Personal Information                                                                               Vitae

Born January 4, 1952, in Harlem, NY; daughter of Robert Earl Wallace(a classical and jazz pianist of Jamaican, WI ancestry and Faith Ringgold (the artist). Married actor and theatre professor Eugene Nesmith in December of 1989. Divorced in 2001. 

Education: B.A. in English and Creative Writing from the City College of the City University of New York, 1974; M.A. in English, 1990; Ph.D. in the Humanities (Cinema Studies), New York University 1999.  Also attended Howard University, Fall 1969; Yale University, African American Studies and Ph.D. Program in American Studies, 1980-1981. 

Memberships: American Center of PEN, Modern Language Association, Society of Cinema Studies, Oscar Micheaux Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Association of American Art History, Faith Ringgold Society (Founder). 

Career

New York University, instructor in journalism, 1976-78; Editor at Large, Essence Magazine 1983; University of Oklahoma, visiting assistant professor of English, 1984-85, assistant professor of English, 1985-87; State University of New York at Buffalo, assistant professor of American studies, 1987-89; City College of New York, assistant professor of English and women's studies, 1989-92, associate professor of English and women's studies, 1992-1996; professor of English and women’s studies, 1997--City University of New York Graduate Center, assistant professor of English and women's studies, 1991-92, associate professor, 1992-1996; professor of English, women’s studies and film studies, 1997--; Rutgers University, Blanche, Edith, and Irving Laurie New Jersey chair in women's studies, 1996-97;Village Voice, columnist, 1995-1996;visiting professor of Africana Studies, Cornell University 2004-2006. 

Books

Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman, Dial, New York, 1978.

Editor, Faith Ringgold: Twenty Years of Painting, Sculpture and Performances, The Studio Museum in Harlem, 1984. 

Invisibility Blues: From Pop to Theory, Verso, New York, 1990.

Black Popular Culture, edited by Gina Dent, Bay Press/Dia

Center for the Arts, Seattle and New York, 1993.

To Hell and Back: Black Feminism in the 70s and 80s. Brooklyn: New York: Olympia X Inc, 1997. Also at A Black Cultural Studies Web Site: http://www.tiac.net/users/tshaslett.

Passing, Lynching and Jim Crow: A Genealogy of Race and Gender in U.S. Visual Culture, 1895-1929. Dissertation in Cinema Studies, New York University. UMI. May 1999.

Dark Designs and Visual Culture. Durham, NC: Duke University Press 2005.

Invisibility Blues (Revised Edition), Verso, New York 2008.

American People, Black Light: The Paintings of Faith Ringgold in the 1960s. Neuberger Museum: Purchase New York, 2010.

 

Webpages

Faith Ringgold Society. http://www.faithringgoldsociety.org

http://michelewallace.zenfolio.com

http://ringgoldinthe1960s.blogspot.com

http://mjsoulpictures.blogspot.com 

Anthologies

"The Imperial Gaze: The Venus Hottentot" in Black Venus edited by Deborah Willis. Temple University Press, 2010.

"The Declaration of Freedom and Independence: The Invisible Story," In Declaration of Indendence: 50 Year Retrospective of the Works of Faith Ringgold, edited by Ferris Olin, Rutger's University, April-September 2009.

"The African Sublime,”  30 Americans. Miami, Florida: The Rubell Family Collection, 2008.

“The Any One Can Fly Foundation,” In The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation: 2008 Supplement Update to A Visual Artist’s Guide to Estate Planning. http://sharpeartfodn.qwestoffice.net.

Biography in Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. University of Illinois 2006.

Foreward: “Passing, Lynching and Jim Crow.” In Anne Rice, editor, Witnessing Lynching: American Writers Respond. Rutger UP, 2003.

Museums of Tomorrow edited by Maurice Berger. A Virtual Discussion, Center for Art and Visual Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico: Georgia O’Keefe Research Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005.

“Sisterhood in Isolation,” Manning Marable and Leith Mullings, Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform and Renewal. Rowman and Littlefield 2003.

http://www.okeefemuseum.org/cgi/local/ultimatebb.forum&f=2 Fall 2003.

Postmodernism: A Virtual Discussion edited by Maurice Berger. Issues in Cultural Theory, Center for Art and Visual Culture, UMBC, Sante Fe, New Mexico: Georgia O’Keefe Museum and Research Center 2003.

“The Enigma of the Negress Kara Walker,” Narratives of a Negress edited by Ian Berry et al. Cambridge, MA: Tang Teaching Museum, Williams College and MIT Press 2003, 175-179.

“Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates: The Possibilities for Alternative Visions," In Oscar Micheaux and His Circle: The Silent Films edited by Charles Musser, Jane Gaines and Pearl Bowser, Pordenone Silent Film Festival and Indiana UP, Fall 2001, 53-66.

“The Culture War Within the Culture Wars: Race,” Art Matters: How the Culture Wars Changed America edited by Brian Wallis, Phillip Yenawine and Marianne Weems, New York UP, 1999, 166-181.

“To Hell and Back: On the Road with Black Feminism in the 60s and 70s,” Feminist Memoir Project edited by Anne Snitow and Rachel Du Plessis, New York: Crown, 1998, 426-442.

“The French Collection: Momma Jones, Mommy Faye and Me,” Dancing at the Louvre: The French Collection and Other Quilt Paintings by Faith Ringgold, edited by Dan Cameron, California UP and The New Museum, 1998, 14-25.

“Black Female Spectatorship and The Dilemma of Tokenism,” Generations: Feminisms in Dialogue edited by E. Ann Kaplan and Devoney Looser, University of Minnesota Press, 1997, 88-102.

“The Problem with Black Masculinity and Celebrity,” Constructing Masculinity edited by Maurice Berger, Brian Wallis and Simon Watson. New York & London: Routledge, 1996, 299-306.

“The Gap Alternative,”  Face Value: American Portraits edited by Donna de Salvo. Parrish Art Museum & Flammarion, 1995, 112-118.

"Feminism, Race, and the Division of Labor," Division of Labor: `Women's Work' in Contemporary Art, New York: The Bronx Museum of Art, 1995, 56-66

“The Search for the `Good Enough' Mammy: Multiculturalism, Popular Culture and Psychoanalysis," Multiculturalism: A Critical Reader edited by David Theo Goldberg, Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1994, 259-268.

"Race, Gender and Psychoanalysis in Forties Film: `Lost Boundaries,' `Home of the Brave' and `The Quiet One,'" Black American Cinema, Manthia Diawara, ed., AFI Film Readers: Routledge, 1993, 257-271.

"Afterword: `Why Are There No Great Black Artists?' The Problem of Visuality in African-American Culture," Black Popular Culture, Gina Dent, ed., Bay Press/Dia, 1993, 333-346.

"Boyz N the Hood and Jungle Fever," Black Popular Culture, Gina Dent, ed., Bay Press/Dia, 1993, 123-131.

“Multiculturalism and Oppositionality,” Organizing Artists: A Document and Directory of the National Association of Artists’ Organizations. Washington, D.C.: NAAO, 1992, 45-56.

"The French Collection: Who's Looking Now?" The French Collection: Part One, Faith Ringgold, editor, Being My Own Woman Press, New York 1991, 5-8.

"Black Feminist Criticism, A Politics of Location and Beloved," Discussions in Contemporary Culture: Critical Fictions--The Politics of Imaginative Writing, The Dia Center for The Arts/Bay Press, New York 1991, 139-142.

"Modernism/PostModernism and The Problem of The Visual in Afro-American Culture," Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Culture edited by Russell Ferguson, Cornel West, Trinh Minh-ha, Martha Givers, The New Museum & MIT, 1990, 39-50.

"Tim Rollins + K.O.S.: The `Amerika' Series," Amerika: Tim Rollins + K.O.S. edited by Gary Garrels. New York: Dia Art Foundation, 1989, 37-48.

"Michael Jackson, Black Modernisms and `The Ecstasy of Communication'," Global Television, edited by Brian Wallis and Cynthia Schneider. Cambridge, Ma: Wedge & MIT Press, 1989, 11-22.

Introduction and "The Dah Principle: To Be Continued," Faith Ringgold: Twenty Years--Painting, Sculpture, Performance edited  by Michele Wallace. New York: The Studio Museum in Harlem, 1984, 6, 25-27. 

Documentaries 

"Interview," Mad Men: Season Two, Bravo Television 2009.

"Interview," Sex: The Revolution produced by Perry Films, VH-1 and The Sun Dance Channel 2009.

"Interview," 69: The Sexual Revolution in America, A Telling Pictures Production, The History Channel July 27, 2009.

"Interviews," Edison: The Invention of the Movies, The Museum of Modern Art in cooperation with the Library of Congress presents 140 Edison Company Films, 1891-1918. DVD Kino Video 2005.

"Interview," Black Is . . . Black Ain't, 87 min., directed by Marlon Riggs, Signifyin' Works, 1994.

"Interview," I Want Your Sex, Fulcrum Productions, Channel 4, London England, 1993

"Interview," On Art and Artists Series, Video Data Bank, The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, June 1991

Commentary: "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" in Billie Holiday: The Longest Night of Lady Day, 95 min., directed by John Jeremy, TCB & BBC, London, England, 1984--aired PBS on The American Masters Series August 1986. 

Awards and Fellowships

1. Laurie New Jersey Chair of Women’s Studies, Douglass College, Rutger’s University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1996-1997.
   

2. "The Problem of The Visual in African-American Film," Eisner Fellowship, City College of New York, Fall 1993.
   

3. "Modernism, Postmodernism and The Problem of The Visual in Afro-American Culture," PSC-CUNY Creative Incentive Award, University Committee on Research, City University of New York, Summer 1991.
   

4. "The Problem of The Visual in Afro-American Film," Eisner Fellowship, City College of New York, Fall 1991.
   

5. Artists' Fellowship--Nonfiction Literature, New York Foundation of The Arts, 1991.
   

6. Lifetime Achievement Award of Journalism Alumni, CCNY 2008.