56 Black Men

The exhibition consists of a selection of photographs which are part of an international campaign, 56 Black Men, based out of the UK and conceived and curated by speaker, entrepreneur, and photographer Cephas Williams. Williams previously studied architecture and started his first business Drummer Boy Studios in 2009.  He launched the 56 Black Men campaign in the UK to change the narrative regarding the representation of Black men in the media and as an introduction to a much wider international conversation about racism, profiling, and police violence. The premise of this campaign is to boldly display, "I Am Not My Stereotype." 

According to Williams, “56 Black Men flips the cliched negative image of black men wearing a hoodie. It challenges the demonized, one dimensional image of Black men shown in the media as victims or perpetrators of knife crime and it asks us all to view black men in a different, positive light.” 

The campaign and exhibition runs parallel to I am More Than Who You See  exhibition in the JSMA North Hallway and is the primary inspiration for this year’s Community Conversations held with UO students around stereotyping and racial profiling.