A panel pays tribute to the musical legacy of James Brown. During the 1960s James Brown gained the titles “Godfather of Soul” and the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business.” Brown's sound reflected the nation's generational struggle, and his influence reached across the Atlantic to Bamako, Mali, where his style and music became a source of inspiration for the growing youth culture. It was this vibrant culture that Malick Sidibe dynamically captured through his photographs.
Manthia Diawara is presently chair of the Africana Studies Department at New York University. Prof. Diawara received his PhD from Indiana University in 1985. His dissertation on the politics and aesthetics of African cinema formed the basis for African Cinema, published in 1985 by Indiana University Press. Since then, Dr. Diawara has edited the volume *Black American Cinema*, published by Routledge in 1993 in addition to publishing widely in journals.
Dr. Taylor's research focus is primarily in the areas of assessment of programs and curricula and the establishment of criteria for the evaluation of two- and four-year college and university academic programs. Reports which he has prepared include Assessing Music Industry Programs, Evaluative Standards in Music Industry Programs and Economic Impact of the Music Industry in Georgia. The focus of Dr. Taylor's research in the area of African-American music is on the elements of African culture that were retained, altered and adapted to New World conditions and that subsequently generated new African-American musical forms. Within this culture-derived context, he examines new theoretical frameworks and applied methodology, and analyzes New World Africanisms in the arts. His research seeks to open the field of African-American music to the testing of analytical and speculative hypotheses and cross-disciplinary studies involving dance, theater, poetry, literature, visual arts and Latin and Caribbean music.
Stan Woodard is an artist living and working in Atlanta, GA. He works primarily with found materials to create installations and objects. Multimedia regularly figures into his installation work and he produces stand-alone multimedia, video, audio, and interactive digital works as well. Taking an archeological approach to found materials he often comments on the histories of places and objects. Woodard is a recipient of the KBFUS (King Baudouin Fellowship US) award. Woodard has been exhibited in Atlanta, New York, Hong Kong and regionally.