Aberjhani's Blog: Notes of a 21st Century Digital Scribe, page 3

AI & Authentic Human Conditions: Conversations with the World 112

(“Stormy Winds of AI Change” art by Aberjhani ©) It’s true I’ve been critical of human beings becoming overly-dependent on artificial intelligence (AI). Although there’s no question it can help improve our lives in certain ways, it can also be used to seduce people into giving up too much personal power. In addition: it makes it easy to dismiss such things as the ethical concerns which determine how many of us do or don’t experience our collective human condition.
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Where and when to draw li...

Regarding War in Ukraine: Glowing Wings of Freedom 2023 (art and poetry)

(Image detail from mixed media painting by Aberjhani titled Glowing Wings of Freedom 2023. Full image may be viewed and purchased in art store on this site at Fine Art America/Pixels.com) Glowing Wings of Freedom 2023 with and without text are the second and third mixed media painting editions of my 2017 artwork titled Glowing Bird of Midnight Love. The original work featured the following quote from the book Visions of A Skylark Dressed In Black. 

​               “I see your wings are made...

Confronting Complexities of Race and Policing in America (part 2 of 2)

Note: To read part 1 of this article please click here. Part 2 begins now :

U.S. President Joe Biden said in his official response to Tyre Nichols’ death: “It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day… Real and lasting change will only come if we take action to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again…” 
Few people will argue with that. But, clearly, the protests which follow ...

Confronting Complexities of Race and Policing in America (part 1 of 2)

(Edited public release media photo of Tyre Nichols from Bright Skylark Literary Productions archives)
​Waking to news about a governor canceling the teaching of advanced placement African-American studies courses in Florida, and five Black policemen beating to death a single unarmed Black man in Memphis, was not how I imagined kicking off Black History Month 2023. Most Americans probably had not. Those, however, were the headlines none of us could ignore because of the razor-sharp edges o...

On Josephine Baker and the Politics of Educating Americans

"Josephine Baker and Chiquita Abstract Magenta" digital painting by Aberjhani. Now available for purchase at Pixels.com, Fine Art America, and here at Bright Skylark Literary Productions. The article on Josephine Baker (1906-1975) for Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance was written by Sandra L. West (1947-2019). Until working on the book project with her, my perception of the great diva had been shaped primarily by quick glimpses of classic black and white images of her dancing either nud...

The Years 2022 and 2023 (part 2 of 2): Looking Ahead

(Multimedia art graphic by Aberjhani featuring book covers of Infobase Publishing’s Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance incorporating artwork by Harlem Renaissance artists: Jacob A. Lawrence and Archibald J. Motley, Jr.)
EDITORIAL NOTE: You can read part 1 of this article by clicking here. Part 2 begins now:

The years 2020-2022 delivered some brutal surprises most of us could easily have done without and it is likely the year 2023 will throw some hard punches our way as well. That makes ...

The Years 2022 and 2023 (part 1 of 2): Looking Back

The beginnings of the last few years––“arguably,” as some like to say––have presented humanity with more reasons to dread flipping the calendar from December to January that to celebrate it. But some of us insist on excavating beauty out of horror and looking forward with measures of hopefulness: regardless of reasons to do otherwise.
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Prior to the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine back in February, the year 2022 had already started on a somber personal note due to the death of fellow a...

Paradox and Audubon’s Bronzed Birds of America

Art detail from "Birds of a Bronzed Audubon Feather: Louisiana Heron 2022" by Aberjhani. Full canvas may be viewed and purchased on Pixels.com or Fine Art American. Bird lovers and environmentalists around the world hold the name John James Audubon (1785-1851) in high esteem. Others find their admiration reduced by the knowledge that Audubon, like many influential figures in American history, also periodically bought and sold a small number of slaves.
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In contrast to the legacies of some s...

Conversations with the World 111: Speaking Truth to Power and Ourselves (pt. 2 of 2)

"Land of the Misinformed Dreamers" art by Aberjhani C2022.)

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“…I believe that democracy is a political enactment of a spiritual idea. The sacred worth of all human beings, the notion that we all have within us, a spark of the divine, to participate in the shaping of our own destiny.”
          ––U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (maiden floor speech March 17, 2021)

The practice among some “leaders,” in recent years and months, of intentionally spreading disinformation to achieve political or ...

Conversations with the World 111: Speaking Truth to Power and Ourselves (pt. 1 of 2)

“In the last decade the number of armed conflicts has doubled. So has the number of people killed, and the number of displaced. And this was even before the invasion of Ukraine.”
            –– The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
                            (from Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk)

People speak truth to power with hopes of accomplishing goals ranging from personal advantages and extravagances to collective acknowledgements and political fr...