Cross-Pollinating Griots Don Thompson and Brian Ellison

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.

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.

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.

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.

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" 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.

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 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. 

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. 

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. 

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