We are using our platforms to amplify black and indigenous voices, and share art and educational resources by BIPOC. 
Find on this page a curated list of the artists and pieces we've featured already. 
Have a suggestion of someone or something we should be including? Email us at [email protected].

We strongly recommend clicking through the titles and learning more about the artists and organizations featured below.

Some of the resources we are sharing are targeted towards children and young people – we encourage our adult community members to engage with these as well. No one is too old to learn, or unlearn.

(Looking for where to donate to support organizations working against white supremacy and police brutality? Click Here)

Jarrett Key

A MFA candidate at RISD Painting 2020 whose work integrates movement, song, and painting.

Their Hair Painting Series re-imagines the collective bodily memories and rituals of the Black community by engaging its narratives of strength, courage, and resilience in an examination of past, present, and future.

​HAIR PAINTING NO. 21
[please click HERE to watch on Jarrett's website]

2017
18 minute in duration
Video, Tempera on Canvas and Paper, Soundscape
Featuring Jarrett Key
Shot by Tara Sgroi
Edited by Jarrett Key
Overalls - Patterned and Sewn by Jarrett Key
Soundscape – Composed, arranged and edited by Jarrett Key

Click here to pre-order “HAIN’T,” their Thesis Book from RISD MFA Painting 2020.

Jarrett Key’s thesis book examines their journey towards understanding their freedom through three lenses: Survival, Transformation and Celebration.

Jarrett auctioned off one of their Hair Paintings to benefit the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, a Black Trans and Queer-led organization based in Atlanta, GA.
​You can learn more about their work and donate to them here.

"The Rendering Cycle"
​by Genevieve Jessee

A live Zoom performance presented by the Playground Zoom Fest. 

[this production has closed​]

In the spirit of August Wilson’s The Pittsburgh Cycle, Genevieve Jessee’s THE RENDERING CYCLE explores the African American experience through ten interwoven 10-minute plays depicting a saga of inextricable tradition, trauma and joy across continents and characters ranging from present-day United States to West Africa of a millennium past.
Click here for an interview with Genevieve Jessee about "The Rendering Cycle."

​

The Playground partnered with the following organizations: 

The Lorraine Hansberry theater,
the African American Arts & Culture Complex,
the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House,
and the Museum of African Diaspora


Genevieve Jessee is on New Play Exchange. 

"A is for Activist"

by Innosanto Nagara
read by Saladin Allah

This is a part of an ongoing Story Time series by the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, and produced by the Atlantis School for Gifted Youngsters. 

Innosanto Nagara is an activist and graphic designer who also writes and illustrates social justice themed children’s books.
You can purchase more of his books from his website directly by clicking here, including a Spanish adaptation of “A is for Activist” by Martha Gonzalez.

Click the image to the right to buy Innosanto’s “The Battle for Hearts and Minds” 2020 Poster Calendar, for just $16:

While he is no longer an active member of the organization, Innosanto launched and co-founded the Design Action Collective, a design firm that is a worker-owned and managed cooperative and a union shop. They provide graphic design and visual communications for progressive, non-profit, and social change organizations. You can learn more here.

Clint Smith

Clint Smith is writer, teacher, and the author of Counting Descent, which won the 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award.

Buy Clint’s book of poetry from a Black-owned bookstore –– You can buy the audiobook of “Counting Descent” through Uncle Bobbie’s bookstore. Alternately, you can get on the waitlist through Eso Won books.

PLEASE NOTE: History Reconsidered includes reference to sexual assault and violence against black bodies

The Brown Bookshelf

The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers.

​We featured a read-aloud of Sing a Song: How 'Lift Every Voice & Sing’ Inspired Generations by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Keith Mallett. While that video is no longer available, you can buy the book from “Brain Lair Books,” a Black-owned bookstore

This was a part of their Generations Book Club:  Black Music Month. They'll post the next round of reading on June 15th. 
​
Their mission for Generations is to raise awareness of Black children’s book creators, nurture literacy skills, foster community and show that Black books are in demand.

How To Talk To Kids About Race

by Imani Razat
An article via ParentMap, in which experts offer 8 approaches to broaching the topic.

Something Happened In Our Town
a child's story about racial injustice

​by Ann Hazzard, Marianne Celano, and Marietta Collins, and illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin

Read by Saladin Allah

This is a part of an ongoing Story Time series by the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, and produced by the Atlantis School for Gifted Youngsters. 

The Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center reveals authentic stories of Underground Railroad freedom seekers and abolitionists in Niagara Falls that inspire visitors to recognize modern injustices that stem from slavery and take action toward an equitable society.
Donate to them here

The Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters is a global institution founded in Niagara Falls, NY that promotes educational programs, creative arts, cultural initiatives, audiovisual projects and commerce that supports the positive growth and development of youth and families.
Donate to them here

Camille A. Brown

​Camille A. Brown is a prolific choreographer who utilizes musical composition as storytelling and makes a personal claim on history through the lens of a modern Black female perspective.

You can hear her talk about an experience sharing this work at a primarily white school here: 

Here is her dance "ink." The seven sections of "ink" represent superpowers of spirituality, history and heritage, the celebration of the Black female body, Black love, brotherhood, exhaustion, and community.”

Hiawatha D

Hiawatha D is a local Seattle artist and his visual art collection:
​ Iconic Black Women.

Inspired by Black people transcending historical, societal, racial and economic challenges in America, Iconic Black Women is Hiawatha D.’s homage to the resilience and influence of Black women and Black women history-makers. Hiawatha painted these works during Women’s History Month, March 2019. 
​
 Several of the pieces in this collection are inspired by legends such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Oprah Winfrey, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Serena Williams. Although iconic figures, they represent incredible stories that meet everyone in a special place. Hiawatha D. believes we can all recognize and see ourselves in these moving and powerful images.

For more information, purchasing artwork, or donating, check out his website here.

Here is a short video about this collection of artwork from the Northwest African American Museum:

Here is an interview with Hiawatha D from the Seattle Times.

Idris Goodwin

Idris Goodwin is an award-winning playwright, Break Beat poet, director, educator, and organizer. He is the new Director of The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. ​

Idris Goodwin offers five short plays for multi-generational audiences to spark conversation about race in America. You can check out the play series here. 

Lady A

​This songstress is a Seattle local. Her love of music, gospel background, Louisiana roots, and  musical family always led her back to the Blues and Gospel music, mixed with flavors of soul and funk like a perfect jambalaya.  Known as "The Hardest Workin Woman in Blues, Soul, Funk & Gospel" visit her website to find out more. 

Here is her song, “Honey Hush” written about her grandmother and performed in Fremont’s High Dive with the Marmalade Band.  ​

You can check out and purchase Lady A’s music here!