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September 01 2017

Oriki for Robert Farris Thompson

Henry John Drewal,

Henry John Drewal

Henry John Drewal is the Evjue-Bascom and Hilldale Professor, Departments of Art History and Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. hjdrewal@wisc.edu

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C. Daniel Dawson,

C. Daniel Dawson

C. Daniel Dawson teaches about the African Diaspora in the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University. cddawson@mindspring.com

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Susan Mullin Vogel,

Susan Mullin Vogel

Susan Mullin Vogel's work was recognized by an ACASA Leadership Award; her Baule: African Art Western Eyes received the Herskovitz Award. She is currently writing about the rise of African art in the American art world, driven by global forces, local events, and singular personalities (mid-1960s to mid-1990s). svogel@igc.org

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Brooke Davis Anderson,

Brooke Davis Anderson

Brooke Davis Anderson is the Edna S. Tuttleman Museum Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. brookeanderson9@gmail.com

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Rowland Abiodun,

Rowland Abiodun

Rowland Abiodun is John C. Newton Professor of the History of Art and Black Studies at Amherst College. roabiodun@amherst.edu

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Donald Cosentino,

Donald Cosentino

Donald Cosentino is a professor emeritus of UCLA's World Arts and Culture program and has conducted extensive research on the art and religion of Haitian vodou. cosentin@arts.ucla.edu

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Perkins Foss,

Perkins Foss

Perkins Foss has studied Urhobo art and culture over fifty years. He taught at Dartmouth College and at Penn State. He has recently donated his notes, photographs, and accompanying material to the Penn State Library Archives. perkinsfoss@gmail.com

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Neil Clarke,

Neil Clarke

Neil Adeosun Adeweide Ayanlere Tokode Clarke (Oloye Alufopejo Awo of Osogbo) is an internationally recognized master percussionist, scholar, arts educator and producer. For 50+ years, he has been involved with and is respected for his advocacy of traditional African drumming and culture. Clarke has enjoyed longstanding relationships with the legendary Harry Belafonte and currently with NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston. Clarke is also an Adjunct Professor at City College of New York (Jazz Studies). Drumscholar11233@gmail.com

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Zeca Ligiéro,

Zeca Ligiéro

Zeca LIgiéro is an artist, with a PhD in Performance Studies, and a professor at UNIRIO-Brazil. zecaligiero@gmail.com

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Lowery Stokes Sims,

Lowery Stokes Sims

Lowery Stokes Sims, a specialist in global contemporary art, is a former curator at the Metropolitan Museum, former director of the Studio Museum and Curator Emerita, Museum of Arts and Design. She now works as an independent curator and art historian. lowerysims@gmail.com

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Leslie King Hammond,

Leslie King Hammond

Leslie King Hammond is Professor Emerita; Founding Director, Center for Race and Culture, Maryland Institute College of Art; Senior Fellow, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation; and Senior Advisor, Baltimore Arts Reality Corporation. lkingha@mica.edu

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John Santos,

John Santos

John Santos is a multi-Grammy nominated bandleader, composer, producer, and percussionist, SFJAZZ Trustee and US Artist Fontanals Fellow. He currently teaches at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley and the College of San Mateo, and has lectured and conducted countless clinics and workshops in the United States, Europe and Latin America since the mid-1970s. machete@earthlink.net

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David T. Doris,

David T. Doris

David T. Doris is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Michigan. dtdoris@umich.edu

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John Mason

John Mason

John Mason, an orisa priest of Obatala and diviner initiated in 1970, is a graduate of City College of New York and recipient of a 1999 Guggenheim Fellowship in Folklore. In 1973 he cofounded and is currently director of the Yoruba Theological Archministry, a nonprofit research center located in Brooklyn, NY. A traditional and jazz percussionist and composer, with fifty-three years experience, he formed MASON-JAM-JA Band in 1998. ytajamco@basicisp.net

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Author and Article Information

Henry John Drewal

Henry John Drewal is the Evjue-Bascom and Hilldale Professor, Departments of Art History and Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. hjdrewal@wisc.edu

C. Daniel Dawson

C. Daniel Dawson teaches about the African Diaspora in the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University. cddawson@mindspring.com

Susan Mullin Vogel

Susan Mullin Vogel's work was recognized by an ACASA Leadership Award; her Baule: African Art Western Eyes received the Herskovitz Award. She is currently writing about the rise of African art in the American art world, driven by global forces, local events, and singular personalities (mid-1960s to mid-1990s). svogel@igc.org

Brooke Davis Anderson

Brooke Davis Anderson is the Edna S. Tuttleman Museum Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. brookeanderson9@gmail.com

Rowland Abiodun

Rowland Abiodun is John C. Newton Professor of the History of Art and Black Studies at Amherst College. roabiodun@amherst.edu

Donald Cosentino

Donald Cosentino is a professor emeritus of UCLA's World Arts and Culture program and has conducted extensive research on the art and religion of Haitian vodou. cosentin@arts.ucla.edu

Perkins Foss

Perkins Foss has studied Urhobo art and culture over fifty years. He taught at Dartmouth College and at Penn State. He has recently donated his notes, photographs, and accompanying material to the Penn State Library Archives. perkinsfoss@gmail.com

Neil Clarke

Neil Adeosun Adeweide Ayanlere Tokode Clarke (Oloye Alufopejo Awo of Osogbo) is an internationally recognized master percussionist, scholar, arts educator and producer. For 50+ years, he has been involved with and is respected for his advocacy of traditional African drumming and culture. Clarke has enjoyed longstanding relationships with the legendary Harry Belafonte and currently with NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston. Clarke is also an Adjunct Professor at City College of New York (Jazz Studies). Drumscholar11233@gmail.com

Zeca Ligiéro

Zeca LIgiéro is an artist, with a PhD in Performance Studies, and a professor at UNIRIO-Brazil. zecaligiero@gmail.com

Lowery Stokes Sims

Lowery Stokes Sims, a specialist in global contemporary art, is a former curator at the Metropolitan Museum, former director of the Studio Museum and Curator Emerita, Museum of Arts and Design. She now works as an independent curator and art historian. lowerysims@gmail.com

Leslie King Hammond

Leslie King Hammond is Professor Emerita; Founding Director, Center for Race and Culture, Maryland Institute College of Art; Senior Fellow, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation; and Senior Advisor, Baltimore Arts Reality Corporation. lkingha@mica.edu

John Santos

John Santos is a multi-Grammy nominated bandleader, composer, producer, and percussionist, SFJAZZ Trustee and US Artist Fontanals Fellow. He currently teaches at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley and the College of San Mateo, and has lectured and conducted countless clinics and workshops in the United States, Europe and Latin America since the mid-1970s. machete@earthlink.net

David T. Doris

David T. Doris is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Michigan. dtdoris@umich.edu

John Mason

John Mason, an orisa priest of Obatala and diviner initiated in 1970, is a graduate of City College of New York and recipient of a 1999 Guggenheim Fellowship in Folklore. In 1973 he cofounded and is currently director of the Yoruba Theological Archministry, a nonprofit research center located in Brooklyn, NY. A traditional and jazz percussionist and composer, with fifty-three years experience, he formed MASON-JAM-JA Band in 1998. ytajamco@basicisp.net

Online ISSN: 1937-2108

Print ISSN: 0001-9933

© 2017 by the Regents of the University of California.

2017

The Regents of the University of California

African Arts (2017) 50 (3): 62–81.

https://doi.org/10.1162/AFAR_a_00358

When Drewal was invited to write a praise piece for Robert Farris Thompson for this issue celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of African Arts, he soon realized it was beyond his body-mind-heart, because Bob himself is larger than life, a person who has touched and inspired so many folks in so many walks of life and thought. So Drewal contacted his dear friend and colleague C. Daniel Dawson, who may know Bob better than anyone, as well as Bob's immense circle of admirers. Drewal proposed that they solicit a variety of perspectives from the worldwide Master T “posse” and create a “posse praise poem” in his honor. We had only a short time to pull this together so we both reached out to friends far and wide, gave them four weeks to compose and send their thoughts and feelings in any way they chose. Some have written odes, others have...

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