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather share it with.” One of my classmates, Cartewright, claimed that she could hear [Trump’s] voice when reading the emails. One would think that the campaign would work to tone down the often-critiqued brash nature of its candidate, but it seems that Trump supporters enjoy the straightforward look it presents. 

The Sanders campaign emails, on the other hand, significantly tone down any raw emotions their candidate may express. They take a more humble approach when asking for money, and use far softer language when explaining why Sanders supporters should donate. “In just a moment, I am going to ask you to make a contribution to Bernie 2020, our campaign for president. Please give me a chance to explain why this request — especially right now — is so important.”

Trump emails will often capitalize words haphazardly in an attempt to express the dire situation the country is in, and use words like “Need” and “Erase” to illustrate how serious the outcome of the election is. The emails of the Sanders campaign use a different method, using encouraging language and saying things like “thousands of people across the country are already out there on phones, at doors, and on the streets sharing their stories and shoring up support for the America we want to see.”

The most important discovery made by myself and my classmates was the main similarity in both campaigns: How they paint a picture of the opposition. In both campaigns, the opposing party is portrayed as not representing the “average person” in America. The Sanders campaign says that all other candidates are funded by unnamed “Big Corporations,” and the Trump campaign takes a similar angle of saying that liberals are funded by “Hollywood” and “Fake News.” Both work to paint a picture of themselves and their supporters fighting as the underdog against some massive conspiracy within the opposing party.

As both my classmates noted, “The emails are mainly looking for money.” The end goal of these campaign strategies, extracting donations from supporters, is something they share. Since both campaigns are radical versions of their given political ideology, it makes sense that their base would respond well to the same emotions. Namely, fear, anger and a feeling of authenticity. As the election draws closer, it is important for those voting not only to be aware of who they are standing behind but also to be aware of the kind of people standing with them.