MoMA Mixtape: BLK MKT Vintage Reaches New Heights Thanks to a Solid Foundation

Past-due bills issued to JAM + Gwen Guthrie’s “Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ On but the Rent”

Fifty years is a lot of time for things to change, but sadly some things stay the same. Even today, “ain’t nothing going on but the rent.” Gwen Guthrie spoke a word back in 1986, but the truth about gentrification and powerful institutions taking up space is a tale as old as time. Seeing JAM’s administrative ephemera—which is now part of the Just Above Midtown Archives at MoMA—enlightened us to the challenges organizations face when given little external support and backing. In this song, I think Gwen was getting at the perpetual, ubiquitous, and demanding nature of capitalism. Seeing this wall covered in bills and invoices issued to JAM feels like a rejection of the shame that capitalism nurtures in us, and an indictment of the predatory systems (financial and otherwise) that govern our lives and institutions.

Mallica “Kapo” Reynolds’s Roberta Flack + Hurricane Turbos’ “Mamayoni”

We stared at this portrait of Roberta Flack for a few minutes, completely held by the tones, her facial features, and the textures of her hair, blouse, and background. The artist is Kapo. Mallica “Kapo” Reynolds is from St. Catherine parish in Jamaica, the same parish as my father. I (Kiyanna) chose “Mamayoni,” a traditional revivalist chune, to reflect Kapo’s tenure as a religious leader who incorporated religious motifs in his work. This painting represents Kapo’s special relationship with secular soul/R&B artist Roberta Flack, who funded his 1975 exhibition at JAM. This portrait asks us to reflect on who we are as a community, and on the deliberate care that exists between Black artists.

JAM v. MoMA side-by-side + Gil Scott-Heron’s “Whitey on the Moon”

In 2023 it shouldn’t be controversial to say that we live in an unequal world, where the promises of meritocracy and the American dream are muddied by privilege, nepotism, and bias. Seeing the difference in the resources of two New York institutions is eye-opening. “Whitey on the Moon” is a poetic journey into the depths of societal, governmental, and institutional inequity; Gil Scott-Heron delineates the “haves” and the “have-nots” along racial lines and questions the ethics of investing millions of dollars in space travel when millions of Americans live in poverty. Fifty-three years after the song was written we are faced with white billionaires prioritizing (and privatizing) space exploration while pursuing questionable business and labor practices on Earth.

Reading List

The following recommendations are influenced by the themes of Just Above Midtown, some of which include surviving the New York City grind, representation in the art scene, and Black liberation/struggle in a world dictated by oppressive Western ideals. For us, the following books help to construct a nuanced image of our lived experiences, current imaginative practices, and future reimaginations and interpolations.

Black Futures, by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham
Just Above Midtown: 1974 to the Present, by Kellie Jones
Among Others: Blackness at MoMA, by Charlotte Barat, Darby English, and Mabel O. Wilson
Design and Violence, by Paola Antonelli
Black Archives, by Renata Cherlise