Rik Freeman's "Black Beaches During Segregation "opened at Honfleur Gallery in Southeast Washington, DC. to a nice-sized, very receptive group. The exhibit runs at 1241 Good Hope Rd SE gallery until Saturday, September 28.

The paintings depict scenes from the Black beaches created during the American apartheid era and help document their history. "My paintings tell stories," says self-described narrative painter Freeman.  "People need to be educated," he continued.

Aside from enjoying the brilliant colors, I was overjoyed to learn that America Beach's founder's wife, Mary Francis, was the great-granddaughter of Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley, whom the Port of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership included in the "West Africans in Early America" exhibit at the Juffureh Slavery Museum in The Gambia.

Freeman tags her as being from Mali; we tagged her as Senegambian. Most Manding speakers can trace their roots back to the Mali Empire, which present-day Mali, Senegal, and Gambia were part of.

In today's naming practices, says Hassoum Ceesay, Director General, National Centre for Arts and Culture in The Gambia, "Madgigine is Wolof for 'good woman.' Jai is short for 'Janeaba' and can be Wolof, Fullah, or Mandinka.

Unlike Dorothy West's hit novel "The Wedding," Freeman's depictions do not address colorism and classism within the racially segregated beaches. However, affirming Freeman's goal to disseminate information in a variety of ways, Jay Durrah, whose depiction of George Washington Carver hangs in the Juffureh Slavery Museum in The Gambia, added, "Rik's paintings are both lively and informative as he gave a historical lesson about each beach depicted."