John Jennings, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Harvard Fellow, and illustrator of Kindred by Octavia Butler, will be visiting GA on February 9th, 2021. His presentation, “Reimagining Black Future: Art & Resistance” will commence GA’s annual celebration of Black History Month.
John Jennings original work, both written and visual, specializes at showcasing Black culture. Some of Jennings’ accomplishments include being the co-editor of The Blacker The Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art, an illustrator of I AM ALFONSO JONES, and author of Blue Hand Mojo, written in 2016. He is also an organizer of The Schomburg Black Comic Book Festival.
Jennings is most widely known for his illustrations in the New York Times bestselling graphic novel adaptation of the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler. Told from the view of black women in the 1970s, Kindred is a story about the experiences of slavery, and it explores important issues such as race, power, and gender. After Kindred won Rochester, New York’s Book Of The Year Award in 2003, it was decided that Damain Duffy would write a graphic novel adaption, which John Jennings would illustrate. With this adaptation, Kindred’s inspiring story became more widely known, propelling Jennings to national acclaim
Through his work, John Jennings finds ways to educate people of all ages about the importance of equality in today’s society. Along with teaching in universities, Jennings uses his illustrations and stories about the Black experience to achieve a universal impact. The GA community looks forward to welcoming John Jennings as a Distinguished Speaker. GA’s Black History Month celebration will be hosted on Zoom, and is free and open to the public. Friends and family can find the registration link on GA’s website.
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