Ava DuVernay Guest-Edits TIME's Optimism Issue
Director and producer Ava DuVernay's work, both on and off set, uses art to shift the narratives surrounding communities of color. She embraces art as a conduit of positivity for Time magazine's new The Optimists issue, which debuts online today (February 7).
TIME’s new cover: The Optimists issue, guest-edited by @Ava DuVernay https://t.co/2kdYzOtjwL pic.twitter.com/rLWqpW4Z39
— TIME (@TIME) February 7, 2019
"When I was invited to guest-edit this issue, Time’s second special issue devoted to optimism, it was on a particularly dreary day," DuVernay reflects in an introductory essay. "The national headlines were what we’ve come to expect: bigotry, poverty, injustice, trauma, trouble. I weighed my own feelings of despair and doubt against the idea of reveling in an experience dedicated to optimism. The choice was easy. I wanted to explore the other side."
The issue includes videos, profiles of influential artists of color and essays on art's relationship to structural change, including the following features:
- Computer scientist Joy Buolamwini explains the racist and sexist biases in artificial intelligence, and how to organize against it
- Actress and producer Laverne Cox looks back at singer Marian Anderson and the legacy of Black brilliance
- Veteran actress and cover star Cicely Tyson discusses her creative history and philosophy
- Chef Preeti Mistry explores the challenges and importance of confronting the culinary industry's White male hegemony
- Writer, director and actress Lena Waithe advocates for a new path forward for Black Hollywood