Spotlight Sundays: A Conversation on Black Fatherhood

Spotlight Sundays: A Conversation on Black Fatherhood with Siyah Mgoduka, Jordan Thierry of the Black Fatherhood Project, and Chris Johnson, Co-Creator of Question Bridge: Black Males 

This month’s Spotlight Sundays invites you to a powerful exploration of Black fatherhood through the lens of three visionary artists, each offering a unique perspective on its complexity and depth. Through film, conversation, and artistic reflection, we’ll engage with some of the most nuanced and resonant realities of Black fatherhood today.

We’ll begin with the short film It’s a Pleasure to Meet You (2016), co-produced by South African filmmaker Sue Williamson and artist Siyah Mgoduka. In this film, Mgoduka grapples with the loss of his father at the hands of Apartheid police and navigates what it means to step into fatherhood himself.

After the screening, the conversation continues with a dynamic panel featuring Mgoduka alongside Jordan Thierry, whose acclaimed documentary The Black Fatherhood Project traces the history and evolution of the Black family, and Chris Johnson, co-creator of Question Bridge: Black Males, a moving video installation where Black men share deeply personal reflections on family, identity, and generational wisdom.

This gathering is a celebration of intergenerational healing and Black father fellowship—an invitation to witness, reflect, and connect.

Panelist Bios

Sue Williamson is a Cape Town-based artist whose work explores memory, resistance, and social justice. Her recent retrospective, There’s something I must tell you, opened at the Iziko South African National Gallery in February 2025. She has exhibited at major biennales and is held in collections including MoMA, New York, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou. Williamson is the author of Resistance Art in South Africa (1989) and founder of ArtThrob online magazine. She is a recipient of the Ellen Kuzwayo Award and a Living Legend honouree by South Africa’s Department of Arts and Culture.

Jordan Thierry is a filmmaker, writer, and activist. He is the owner and Creative Director of Dream Chase Media LLC, a multimedia production company that uses culture, creativity and community as inspirations for compelling storytelling. His most recent feature film, GRANDMA’S ROSES (2021) is a raw, intimate documentary exploring the labor & love women invest in their families and communities. His first feature film, THE BLACK FATHERHOOD PROJECT (2013) received wide community acclaim for its breakdown of the history of the Black family. His first short film, the regional Emmy-nominated FOOTPRINTS IN THE STRUGGLE (2006) tells the story of Beatrice Cannady.

His book tilted, A Kids Book About Systemic Racism was made to help kids understand what systemic racism is and how it’s built into laws, schools, stories, and other institutions in a way that collectively makes life much harder for people of color.

Chris Johnson is a photographic and video artist, educator, curator, and writer who studied photography with Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and Wynn Bullock. He served for 11 years as Chair of the Photography Program at the California College of the Arts, where he is now Professor Emeritus, and in 2025 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts. His work has been widely published and exhibited, with pieces in the collections of the Center for Creative Photography, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 2022, his fine art photographic portraiture was featured in a solo exhibition at the Monterey Museum of Art.

Johnson has held leadership roles including President of SF Camerawork Gallery, Chair of Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Commission under Jerry Brown, and Director of the Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography. He currently serves on the Board of the Oakland Museum of California and as Board President of the Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. He is the author of The Practical Zone System: for Film and Digital Photography (now in its 6th edition), and his public art projects are featured in Art as Social Practice: Technologies for Change. Johnson originated the Question Bridge concept in 1996, later co-producing Question Bridge: Black Males—a project that won the International Center of Photography’s 2015 Infinity Award and, in 2016, was inducted into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.

Accessibility

Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is committed to providing programs that are accessible, welcoming, and inclusive of our community. Wheelchairs, sensory inclusive devices, and additional amenities are available for checkout on a first come, first served basis at the Ticketing Desk. To request other accommodations, like American Sign Language (ASL), Cantonese, Spanish or another language interpreter, please email [email protected] at least three weeks before the event. Learn more about our accessibility options.