Authors

Julian Cox joined the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) as deputy director and chief curator in 2018. He leads the curatorial team in designing meaningful art experiences that embrace multiple—and often challenging—points of view. He focuses on exhibition planning and on developing the AGO’s significant collections, positioning Toronto and Ontario’s rich artistic landscape in the widest context possible to ensure the gallery is inclusive and welcoming and reflects the diversity of the communities it serves.

Before joining the AGO, Julian was chief curator of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), for both the de Young and the Legion of Honor. He led curatorial activities in Art of the Americas, Oceanic Art, African Art, Ancient Art, European Paintings and European Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Prints and Drawings, American Art, Contemporary Art, and Costume and Textile Arts. He also managed FAMSF’s conservation, library, and publications staff.

Prior to that, Julian served as curator of photography at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, and held several positions in the Department of Photography at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. He holds a Master of Philosophy degree in the history of photography from the University College of Wales and a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from the University of Manchester.

Dr. Charles Johnson is a widely published literary critic, screenwriter, philosopher, essayist, and lecturer. He is the author of several novels and short-story collections, including Papa Chuck’s Twisted Tales (2020) and Dr. King’s Refrigerator: And Other Bedtime Stories (2005). His many nonfiction works include Grand: A Grandparent’s Wisdom for a Happy Life (2020), Turning the Wheel: Essays on Buddhism and Writing (2003), Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery (with coauthor Patricia Smith; 1998), and Being and Race: Black Writing Since 1970 (1988). Among his many honors are a MacArthur Fellowship and an award in literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle.

John Lewis (1940–2020) was a member of the US Congress and a leader in the American civil rights movement. Educated at the American Baptist Theological Seminary and at Fisk University, he served as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1963 to 1966. He came to national prominence after his leadership role in the Selma to Montgomery March. First elected to Congress in 1987, he represented Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District in the US House of Representatives for seventeen terms. He dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he called the “Beloved Community” in America.