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Photographer explores impact of redlining; BMA to host panel talk Oct. 15

BIRMINGHAM TIMES — In the 1930s, the Federal Housing Administration began to systematically deny mortgages to black, Latinx and Jewish residents. This process became known as redlining because banks and government officials drew red lines on housing maps to single out African American and Latinx neighborhoods deemed as unworthy of investment.

Published

7 years ago

October 19, 2019

Oakland Post

Photographer Celestia Morgan (Photo by: birminghamtimes.com)

By Javacia Harris Bowser

In the 1930s, the Federal Housing Administration began to systematically deny mortgages to black, Latinx and Jewish residents. This process became known as redlining because banks and government officials drew red lines on housing maps to single out African American and Latinx neighborhoods deemed as unworthy of investment.

Though redlining officially ended in 1968 with the passage of the Fair Housing Act, Birmingham photographer Celestia Morgan sees traces of these policies and practices drawn all over the neighborhoods of the city she calls home.

Morgan’s exhibition REDLINE is now on display at the Birmingham Museum of Art through Feb. 16 in the Pizitz Gallery. It explores the impact that housing discrimination of the past continues to have on communities of color today.

“We are more diverse here in Birmingham than we have ever been and I’m glad to see downtown is booming,” Morgan said. “But we still have communities that are falling apart and they feel that they are being forgotten.”

The exhibition includes photographs of homes in Norwood, North Birmingham, Southtown and Ensley.

On Oct.15 at 6 p.m. the Birmingham Museum of Art will host a panel discussion on the historic, systematic practice of racial housing discrimination featured in REDLINE. Confirmed panelists include Morgan, local activists Odessa Woolfolk and T. Marie King, and attorney and community organizer Richard Rice.

Morgan, 38, who grew up in the Central Park area of Ensley, hopes her work will help shed light on a number of issues facing some of Birmingham’s predominantly black neighborhoods including gentrification and pollution.

“They pay taxes just like everybody else,” Morgan said. “Can we get assistance to them?”

Furthermore, Morgan is troubled by the vast number of title loan businesses and fast food restaurants in these communities.

“Is that what we’re offering and providing for these families?” she asked.

Hallie Ringle, the Birmingham Museum of Art’s Hugh Kaul Curator of Contemporary Art, was instrumental in bringing REDLINE to the museum.

“I’ve been wanting to work with Celestia for a while,” said Ringle, who came to the museum in 2018. “She is an incredible artist and her work is really visionary. She is from Birmingham and is making work about Birmingham and the museum has been really focused on finding topics that are important to the city as a whole.”

The Path Before Us

Part of Morgan’s exhibit focuses on Interstate 20/59. The interstate, built in the early 1970s, bisected black neighborhoods and separated them from the city center and predominantly white neighborhoods. The interstate’s placement displaced many residents in its path and caused property values to drop.

Currently, the interstate is being rebuilt at a higher elevation to ease traffic flow to and from downtown, which Ringle believes makes Morgan’s REDLINE even more timely.

“Every neighborhood in Birmingham was affected by redlining, but I think that maybe not everybody knows why 20/59 cuts through Birmingham the way it does,” Ringle said. “It was very intentionally planned to prevent access, to make property values plummet for black neighborhoods in Birmingham. So, it seemed like the right time to engage this conversation when this construction is happening right in the museum’s backyard.”

In this construction, Morgan finds a metaphor.

“It’s in the same spot. We’re repeating the same thing. We’re modernizing it a little bit, but we’re actually doing the same thing,” Morgan said. “We no longer use the map anymore, however, we’re still moving and operating in this path that has been laid out for us.”

Speaking From Within

Morgan believes she inherited her love for photography from her father, who died in 2005.

“When my father passed, we were looking for images of him and we realized that he was the guy behind the camera,” Morgan said. “He would give me one of his old cameras and I would go around and start to photograph.”

As a student in junior ROTC at Jackson-Olin High School Morgan would use a 35mm camera to take pictures at events like Birmingham’s Veteran’s Day Parade. She’d also take portraits of the kids at the day care center her mother owned for their parents.

Morgan went to college at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to study elementary education. But after one photography elective she realized this was more than a high school hobby.

“I fell in love and I changed my major,” Morgan said. She would go on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

“The pictures that I take are me speaking from within,” Morgan said. “That is my voice. That’s how I communicate to not only my family, but to the community and to the world.”

Morgan’s work has been featured at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans and is a part of the permanent collection at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas, which was founded by philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton, daughter of Helen Walton and Walmart founder Sam Walton.

When Morgan began taking photographs of Birmingham’s neighborhoods, she didn’t set out to make a political statement. It was personal.

“The first intent was not to create art about redlining,” she explained. “It was for me, exploring why my family only lived in a certain part of Birmingham. And I wanted to capture memories for my family, take pictures of houses that my grandmother lived in or my aunts and uncles lived in.”

But as Morgan saw both dignity and dilapidation in the neighborhoods she photographed, she started to think bigger.

“How can my story help somebody else?” she began to ask herself. “How can I connect it to something greater than what I am?”

The Sky Is The Limit

Morgan’s exhibit also features pieces meant to represent hope.

“As I started to dig into the history of redlining, I started to think we’re still almost living in the same pattern or system that was established a long time ago,” Morgan said. “But there’s still hope for these communities if we put our resources towards these communities instead of forgetting about them, pushing them aside or only fixing the communities that are closer to the downtown areas.”

For one part of the REDLINE series, Morgan places the outlines of Birmingham neighborhoods redlined in the 1933 Home Owners’ Loan Corporation map against photographs of blue skies.

“My mother would tell me the sky is the limit,” Morgan said, adding that her mother would also say, “You can be whatever you want to be in life.”

Morgan wants people of all neighborhoods to have this type of optimism for the future.

She wants them to look at her photographs and think, “The same sky is blue in Mountain Brook like it is in Woodlawn and that means I have the potential to do good as well. So, don’t forget about me.”

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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