Uploaded June 2023 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
"Evidence" is a multimedia and multi-site project of positive self-making for contemporary Black men. Inspired by abolitionist and Rochester resident Frederick Douglass and his antebellum newspaper The North Star, McFadden’s series consists of a newspaper featuring an array of voices and images. In addition to critiquing the rigidity of gender binaries, this collection of images and texts attempts to wrest Black men away from a White gaze and generate a readership independent of mass media’s stereotypes.
Join us for a conversation moderated by Tate Shaw with Joshua Rashad McFadden and Dr. Keith Jenkins as they discuss how McFadden's project "Evidence" follows up on Douglass's strategy to sit for portraits, as well as what it means to distribute the images, names, and stories of Black men.
Participants:
Joshua Rashaad McFadden, Artist; Assistant Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology
Dr. Keith Jenkins, Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Rochester Institute of Technology
Tate Shaw, Director, Visual Studies Workshop
"Evidence" is a multimedia and multi-site project of positive self-making for contemporary Black men. Inspired by abolitionist and Rochester resident Frederick Douglass and his antebellum newspaper The North Star, McFadden’s series consists of a newspaper featuring an array of voices and images. In addition to critiquing the rigidity of gender binaries, this collection of images and texts attempts to wrest Black men away from a White gaze and generate a readership independent of mass media’s stereotypes.
Join us for a conversation moderated by Tate Shaw with Joshua Rashad McFadden and Dr. Keith Jenkins as they discuss how McFadden's project "Evidence" follows up on Douglass's strategy to sit for portraits, as well as what it means to distribute the images, names, and stories of Black men.
Participants:
Joshua Rashaad McFadden, Artist; Assistant Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology
Dr. Keith Jenkins, Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Rochester Institute of Technology
Tate Shaw, Director, Visual Studies Workshop
