In Episode 1 of Visions of Black Futurity, Babette Thomas takes us on a journey through time. We travel to a 1968 Black arts exhibition in Oakland, California, called New Perspectives in Black Art. It was the first of its kind in the country and, in this episode, we meet the woman behind it all, a Black artist and curator named Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery.

Featured: Etta Moten Barnett, Dewey Crumpler, Zora Neale Hurston, Evangeline Montgomery, Ma Rainey, Bobby Seale, Babette Thomas, and Sarah Vaughn.

Cover art: Evangeline's Garden by Jeanna Penn @jinamae