Black & White Studies is a collaborative zine combining the striking images and poetry of the respective artists. The zine is dedicated to the countless lives that have been taken in the name of progress, protection, and mass oppression.

Poe’s poetry opens a window onto the anxieties and often disregarded realities of the contemporary American experience, particularly those of black people targeted by systemic racism. The poems in Black and White Studies engage the daily grind of her life in New York City as a part-time worker, pop culture, and politics as she meditates on the questions created by the revelatory nature of the increasing violence perpetrated on black lives. Fluctuating between microscopic examination and panoramic metaphorical views, Poe’s interrogation of American society and the wide-reaching ripples of oppression encourages empathy and reflection on our own contributions to the state of terror in which we reside, acknowledged or otherwise. Oppenheim’s images, generated from photographs of paintings and marbled drawings in her studio, include phrases used in protest chants and posters from the Black Lives Matter Movement. Reflexive creations, both artists challenge our notions of unity, separation, perspective and positioning in a harrowing world of black and white.

The evening will consist of a reading from Black & White Studies by Janelle Poe, followed by a conversation with the writer and Sheryl Oppenheim about art, writing, and activism. Join on Facebook here.

100% of the sales of the zine will be donated to Black Lives Matter.