BABATUNDE FOLAYEMI

Babatunde Folayemi (Tony Northern) aka Baba, was an award-winning artist, activist, mentor, and the first African American elected to the Santa Barbara City Council. His artistic expressions, which include paintings, carvings, installations, murals, and writings, were wed to his activism and expanded beyond his birthplace of Harlem to impact thousands of people across Africa and the U.S.

 

But in Baba’s early years, that impact almost died before it began.

 

As a Black child in 1940s Harlem, Baba faced racism, physical abuse from religious schools, and a targeted repression of his intellect despite testing at a genius level. On the streets, Baba had to fight gangs daily to protect himself and defend his siblings. Despite these bitter challenges he grew up in a family and household that was a mecca for art, music, education, and creativity. As a young man Baba became one of the founders of the Harlem Black Art Movement and in 1968, along with fellow artist James Sneed, opened the Harlem Art Gallery. There he sold and promoted Black fine art to Harlem residents including some of the biggest cultural giants living in New York at the time. Baba’s work was in the collections of Miles Davis, Nikki Giovanni and Langston Hughes as well as everyday people who may not have felt represented or welcomed in galleries downtown. Baba’s mission of using art to empower communities took him to Tanzania in 1972 where he lived and created art in Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and around the continent. Baba returned to live in California where he became a widely respected organizer and youth advocate.