Alpha's Bet Is Not Over Yet

Alpha’s Bet Is Not Over Yet is an interactive reading room and discussion space inspired by the energy and politics of radical, independent Black periodicals published during the first half of the twentieth century. Borne out of "Book Club" (2010), a think tank and reading group organized by artists Steffani Jemison and Jamal Cyrus for Project Row Houses, Houston, Alpha’s Bet investigates language, the written word, self-education, and democratic distributions of knowledge. The newsstand display features complete reproductions of more than five hundred issues of Black periodicals published between 1902 and 1940, including The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races, The Messenger: World’s Greatest Negro Monthly, Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, and The Crusader. These publications, which include journalistic, literary, and poetic texts, commercial illustrations, and reproductions of works of art, collectively encapsulate a major slice of twentieth-century Black modernism. The installation is designed to encourage browsing and provides space for both concentrated reading and conversation. The work’s title paraphrases theorist and artist Rammellzee (1960–2010) who argued that language is not a passive vessel but rather possesses the potential to reimagine structures of power.