Malcolm X once said: “We need more light on each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience and patience creates unity. “
Much simply depends on the willingness to be understanding and not judgmental. I think that’s the feeling that residents of areas like South Dallas and Oak Cliff sometimes have to ponder. After all, there are so many things that people outside of these areas are missing out on in terms of art, culture, and some really deeply rooted communities.
There is much to be appreciated in the cliff. Including some amazing talent! I am so excited to introduce the newest diamond in the hood that comes my way.
Artist Nathan Wright, who goes by the professional name of Great Black Century, grew up in Plano, but his family history has its roots in Oak Cliff, where he has lived since 2007. I was excited to see how Nathan got into the art world.
“I was just kind of born into it. My father is an artist, my sister and I, we are both terribly baptized artistically. Everything is a project and a creation; we just have to adjust everything for ourselves. ”
For the past two years, Great Black Century has really brought its art to the public arena. His amazing play “sallaD” is currently being shown in the historic forest theater.
Fascinating Treat: Great Black Century’s parents spent a lot of time at The Forest Theater as their teenagers and now his work is on view there. Talk about a full circle moment!
There is also a lot to say about his thoroughly digestible piece, but we’ll get into that in a moment.
But let’s talk about inspiration first. As most of us in the community know, many of us were forced to truly rely on our gifts during the pandemic. I mean we had nothing but time. Great Black Century took full advantage of the extra time to really dig deeper into their craft.
“These [art] is the greater part of my existence or my functionality. I’m just fed up with doing what makes me feel whole in my free time. ”That part. Profound.
The Great Black Century play “sallaD”, which took 88 hours of love, was commissioned for MLK Food Park and carries the message that South Dallas is essentially a food wasteland: the lack of green spaces and healthy opportunities in the world Local community. When you look at the piece, you are immediately caught up in the neon yellow, appropriately centering (almost screaming) MLK.
“SallaD” from Great Black Century
Of course, the focus is on black farming and horticulture, but that doesn’t explain the deep history that Great Black Century took as inspiration for the letter “M” when it came to the overall work. How deep? He examined indigenous tribes that were in the Dallas area prior to colonization, particularly the Wichita and affiliated tribes (the Jumanos, the Kiikaapoi and the Tawakoni), whose seal appears in the middle of the “M”. Why?
“I like to include country approval in all of my work.”
On the other side of the “M” you can see a “Black Goddess of the Greens”. For the letter “L” he focused on the marquee of the forest theater with a play on words that boasted “FOR US”. (I hope you heard that.)
For the last letter “K” he focused on Big Tex. As we know, Big Tex “is associated with the State Fair of Texas, but Great Black Century positioned two brothers on Big Tex’s shoulders to capture the sunset. The message is that South Dallas is more than Big Tex; It’s also about the people who make it rich.
“Just to see for the first time how different people react to it, I can’t put it into words, it was something special for me.”
Real conversation? It was special for me too. Be on the lookout for Great Black Century that will continue to advance in the years to come. And be sure to check out his play at the Forest Theater before it’s gone. Let’s hope that one day it returns to a new and this time permanent MLK Food Park.
A closer look at Great Black Century’s piece “sallaD”
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