Cross-Pollinating Griots Don Thompson and Brian Ellison

Griots were a class of nomadic poets, historians, and orators who guided culture through the power of story. These archival photos by seasoned Don Thompson and savory Brian Ellison grow an intergenerational conversation. These Greenwood griots share photos of new life and love.

Visual anthropology is the art and social-science of participant observation. Visual anthropologists observe through the lens of the camera as they participate in the culture of the people. They do life with them in their context. These natives of Tulsa archive life with a passion to reveal the fireproof nature of human resilience. Brian Ellison and Don Thompson are visual anthropologists in how they chose to rise from the ashes of a city known for a fiery massacre.

Three Against the Wall, Don Thompson, 1991, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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Main Street Kids, Don Thompson, 1991, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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Endangered, Don Thompson, 1991, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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Tricycle, Don Thompson, 1969, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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Together Don and Brian portray the beautiful side of the ugly with their life-affirming work. The Greenwood Art Project is a forest of creativity that exists to hold the messy and meaningful space for what is broken and what is beautiful. From the pain of a massacre and systemically targeted communities to the poise and grace of their people. They are visual anthropologists unaware. They capture the dignity of a burdened community.

Main Street Kids (1991) by Don ThompsonThe Greenwood Art Project

Main Street Kids by Don Thompson

The eyes of these boys pierced the lens of the camera with a timeless gaze. Thirty-one years later what we see in this image seems to have made room for today's vision of black hope and perseverance.

Don Thompson has over 50 years of photographic experience. He began his career as a writer and photographer in the US Army. He was certified as a commercial photographer while attending graduate school at Oklahoma State University and is a graduate of Northeastern State University. Don is a photojournalist, author, historian, painter, and presenter. He continues his work of photojournalism in Tulsa as a constant creator.

Three Against the Wall (1991) by Don ThompsonThe Greenwood Art Project

Three Against the Wall

These three young Greenwood residents leaned up against the wall after talking to Don about life in the streets, the lack of jobs, and a lament for the way things are. From the tallest to the shortest they still stand despite the conditions that would bring many to their knees.

Tricycle (1969) by Don ThompsonThe Greenwood Art Project

Tricycle by Don Thompson

A brothel door entrance faced by a child's tricycle on Greenwood Street. Don found this image just as it was without staging any part of it. It takes a village to raise a child. The picture raises our curiosity for how a community under attack can still be a village.

An ecotone is the messy middle space between two ecosystems. It is like the muddy middle space between a pond and the grass that leads to it. In the middle of two living systems the ecotone cross-pollinates life to grow something the neighboring systems can't grow alone. There is a special life growing between the photographs and stories told by Don and Brian. They create an ecosystem of ease to process the pain of past and present.

Endangered (1991) by Don ThompsonThe Greenwood Art Project

Endangered by Don Thompson

Don captured this photo of a Greenwood resident to portray art as activism. Wearing the kind of hoodie that made Travon Martin a target, Don solemnly captures the life of a young king.

There is a light of life in this young man's eyes.

Statistically speaking one in four black men between the ages 20-29 are in the criminal justice system.

Brian Ellison is a self-taught photographer, cinematographer, and conceptual visual artist. He is the director and producer of the film UnMASKulinity and the founder of The Black Man Project. He is presently studying at The University of Houston as a candidate for a Masters of Fine Art. He lives out his Tulsa grown practice as an artist in Houston's historic Third Ward.

The afro pick is a symbol of power and poise in a world of conflict and pain for many black men and women. During the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos staged a wordless protest after coming in first and third place in the 200-meter running event. They give the world a message with clenched fists held in the air as a protest against the treatment of Black Americans.

Picked, Brian Ellison, 2020, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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The fist is held by the iconic power of being Black in a nation the tries to take that power away. The fist is held by more than the fingers seen in the afro pick. The fist is a protest powered by the afro that holds it.

Play Revolution (2020) by Brian EllisonThe Greenwood Art Project

Play Revolution

Black children playing is an act of revolution. The revolution of laughter and glee in and out of the mouths of black children is a revolutionary act. 

Posted Up, Brian Elliosn, 2020, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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Picked, Brian Ellison, 2020, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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Play Revolution, Brian Ellison, 2020, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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Posted Up (2020) by Brian ElliosnThe Greenwood Art Project

Posted Up

"Posted Up" is urban english vernacular for relaxing without worry. In the age COVID-19 this image invites us to the intersection of ease and optimism where men are posted up in Brian's neighborhood. 

Black men have always worn masks to protect them from how they are seen. 

Masks that over time impairs the way they see themselves and the community around them.

This photo is a viral freedom song with out words for black men in the age of a virus.

Picked (2020) by Brian EllisonThe Greenwood Art Project

Picked

The afro pick is a symbol of power and poise in a world of conflict and pain for many black men and women. The fist is held by more than fingers. 

During the 1968 Olympics Tommie Smith and John Carlos staged a wordless protest after coming first and third place, with clenched fist held in the air as a protest against the treatment of Black Americans. 

The fist is protest powered by the afro that holds it. 

This tall, gentle and erect black man is pictured reminiscing about the past. The day after this photo was taken, his shop was demolished.

Barber Shop (1969) by Don ThompsonThe Greenwood Art Project

Barber Shop by Don Thompson

This barbershop was a haven for black men. This shows the owner looking out the window the day before "urban renewal" would destroy the place men in the community were healed and known.

His palms lifted and his fingertips pressed firmly onto the flat surface. He is tense and intentional.  

With his chin slightly tilted away from his sternum, he has a posture of pride despite his impending loss. 

Outdoor Cuts (2020) by Brian EllisonThe Greenwood Art Project

Outdoor Cut

The barber's chair is a consistent symbol of black male mental health and self-care. No matter where it is, the barber chair is a place of rest and renewal for black men. This is true even in communities crippled by social constructs or destruction.

The "South-Side" fade is a haircut that is indigenous to Houston. It is a signature cut for Black men seeking a cleanly faded haircut that makes a man feel finished.

His hands say so much as he holds the mirror in anticipation of a new look for his head that is bound to give him a new outlook on life.

Head tilted and eyes focused, the barber aims to please and empower all at once. 

Clean (2020) by Brian EllisonThe Greenwood Art Project

Sunday Clean on a Tuesday

This man is captured outside of his home on a Tuesday in his "Sunday Best".

Although day laborers had to wear uniforms during the workweek, they got to wear their "Sunday Best" to go to church on Sunday.

"Sunday Best" is a term used in the Black community that relates to the day of worship where African-Americans traditionally wear the best clothes they have to honor the God they love. 

Cool Breeze (2020) by Brian EllisonThe Greenwood Art Project

Cool Breeze

With a beer in hand and cigarette smoke blowing in the wind, this man incarnates what it means to be black, male, and breezy. 

Child of the Street, Don Thompson, 1970, From the collection of: The Greenwood Art Project
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The 1921 massacre was a travesty of humanity that can never be forgotten. The legacy and power of the Greenwood community must not be forgotten either. This image represents an amnesia therapy for the soul of a community that can look up to remember themselves back to their great heritage. Remembering long enough to heal in the present and imagine a brighter future.

Today the ashes still burn hot and the heat still rises from the pain the fires left behind by the massacre but a phoenix of possibility is rising. The Greenwood Art Project strives to create art to activate the community towards healing. Powerfully moving from past brokenness and old wounds to a healed broken- openness through art, performance, and creativity.

Credits: Story

Photography Brian Ellison
Photography  Don Thompson
Curated and Written by Marlon F. Hall

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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