Alfred L. Bright (January 9, 1940 – October 28, 2019) was an American artist and art educator. He became "the first African American full-time faculty member" at his alma mater,

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges an ...

, and he was the founder and director of its Africana Studies program from 1970 to 1987. He had more than 100 solo art exhibits in his lifetime and received numerous local, state and national awards, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Award for Lifetime Achievement for his leadership and service to the Youngstown, Ohio, community in 2011. His work can be seen in many museums, including the

Butler Institute of American Art The Butler Institute of American Art, located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the museum h ...

and the Canton Museum of Art. Bright was portrayed as an 11-year old child in the 2023 film,

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * Origin (comics), ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * The Origin (Buffy comic), ''The Origin'' (Bu ...

, directed by

Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, television producer and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee ...

, in which he was excluded from joining his Little League teammates in a public swimming pool because of his race, a symbol of the trauma of the Jim Crow caste system in the US of the 1950s. As Bright remembered it he looked into the faces of each of his former teammates and "didn’t scowl at them. I didn’t say anything to them. I just looked into their eyes. And that was enough said. They knew they had done something wrong.’"

References

1940 births 2019 deaths Youngstown State University alumni Kent State University alumni Artists from Ohio 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics African-American artists Youngstown State University faculty 21st-century African-American artists {{Ohio-bio-stub