CENTRAL DISTRICT LEGACY: BLACK. POWER. BLACK PANTHERS.

By Beverly Aarons

On view at ARTE NOIR Gallery through August 2, 2026, Central District Legacy: Black. Power. Black Panthers. invites viewers into a paradigm-shifting visual topography of Black power, authority, and self-determination. Featuring works by nine visual artists and reflections from current and former Central District residents, the exhibition remembers and honors the impact of the Black Panther Party while asking what it means to continue that legacy.

When examined as a whole, the exhibition’s visual narrative suggests that the legacy of the Black Panther Party is not simply power as belief, force, or external control, but power as the authority to define the self first—and from that definition, to take decisive action to reorient reality.