The 44 Percent: Art Basel, the final African American AP studies course, and digital redlining
It’s Art Basel and Miami Art Week!
Often lauded as North America’s most comprehensive international contemporary art fair, Art Basel is returning to Miami Beach for its 21st edition Dec. 8 - 10. Thousands of artists, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers will soon swarm the city to enjoy contemporary and modern art from 277 galleries.
Miami Art Week, which consists of a host of art shows, kicked off Dec. 4 and runs through Dec. 10.
The Miami Beach Convention Center will host most of the action and will be divided into sections, each with its own focus.
Art Basel Miami Beach is one of just four Art Basel fairs in the world. The founding fair is in Basel Switzerland and the others are in Hong Kong, and Paris.
Not only will patrons enjoy elite art, this year, Art Basel and the MICHELIN Guide are joining forces to provide Art Basel’s guests with a premium dining experience in Miami Beach. The chefs at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, the only two MICHELIN Star restaurants in Florida, will personally welcome guests and provide insights into the dishes.
Inside 305
‘The most important place in the art world’: Miami Art Week kicks off with big openings
The early part of Miami Art Week is typically dedicated to VIPs. On Monday, many of these elite patrons visited the Hampton House, an historic Miami hotel that provided refuge to Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali.
The Historic Hampton House Museum of Culture & Art in Brownsville presented “Gimme Shelter,” a show that pays tribute to the hotel’s history as a safe space for African Americans in the 1950s and ‘60s when Miami was segregated. Black entertainers were allowed to perform in Miami Beach but were forced to go “over town” to stay at a hotel.
Black art, hip-hop and skateboarding: A guide to some of the coolest events for Miami Art Week
During Art Basel and Miami Art Week, thousands descend upon the city looking to enjoy fine art, good food, and an overall exciting time. Here is a guide for anyone interested in Black art, discovering more about hip-hop, or just looking for the best parties.
Outside the 305
In final AP African American studies curriculum, some topics DeSantis blasted are gone
On Wednesday, the organization overseeing Advanced Placement courses offered in high schools nationwide released the final version of its new African American studies course. The course excludes lessons that Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education previously labeled as an effort to “push an agenda” on students.
A review of the 300-page course by the Miami Herald shows the College Board decided to exclude topics on the Black queer experience — a topic DeSantis has singled out in his criticism — and only include the Black Lives Matter movement and the reparations debate as optional, meaning they won’t be required or included on the final AP exam.
The course does, however, include Black authors and scholars flagged as inappropriate by Florida education officials, such as Kimberlé W. Crenshaw and Angela Davis. Ideas rejected by the DeSantis administration, such as intersectionality and race-related concepts, also remained in the curriculum.
The release of the final course curriculum sets up a potential encore of a clash between the governor, his education department and the College Board. In January, DeSantis announced the state would be rejecting the course over what he argued was the inclusion of topics the state says are foundational to critical race theory and an attempt to use Black history for “political purposes.”
Digital redlining and the Black rural South
This is Capital B’s premiere story in its “Disconnected: Rural Black America and the Digital Divide” project, which examines the disparate effects of broadband accessibility on Black Americans in the rural South.
For decades, millions of Americans have been forced to go without internet or pay for subpar service, which thwarts opportunities to participate and thrive in today’s society, especially for Black communities in the rural South, where the digital divide is the greatest. In this region, about 38% of Black households don’t have home internet, a higher percentage than white people in the same region and the national average, a 2021 report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found.
Given the history of neglect to Black communities, residents in rural Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi told Capital B they question whether the billions of dollars from the feds for broadband will reach their area.
High Culture
Black and Basel: top picks for Black art during Art Basel Miami Beach
With so much art to take in during Art Basel and Miami Art Week, it can be difficult to navigate the scene. If you’re looking to support Black art, Sugarcane Magazine has provided a guide to help those in this search.
A few notables from their list include the following: Prizm Art Fair, Perez Art Museum, The Art of Black Miami, and Calabash Visual Arts Fair.
Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 5:35 PM with the headline "The 44 Percent: Art Basel, the final African American AP studies course, and digital redlining."