''Songs of My People'' was a book, exhibition and multimedia project created and edited by organizers

Eric Easter The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

, Dudley M. Brooks and D. Michael Cheers.Hagen, Charles
"Review/Photography; 'Songs of My People,' A Black Self-Portrait."
''New York Times'', October 9, 1992. Accessed August 7, 2009. The book was published in February 1992 by Little, Brown, with an introduction by famed African American photographer

Gordon Parks Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was an American photographer, composer, author, poet, and film director, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particu ...

. The project was named after an essay by

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

.Downey, Maureen. "Photo Project Will Chronicle Breadth of Black Experience." ''The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution'', May 18, 1990. It was launched in January 1990 as an attempt to record

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

life through the eyes of 50 prominent African American photographers. It was defined as an effort to deliver balanced images of African Americans in response to what the organizers perceived as frequently negative portrayals of the community. During the first week of June 1990, project photographers were flown across the United States to capture various aspects of African American life. From 190,000 photographs taken for the project, 200 were selected for the book. Of the project's photographs, 150 formed the basis of a highly attended international photo exhibition that opened in February 1992 at the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

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The exhibition traveled to the

Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum The Afro-American Historical and Cultural Society Museum is located is on the upper floor of the Greenville Branch of the Jersey City, New Jersey Public Library, its collection is dedicated to the African American experience. The museum has galler ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

between April and May 1992. For a show at the

California Afro-American Museum The California African American Museum (CAAM) is a museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, United States. The museum focuses on enrichment and education on the cultural heritage and history of African Americans with a focus o ...

beginning in May 1992, eight photographs by D Stevens and others related to the

Los Angeles riots of 1992 The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, in April ...

were added.Snow, Shauna
"Redressing the Balance - Photography: 'Songs of My People' is Designed to Contribute Toward Understanding... and Healing the City."
''Los Angeles Times'', May 30, 1992. Accessed August 7, 2009. The major tour and a second, smaller "paper" tour of 60 selected photographs was sponsored by

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

and shown at major museums and galleries including the

Museum of the City of New York A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

, the

DuSable Museum The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, formerly the DuSable Museum of African American History, is a museum in Chicago that is dedicated to the study and conservation of African-American history, culture, and art. It was founded in ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

in Italy, among others. The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) oversaw the international tour. Notable contributing photographers included

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winners

Michel du Cille Michel du Cille (January 24, 1956 – December 11, 2014) was a Jamaican-born American Photojournalism, photojournalist who won three Pulitzer Prizes. He shared the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography with fellow ''The Miami Herald, Miami ...

, Mathew Lewis,

Ozier Muhammad Ozier Muhammad is an American photojournalist who has been on the staff of ''The New York Times'' since 1992. He has also worked for ''Ebony Magazine'', ''The Charlotte Observer'', and ''Newsday''. He earned a B.A. in 1972 in photography from Col ...

, John H. White, and Keith Williams.University of Missouri
"Songs of My People: A Collection of Photographs from the Museum of Art and Archaeology."
Accessed August 7, 2009. Among the other photographers involved in the project were

Howard Bingham Howard Leonid Bingham (May 29, 1939December 15, 2016) was a biographer of Muhammad Ali and a professional photographer.Deford, FranYou don't know Muhammad Ali until you know his best friend''Sports Illustrated''. March 11, 2016 Bingham was born in ...

, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' photographer Chester Higgins, Jr., Magnum member Eli Reed,

Marilyn Nance Marilyn Nance (born November 12, 1953), also known as Soulsista, is an American multimedia artist known for work focusing on exploring human connections, African-American spirituality, and the use of technology in storytelling. Nance's photojou ...

, Bob Black, Jeffrey Salter, former White House photographer Sharon Farmer, Robin Tinay Sallie and Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe. The African-American people who appeared in the project's photographs included

Zina Garrison Zina Lynna Garrison (born November 16, 1963) is an American former professional tennis player. Garrison was the runner-up in singles at the 1990 Wimbledon Championships, a three-time major mixed doubles champion, and an Olympic gold and bronze m ...

, Quincy Jones,

Jacob Lawrence Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", although by his own ...

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

, Gordon Parks,

Colin L. Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

Willy T. Ribbs William Theodore Ribbs Jr. (born January 3, 1955) is a retired American race car driver, racing owner, and sport shooter known for being the first African-American man to have tested a Formula One car (he did so in 1986) and to compete in the Ind ...

, and

Louis Wade Sullivan Louis Wade Sullivan (born November 3, 1933) is an active health policy leader, minority health advocate, author, physician, and educator. He served as the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services during President ...

. Film rights to a documentary based on the project were optioned by producer

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, but the film was never produced. After the 1992-1994 tour, D. Michael Cheers donated the photographs to the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Archives houses the Songs of My People exhibition archive, 1990-1994. The archive includes approximately one-thousand working photoprints, including all images from the publication and the exhibitions. There are also extensive photographs and contact sheets created in the course of the project. Photographic subjects include Colin Powell, Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, Roy DeCarava, Muhammad Ali, Jessie Jackson, Jacob Lawerence, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, Quincy Jones, Cleo Fields, Thurgood Marshall, Atallah Shabazz, David Dinkins, Marion Barry, George Clinton and Willie T. Ribbs. Many other photographs capture life as lived by ordinary African Americans.

References

{{Reflist, 2 1992 non-fiction books Multimedia works Photographic collections and books Photography exhibitions Books about African-American history