In recognition of Black History Month, the Google Cultural Institute is providing a unique virtual experience to better explore and pay tribute to black history.

On Monday, the online institute, which boasts an impressive collection of digital artwork contributed by museums, will release more than 4,000 new items that document different moments throughout the history of black America.

The new experience will come with over 80 exhibits and three expeditions -- immersive virtual reality journeys to cultural hubs like the jazz scene in New Orleans. Street views will virtually transport users to culturally significant locations across the country like the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and the Museum of African American History in New England.

Meanwhile, new digital artifacts include historically relevant items like the original manuscripts of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" and "I've Been to the Mountaintop” speeches, as well as photographs of King's first handshake at the White House with President Lyndon B. Johnson on the day the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965. 

Historical institutes like the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture contributed to the collection by digitizing portions of their archives. One exhibit pays tribute to masterminds like Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham, who played an important role in the journey of black dancers and helped to highlight their work in contemporary dance. 

Also among the artifacts is a letter Fredrick Douglass wrote to his slave master in 1857. "I love you but I hate slavery," Douglass wrote, going on to explain why he felt the need to stay in touch with his former master even after he escaped. 

These new additions document critical moments of black history in interactive and innovative methods. They provide us with unprecedented new ways to help ensure these important moments and markers of history are not forgotten -- not only in February, but year-round.

“Everyone should have access to history; everyone should be able to follow it, learn from it, explore it and revel in it," Lonnie G. Bunch, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, told The Huffington Post.

Bunch said the better we're able to understand our past, the better we'll be able to work towards a brighter future. "This is something worth celebrating," she said. 

Check out Google's Cultural Institute to learn more. 

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February is here, and that means Black History Month is, too!

For forty years, America has observed Black History Month as a time to reflect on the revolutionary work black people have contributed to this country's history. What first began in 1926 as Negro History Week thanks to noted scholar Carter G. Woodson has evolved into a month-long celebration of black progress and power. But as time passes and the country’s racial climate changes, the ways in which we recognize and honor Black History Month have since evolved too -- and we at HuffPost Black Voices are highlighting the significance of the annual tradition in our own special way.  

This year, Black Voices is once again commemorating Black History Month by inviting you to enjoy our “Black Future Month” series. Throughout the month, we are not only paying tribute to the achievements of yesterday but are also reflecting on how to create a better tomorrow for black America.

“We can’t afford to solely commemorate the past. We must seize the opportunity to change the course of history by shaping our future,” Opal Tometi, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Network& #BlackLivesMatter, wrote in a Black Voices blog post for the launch of our “Black Future” series last year.

Today, Tometi’s words seem more relevant than ever, which is why we’re bringing back the series and expanding it. The Black Lives Matter movement has made a hugely significant impact on the ways we discuss race: It has highlighted the inadequacies among America’s justice system and tackled the nation’s ongoing racial disparities. As a result, it has bred a new crop of civil rights fighters who are speaking up, fighting back and making history every day.

So as part of our “Black Future” series, we’re honoring black visionaries who have adopted the movement’s mission as their own. We believe these individuals exemplify black excellence and are using their voice to unify and uplift others across the fields of entertainment, media, activism and business.

In addition, Black Voices has teamed up with Black Lives Matter Network to take a deeper look at 29 different cultural and political issues affecting black lives. For each day in February, we will publish a piece written by a black writer who will examine an important issue and envision the ways we can work together to help solve it. The topics will include everything from education and employment to policing and criminal justice reform.

“We can’t afford to solely commemorate the past. We must seize the opportunity to change the course of history by shaping our future." --Opal Tometi

At Black Voices, we understand both the burden and beauty of blackness -- and we are committed to telling stories that explore all the complexities of our identity and culture. We pay tribute to black heroes of the past and praise those among us today. And that’s not something we’re only devoted to doing in February, it is a mission we uphold every damn day.

But because white history is the dominant narrative in America and because it casts a shadow over blackhistory, we’re doubling down this month and recommitting to telling the stories of black past, present and future. 

We invite you to follow our “Black Future Month” series on social media on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #BlackFutureMonth. Join us in the conversation this Black History Month as we remind the world that black lives have always mattered, and they always will.

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In honor of Black History Month, Nameberry takes a look at the names of the civil rights activists who fought for justice and equality and served as beacons of hope for oppressed people of color in the U.S.

Here is a sampling of some of those courageous though slightly less known men and women. Parents, take note for potential baby name inspiration.

Autherine

In 1956, Autherine Juanita Lucy became the first black student to attend the University of Alabama, where she endured hostile mobs and threats against her life. Her name is a more unique take on the usual feminization of Arthur -- Arthurine.

Cleveland

Cleveland Sellers organized a sit-in at the age of 15, was jailed (and later fully pardoned) after the Orangeburg Massacre, and eventually went on to become a college president. Rare today, the name was in the Top 100 in the 1880s and has the nickname Cleve.

Clyde

Civil rights pioneer Clyde Kennard was arrested and convicted on false charges to prevent his entrance to an all-white university in Mississippi. The name Clyde, hot in the early twentieth century -- reaching as high as number 51 -- has an edge of jazzy cool that makes it definitely ready for a comeback. It’s already reached Number 334 on Nameberry.

Esau

Esau Jenkins was a key activist in South Carolina, encouraging black people to register to vote and working for their economic, cultural and political advancement. The neglected Old Testament name of Jacob’s brother Esau is not in the Top 1000, but could in time share some of the popularity of Ezra.

Hosea

Hosea Lorenzo Williams was a chief field organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Campaign (SCLC), who led the historic Selma to Montgomery march. Hosea is one of the least used of the Hebrew prophet names, but could join the ranks of biblical brethren like Daniel, Jonah, Nathan and Samuel. 

Marvel 

In addition to being a civil rights leader, Marvel Jackson Cooke was a barrier-breaking journalist. As a girls’ name, Marvel was a long-forgotten relic until it recently appeared as a (male) character name in The Hunger Games, giving it a more modern feel. It had reached as high as 487 for girls at the turn of the last century.

Modjeska

Active in the South Carolina branch of the NAACP, Modjeska Monteith Simpkins’ work helped the state move towards racial equality, but at the price of her life and home becoming targets of violence. She was named for a famous Polish actress, Helena Modjeska, who emigrated to California in the 1870s.

Prathia

Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall was a theologian and prominent Civil Rights Movement speaker. She is believed to have inspired Dr. King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech, having used that phrase repeatedly in a prayer he heard in 1962. Today Prathia is a fairly unusual name with potential for inspiration.

Septima 

The daughter of a former slave, Septima Poinsette Clark was known as the "Queen mother" or "Grandmother" of the American Civil Rights Movement because of her important work for voting rights and education reform. Septima is a number name, the feminine version of the better-known Septimus.

Unita

The daughter of sharecroppers, Unita Blackwell took part in the massive effort to register black voters across Mississippi and later became the first black female mayor of the state. Unita makes an interesting spin on the Virtue name Unity.

Winson

Winson Hudson was an early NAACP chapter executive, initiated a lawsuit to desegregate her county’s schools and helped integrate various institutions.  Winson -- which sounds like Winston without the 't' --was actually her middle name, and quite possibly a family surname. Her first name was Anger.

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Your newsfeed is depressing.

Each new scroll reveals a fresh headline about police brutality, the migrant crisis or Donald Trump's latest bigoted comment. It's hard to stay up on all of it, let alone to understand what to think of it and what -- if anything -- there is to do about it. But don't fret. We have an easier -- and far more entertaining -- way for you to stay up on the issues that matter: podcasts. 

These seven podcasts will give you fresh, smart commentary on the things you need to know, delivered in an accessible -- and often hilarious -- way. But fair warning: once you start to podcast, you may never go back.

Covering everything from pressing social justice issues to the curiosities of human nature, these shows are guaranteed to make you want to laugh, cry and maybe dismantle the white supremacist patriarchy.

Here are the seven podcasts you need to hear to be a better person:

1. Another Round

What's it about? Two hilarious (and occasionally drunk) women talk about everything from current events to workplace racism to squirrels.

Yes, this has been on every othertoppodcast roundupin the last year. But we couldn’t do a podcast list without it. Heben and Tracy deliver whip-smart commentary, always through their thick (and amazing) lens of feminism and racial justice -- and they're just funny as hell. To top it off, they bring on an amazing guest each week -- think Ta-Nehisi Coates and Melissa Harris-Perry -- to have a drink and share their wisdom.

Must-hear episode: Ida Bae Wells, featuring this choice quote: “The passive-aggressiveness of progressive people will kill you.”

2. The Longest Shortest Time

What's it about? The trials and tribulations of being a parent -- or any member of a family, frankly.  

“Whether the show is covering bi-racial parenting, accidental pregnancy, being a pregnant butch or parents trying to rediscover their sexuality despite the addition of a small human to their household, the show covers topics with humor, frankness, grace and actually useful advice,” writes The Guardian.

Must-hear episode: Mama don’t understand, featuring a 6-year-old girl rapping to her white mom about how proud she is to be black.

3. Women of the Hour

What's it about? Lena Dunham talks with cool people about love, work, bodies and relationships. 

Why you should listen: the show features voices that we don’t usually hear on radio -- a transgender gynecological nurse practitioner, a musician without legs who prefers to navigate life on a skateboard -- telling their own stories, which is awesome. Caveat: a significant portion of this show is Dunham asking her friends to reassure her that she’s a good person (see: writer Ashley Ford in episode one telling her she’s not a racist, and Jemima Kirke from "Girls" in a bonus episode telling her she’s a good boss and a good friend).

Must-hear episode: Body, featuring the incredible Janet Mock. She talks about her best friend in 7th grade, also a trans girl, who walked up to her and said: “I know you’re trans. Why are you pretending that you’re not a girl? Let’s just go ahead and do this.” 

4. For Colored Nerds

What's it about? Self-proclaimed nerds Eric and Brittany dive deep into the random topic of their choosing -- from Beyonce to the stigma of mental health.

Every episode kicks off with this: “These are the conversations that black people have when white people aren’t listening -- but we record them.” Chatting about the gentrification of Brooklyn or the cultural appropriation of Iggy Azalea, they'll have you laughing hard and thinking harder.

Must-hear episode: Dear White People. While white people are admittedly not their target audience (and rightfully so), if you are one of the many white people on the long and uncomfortable journey that is recognizing your own skin privilege and trying to be a better ally in the fight against white supremacy, this is a must-listen.

5. Hidden Brain

What's it about? Science correspondent Shankar Vedantam unravels the things that drive human behavior, and how biases affect our decisions -- and our lives. 

The podcast "helps curious people understand the world -- and themselves." The episode topics are gloriously random -- varying from “why most economists might as well be studying unicorns” to an interview with Aziz Ansari on Tinder, texting and online dating.

Must-hear episode: Stereotype Threat, featuring the only woman at the table during the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, and how she used sexism to her advantage to win the whole thing.

6. Call Your Girlfriend

What's it about? Two feminist besties talk politics, progressive stuff and periods.

This one is for the ladies. And by ladies, I mean the kind of lady who likes her daily dose of girl talk served with a side of righteously outraged feminist banter. The show is hosted by Aminatou Sow, an award-winning digital strategist, and Ann Friedman, a columnist for NYMag's The Cut. 

Must-hear episode: Sexy Bellybutton Feeling, featuringgiggle-inducing samples from Hillary Clinton’s email dump.

7. Tara Brach

What's it about? Making meditation easy with guided sessions in your pocket.

On the road to being a better person, a lot of people stop by meditation. All of the famous people do it, for all of thegoodreasons, but still, it’s hard. If you’re even remotely considering meditation, this is the podcast for you. The guided sessions run from eight to 25 minutes, and each one begins by patiently guiding you through the shockingly difficult act of just sitting still and breathing.

Must-hear episode:Ten-Minute Basic Meditation Practice, to get you started on your journey to mindfulness.

Also on HuffPost:

• Let's Try To Categorize All The New Podcasts We're Excited About

• 11 Black Podcasts Leading The Golden Age Of Audio

• The 10 Best Food Podcasts To Listen To In 2016

• The HuffPost Love + Sex Podcast

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After he left, I cursed myself for wearing that skirt. Was it too suggestive? Did it give him the wrong idea? I never should have let him drive, I thought. Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to a second date in the first place. Maybe I shouldn’t have let him pay for my drink.

As I stood in the shower washing his saliva off my neck, I wondered if he was right. 

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Corgis: why are we so in love with them? Is it their stubby legs, their goofy grins or their adorable waddle that make us coo at these dwarf pups?

Whatever it is, there’s no doubt that they are the canine darlings of Instagram, with crowd-sourced accounts such as Corgistagrams garnering an impressive 172,000 followers or Insta-star Ralph the Corgi with 175,000 fans. This breed even has fans in high places -- Queen Elizabeth II has owned more than 30 corgis during her reign.  

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Seattle-based artist Margaret McCall decided to incorporate the beloved dog breed into her illustrated reimaginings of scenes from pop culture.

“Corgis always look like they’re having a great day ... likable dogs and likable movies is a winning combination,” said McCall.

Her series of corgi illustrations, made digitally and mainly published on Instagram under “White Collar Otter,” began with a corgi replacing the T. rex in the iconic "Jurassic Park" jeep scene. The point of these wonderfully simple, Microsoft Paint-esque artworks? To make people laugh.

“I choose scenes that are easily identifiable,” said McCall. “The humor can get lost if you have to think too long about the source.”

For that same reason, McCall decided to feature the more easily recognizable Pembroke Welsh Corgi over the breed of dog she owns, the Cardigan Welsh Corgi. As for the subject matter, she draws from a range of media, from podcasts to TV shows, but there’s one thing you won’t be seeing from McCall.

“Because I want this art to be as lighthearted and fun as the dogs themselves, I’ve purposely shied away from requests for scenes that are violent or super dark,” explained McCall.

So, no "The Hateful Eight" or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" illustrations coming up anytime soon. Still, the pop culture scenes McCall has chosen to depict won’t disappoint, and the corgi proxies for some of our most beloved characters are just right.

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Need a snack that's totally next level? Take this rotating Super Mario cake for a spin:

The daring diners at Gamerboy Media dreamed up this tasty dessert in tribute to the opening of Super Mario 64, in which Princess Peach invites Mario to her castle for a slice of cake.

To re-construct the game as accurately as possible, they enlisted a professional cake decorator to help design a three-tier tower of cake pop mushrooms, peanut butter blocks, cupcake Goombas and brownie staircases, which Mario navigates toward a thrilling gingerbread castle finale: 

YouTube videos of the cake resurfaced this week to go viral after they first satisfied hungry gamers when originally posted in 2014. 

The behind-the-scenes video explains that instead of projecting images from the game onto frosting, the group used stop motion animation and 18 Super Mario sugar cookies -- all of varying sizes and running positions -- to capture the action. 

Nom on, gamers. 

H/T First We Feast

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Valentine's Day is coming, and many Americans will get in the spirit by snuggling up with a sweetheart and watching one of the great love stories of our time: "The Jerk," or "Edward Scissorhands." Maybe even "Labyrinth" or "Her." 

Not the classic romances you had in mind?

"I’m a sucker for romantic stories coming from places you don’t expect," artist Nan Lawson told The Huffington fPost in an email. Her new solo show at Gallery1988 in Los Angeles was, she explained, inspired by its proximity to Valentine's Day. "I immediately thought ... how fun it would be to do an entire series of couples," she said.

The show is titled "Meet Cute," after the term used to denote a fictional scene from film or television, in which the two parts of a fated romantic duo meet for the first time." Lawson's pop culture-inspired portraits, created digitally using a Wacom Cintiq tablet, arise out of her desire to tap into a shared excitement about pop obsessions like the meet cute and more.

"There is something so satisfying about creating portraits of characters that people will recognize," she told HuffPost. "Because when they do recognize them, their faces light up! They love these characters so much."

Though these couples, depicted in Lawson's distinctive manga-inflected, soft-hued style, will inspire cries of recognition from geeks, their poses aren't traditional romantic ones or scenes pulled from the source material. Instead, each pair floats back to back, their bodies slightly mingling transparently, like human Venn diagrams.

"I love the idea of two characters overlapping one another as if they are two parts to one whole, like there is a certain symbiosis to being part of a pair," explained Lawson. "It’s ... like they are facing the world together."

There's nothing more romantic than that.

Catch Lawson's full show at Gallery1988 (East) in Los Angeles from Jan. 29 through Feb. 13.

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There are few things better than waking up in the morning with a space to yourself. Alone in your palace, you're free to roam around in your underwear, turn on your favorite embarrassing playlist, stretch out on every available surface and read, nap, eat, nap, repeat. 

Despite the fact that almost every living human understands the joy of a day to oneself, there remains a stigma affecting around 50 percent of the population, one that associates a woman alone with a lonely woman. 

Thankfully, there's Mexico-based illustrator Idalia Candelas. She captures the subtle space between lonely and alone in her series "Postmodern Loneliness." In black and white, Candelas drafts women sprawled in bed, smoking a cigarette, doing the dishes, and spacing out on the couch. Her drawings aren't sensual, and they're not sad. The subjects, though dressed in panties and bras or nothing at all, do so for no one but themselves. And going about the day sans company, they seem to be doing just fine. 

The drawings, published in a small book titled "Alone," are an ever so subtle rebuff to the mainstream imagery most commonly circulated of women alone -- read: without men -- mostly crying, eating ice cream, watching rom-coms. They softly exalt the safe and snug sensation of enjoying the company of no one but oneself. 

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One artist has recreated our beloved childhood classics with a dark twist -- and now we're crossing our fingers for a demented Disney mashup we never knew we needed.

For his latest series, Andrew Tarusov, a Los Angeles-based illustrator, asked himself what his favorite Disney classics would look like if Tim Burton directed them. The results are as delightfully deranged as if they were drawn by Burton himself.

Last summer, Tarusov, who specializes in pin-up art, took Disney's most famous princesses and turned them into vintage pin-up models. This time he turned to Burton, one of his favorite artists, for his inspiration.

"I'm a big fan of Tim Burton's style and Disney movies," Tarusov, who is originally from Russia, told The Huffington Post. "So [when the idea] happened, I began to draw immediately."

For some of the movies, Tarusov created entirely new storylines based on Burton's previous work. For example, in Tarusov's "Sleeping Beauty" poster, Prince Phillip is just about to awaken Princess Aurora with a shock to the brain -- a nod to Burton's early stop-motion film "Vincent," which parodies "Frankenstein."

"I tried to combine colorful and happy Disney characters with Burton's view," Tarusov said. "I either took some of my favorite moments from each movie, or I based my idea on the characters' distortion."

Below, ruin your favorite Disney memories with Tarusov's reimagined versions.

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"Grease: Live" aired last night to mostly great reviews -- especially of cast member Vanessa Hudgens, who just lost her father to cancer. But there was one aspect of the production that had fans a little disappointed: the family-friendly censorship. 

"Grease: Live" executive producer Marc Platt addressed the censorship in an interview with Adweek before the musical aired.

"It's going to be a very family-friendly show, but with the appropriate edge that it needs to have," he said.

Judging from fan reactions, that perfect balance was hard to come by. 

People first noticed altered lyrics during Vanessa Hudgens' performance of "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee," when the word "fongool" (which literally means "go do it in the ass" in Italian, but is also interpreted as "f**k you") was changed to "be cool." However, the network deemed the line "flog your log" totally appropriate, which left some scratching their heads. 

As is the norm these days, fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment and confusion. 

Things only got worse once the T-Birds (lead by Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuko) broke out into "Greased Lightning." Two lines in the iconic song were changed: "the chicks'll cream" became "the chicks'll scream," and "she's a real pussy wagon" was changed to "she's a real dragon wagon."

As many noticed, though, the showrunners decided to keep the controversial line, "Did she put up a fight?" in "Summer Lovin,'" causing even more confusion about TV censorship. 

Another questionable line from the original that made it into the live show: "You think you're such a looker. But no customer would go to you unless she was a hooker!" from "Beauty School Dropout." Boyz II Men delivered the line as the iconic Teen Angel(s). 

Despite the criticism the production faced, "Grease: Live" seemed to be an overall success. And not even those silly new lyrics could take away from the cast's wonderful execution of the classic material. 

We'll leave you with their energetic rendition of "We Go Together:" 

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Vijay Iyer is a celebrated jazz musician, Harvard professor, MacArthur "genius grant" recipient, and lapsed physicist.

This menagerie of impressive titles might not make him the ideal person to speak out against the "model minority" myth surrounding Asian-Americans. But, in a profile that ran in last week's New Yorker, Iyer revealed how critics' stereotypes of Asian Americans have affected the reception of his work over the years.

“To be a jazz musician is to express some American project, to be part of American history, to take in those rugged ideals to which improvisation is central ... Critical writing used to attempt to place me by othering me, by putting me outside the history of jazz. Everything I did was seen as different and not as the continuity of a tradition. Critics never describe black music as rigorous or cerebral or mathematical, although Coltrane was interested in mathematics. Since I was Asian, I was seen as having only my intellect to use.”

Iyer's experience demonstrates how Asian American stereotypes, which may seem innocuous or like minor annoyances, can be harmful. "Intellect" is a positive good in itself, but when posed in opposition to some "authentic" jazz tradition, references to it crippled critical discourse on Iyer's music. (Not to mention the fact that the dummy contrast between "rigorous" and non-rigorous jazz is sort of silly on its own, since all jazz music relies heavily on improvisation and irregular meter.)

Iyer's quote shows how stereotype threat is a double-edged sword. While critics were eager to intellectualize his work, they were hesitant to ascribe the same values to earlier, mostly black, jazz musicians, which is why it took so long for the establishment to take jazz seriously. In The New Yorker interview, Iyer touched further on the reality of the "model minority" myth as it relates to his own history.

His parents, he explained, immigrated from Tamil Nadu, India, and his father has a PhD in pharmacology, which means they were exactly the kind of Asians allowed to get American visas in the 1960s (and thereafter). It's not like everyone -- or even a notable majority -- of the billion-plus populations of India and China are doctors and engineers; their overrepresentation in America was "curated by policy," as Iyer put it. 

Like a lot of second-generation Americans, Iyer seems to have grown up with a relaxed awareness of his difference, being "neither white nor black, and having a different-sounding name." One reason Asian American identity issues are easy to sideline is that the structural inequality beneath them is often of a different order than those of other minorities in America. As Alec Wilkinson writes of Iyer, "He sees himself as someone of color but, as the child of parents who came willingly to the country, as being in a different position from people whose ancestors arrived as captives."

So, not only was it tough for critics to figure out how to talk about Iyer, he himself grappled with tough questions concerning his identity and his relationship to jazz history.

Iyer's eventual and stunning success within his field came as he engaged with, rather than shirked away from, the challenge of situating himself in that African American musical tradition. A turning point came in San Francisco, where he was a doctoral student, when he found a group called Asian Improv that combined African American traditions with Asian instruments. It seemed to flip a switch for him. He realized that there is no ahistorical music, that almost every tradition is dynamic and capacious.

Said Iyer, “It became apparent to me that the history of this music is a history of communities where music was an uplifting force, and that situating myself in relation to that history was what mattered. It wasn’t about me trying to sound black. It was me figuring out my relationship to those histories.”

The full New Yorker profile of Iyer can be found here. See also: our 2013 interview with Iyer.

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If you happened to visit the Outsider Art Fair in New York last month, you were likely greeted by a string of sunny drawings in candy-colored chalk and crayon, depicting architectural forms with anthropomorphic qualities that fade in and out of view.

These pastel creations are the work of newly discovered Italian artist Alessandra Michelangelo, who passed away in 2009. During the final decade of her life, at a workshop in Livorno, Italy, Michelangelo churned out drawings that are wildly sophisticated in their instinctual ease. 

"This, I think, is the way all artists want to draw," author and curator Chris Byrne, who discovered Michelangelo's work and now represents her estate, explained to me as he traced over her intensely decisive lines with his fingertip.

There's no fear, no hesitation. Lines emerge and mingle as they may, paying little attention to who or what is in their way. Her guttural gestures form impossible buildings, serpentine symbols and lilted smiley faces with the same confident drive most of us only possess when signing paperwork. 

Michelangelo was born in Livorno in 1961, where she'd spend the rest of her life. At 20 years old, she began to exhibit signs of schizophrenia following the death of her older sister. She subsequently spent the majority of her adult life in psychiatric facilities or residential mental health centers. In 1999, Michelangelo began creating art at Blu Cammello, a workshop for adults with disabilities, and remained working there until her death ten years later.

"It was immediately clear that she would be a special case," Riccardo Bargellini, the Director of Visual Arts at Blu Cammello, said. "Among all the workshop participants, she certainly appeared to me as the most disturbed patient. I was only allowed to collect her drawings when they were finished."

Like many makers classified as outsider artists, Michelangelo seems to have been consumed by her art, participating in a creative ritual comprehensible to no one but herself. "Alessandra appeared to live in a private world to which no one had access," Byrne added. "With the ability to produce images quickly, she would often create drawings using both hands and her abrupt and confident mark-making always yielded a precise gesture."

There is no knowledge of Michelangelo possessing an interest in art history, or seeking inspiration from its key players. And yet, looking at her work, ghosts of artists past come to the fore. One piece echoes Giorgio de Chirico's space-defying chasms, and another Philip Guston's oddly adorable cartoon world. Michelangelo's work embodies the hunch, often supported by outsider art, that certain artistic ideas linger in the air like electric forces, that can be accessed almost accidentally from disparate times and places. That the entirety of art history past and present is spread flat, outside of chronology and progress, for the taking. 

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Detroit has closed more than two-thirds of its public schools in the last 15 years, shortchanging students, neighborhoods and the district itself, finds a report released as teachers protest conditions at the schools that remain open.

The Detroit Federation of Teachers union filed a lawsuit Thursday against Detroit Public Schools over “dangerous” and “deplorable” classroom environments that it says deprive students of a "minimally adequate education."

"A School District in Crisis," a report published last week by property mapping company Loveland Technologies, gives a fuller picture of the district's decline and the consequences for students. 

The company surveyed the city's schools and researched others that have been demolished since the district was formed in the 1800s. Just 93 school buildings are currently in operation, Loveland found. Of the 195 buildings closed since 2000, some have been demolished or repurposed, but more than a third stand vacant. 

Those 81 vacant schools are decaying. Fires have been set at a couple dozen; most are open to trespassers and copper thieves have started stripping metal from all but one, Loveland found.

“They make up some of the largest and most problematic blight properties in the city,” John Grover, co-author of the Loveland report, told The Huffington Post.

Apart from the toll they have on buildings, the closures deeply impact surrounding communities.

“When schools were built they were essentially the center of a neighborhood,” Grover said. “The neighborhood grew around it and when the school left, it left a hole.”

That’s what happened to Mason Elementary. Fifth-grade teacher Emma Howland-Bolton remembers the positive atmosphere when she started working there in 2011 -- kids filled the hallways and their artwork lined the walls.

A few months later, they were informed at a meeting that the school would be closed, despite resistance from the community, due to declining enrollment. 

“I stood up and talked about the narrative of an abandoned building and the message that that sends to kids, what it’s like to walk by,” Howland-Bolton said. “It was a thriving hub of the community, so it was particularly painful to go back and see it and realize that all of that had come to pass."

Howland-Bolton, who now teaches at another local school, returned to Mason for the first time in November.

“The doors are actually still nailed shut, but there were no windows,” she said. “It’s totally torn apart. There were actually kids playing basketball in the totally dilapidated gym.”

The school has since been boarded up, Loveland surveyor and photographer Yvette van der Velde said, but the exterior still had openings the last time she was there.

The entire district's enrollment has shrunk dramatically, reflecting the city's overall population loss. Enrollment has declined by about 85 percent since its 1960s peak, to just 46,000 kids. In recent years, many students who live in Detroit have left the public school system for suburban districts or one of the growing number of charter schools. State funding has gone with them.

While under-enrollment is often the reason to close a school, closures don't help the issue -- they may actually contribute to district losses. When a school closes, an average of 30 percent of the displaced students leave the district altogether, a Detroit Public Schools report from last year found.

“The impact that those closures have had in recent years has been devastating, and we're just now starting to understand the repercussions,” Grover said.

They also haven’t staved off financial crisis. The district has $3.5 billion in total debt, and officials warn they could run out of cash in a few months. They're dealing with teacher shortages while spending an unusually high amount on lingering debt payments compared to classroom costs, and paying executive salaries that rank as some of the highest nationally, according to WXYZ. 

Howland-Bolton sees the school closures as a disinvestment in education, rather than a viable cost-cutting measure.

"Using money as an excuse to harm kids is really frustrating," she said.

With the district’s future in jeopardy, teachers are calling attention to conditions in their schools that in some cases aren't much better than those in the crumbling vacant buildings -- mold, falling ceiling chunks, extreme temperatures, bullet holes, mushrooms growing indoors and cockroach infestations, to cite a few of the complaints. Since November, teachers have staged frequent “sickouts,” where they intentionally stay home and school closes.  

Earlier this month, DPS Emergency Manager Darnell Earley accused the teachers of "using students as pawns to advance a political position,” according to the Detroit Free Press. He took some of the teachers to court to force an end to the sickouts, but was denied twice.

Teachers argue that systemic problems pose greater danger to their students than missing a couple days of class and that they have exhausted other options for getting people to pay attention. Many families support the sickouts, and students at three high schools walked out of class last Monday to show solidarity with their teachers.

"We deserve books, we deserve money, we deserve better education and we're not getting it,” Jalon Nelson, senior class president at Communication and Media Arts High School, told Fox 2.

DPS has been under state control since 2009, run by a succession of emergency managers appointed under a law that’s supposed to prevent financial crises but hasn't significantly improved the school district's finances. Critics say emergency managers, who have primarily come into poor and black communities, put cost savings over residents' long-term interests while stripping elected leaders’ powers.

Before Earley was appointed to DPS last year, he served as emergency manager in Flint, where he oversaw a disastrous plan that left the city with toxic, lead-filled water that has had severe effects on children’s health. 

In its lawsuit, the teachers union asks for Earley to be removed from power. 

Meanwhile, some of the Detroit school district’s deep-seated problems are now being treated with urgency, thanks in part to the teacher protests.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan recently called for inspections of all schools; the first batch of reports ordered violations be fixed in a month (one issue: “evidence of vermin infestation, including fecal matter and carcasses”). At the state level, lawmakers are considering bills that would restructure the district and address its looming insolvency.

“It's going to take major intervention to fix the school district,” Grover said. “But it's worth it if it stops this gradual educational decay that's happening in the city.”

Kate Abbey-Lambertz covers sustainable cities, housing and inequality. Tips? Feedback? Send an email or follow her on Twitter.

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A new social media campaign is supporting little boys by combatting harmful stereotypes about gender and masculinity.

Mom Martine Zoer, whose clothing line Quirkie Kids offers pink T-shirts for both girls and boys, launched the #StillABoy campaign and Instagram account after facing criticism that her business was "robbing kids of their gender." 

"I started using the hashtag #StillABoy as a way of saying, 'Hey … a boy who wears pink is still a boy, just like a girl who wears blue is still a girl,'" Zoer told The Huffington Post. When she started noticing other parents tagging photos of their sons with #StillABoy, she decided to create an Instagram account to share the photos.  

The gender stereotype-bashing account shows that boys can have a wide spectrum of interests -- from playing with action figures and roughhousing to gently holding hands, playing with dolls and nurturing pets and little siblings.

As a mom of two little boys, Zoer drew inspiration for the project from her sons Tyler and Tristan. "My boys have taught me so much," she said. "They have so much energy and little common sense. They are wild and sensitive at the same time. It’s a challenge to raise boys in touch with their feelings in a world where they are told to 'man up,' 'suck it up,' and be a 'tough guy.'"

"I hope the campaign becomes a celebration of boyhood and gets people talking about what it means to be a boy," Zoer continued. Though tradition tells us boys are made of "snips, snails, and puppy dog tails," the mom said, "boys can also be sweet and kind and caring. And yes! A boy who likes pink or plays with dolls is #StillABoy."

Keep scrolling and visit @StillABoy_ on Instagram to see Zoer's collection of photos that redefine masculinity (and check out her @StillAGirl account as well!). 

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been playing Adele's music at his rallies without her permission. Now she's putting a stop to that.

At a rally in Oklahoma, "Rolling in the Deep" played after Sarah Palin's impassioned speech. Trump also used the "Skyfall" theme at an event in Ohio.

Fans tweeted their outrage, urging the British musician to ban Palin and Trump from using her music. 

Adele has made it a point since 2011 to stay out of politics, but now her team is taking steps to ensure Trump no longer uses her music.

“Adele has not given permission for her music to be used for any political campaigning,” Adele's spokesperson told the Independent.

Adele is not the only musician whose music the Donald's campaign has appropriated. After Trump blasted "Dream On" at one of his rallies, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler's lawyers sent Trump cease-and-desist letters to Trump saying he did “not have our client’s permission” to use the song.

"[It] gives the false impression that he is connected with or endorses Mr Trump’s presidential bid,” the letter continued.

REM lead singer Michael Stipe also released a statement after one of his band's songs were used at a Trump rally without their permission. The statement included: "Go f**k yourselves, the lot of you -- you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men. Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign.”

Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist,misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

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In 2016, David Bowie released his last album ever, professional hit-maker Sia stopped dropping individual tracks to put out her whole album, someone named Zayn announced some new something and, after teasing fans for months upon months, Rihanna finally got around to giving us "ANTI-." 

And it's only Feb. 1. 

We're not sure what to exactly expect from our artists in the 11 remaining months of the year. Managers and producers tend to keep those cards pretty close to the chest. But there are some records that have us awfully excited.

Fifteen, to be exact:

Lady Gaga, TBD

Why we're excited: Elton John is on board for this one

After releasing the underwhelming "Artpop" in 2013 and then taking a hard left into Tony Bennett territory with 2014's "Cheek to Cheek," nobody knows what direction Gaga will go in 2016. Here’s what we have nailed down: She's reuniting with RedOne, her co-writer responsible for early career hits like "Poker Face," and Elton John is also on board, describing two songs he heard as "killer." After her Golden Globes win for "American Horror Story," Gaga told reporters that the world can indeed expect her album in 2016 and said her role as The Countess very much informed who she is as an artist now.

"Living inside of her was liberating, I’ll tell you, because she doesn’t give a shit about anything," she told reporters backstage at the Globes. Here’s to Gaga giving less of a shit, owning her voice, and putting her passion and creativity in the front seat where it belongs. -- CD

HAIM, TBD

Why we're excited: We totally got into HAIM before Taylor Swift

Oh, I've only been waiting for this for, like, two years now, because there are only so many times you can listen to HAIM's debut Days Are Gone. LOL, just kidding, I'll probably still listen to it even when I'm jamming to their new record, although no one knows when that will be. If there are any songs like "My Song 5" or "Days Are Gone" I'll be a happy camper. But I'm excited to hear any deviations or expansions on the sisters' sound, so here's hoping that something new really does mean something, well, new. -- CP

Missy Elliott, TBD

Why we're excited: Old-school hip-hop, yes, please

It was a formative experience to be a young girl, turn on MTV, and watch a totally fearless badass dance around in a garbage bag. Almost twenty years later, Missy still channels that IDGAF style -- memorably, during her much-too-short appearance at Katy Perry's Super Bowl half-time show. She teased us fans with her 2015 track "WTF (Where They From)," a banger that felt so very Missy-like, but the wait for her upcoming album has felt like centuries. Here's hoping the Timbaland-and-Pharrell production inspires a resurgence of the absurdism and sneaky feminism that once ruled hip-hop. And showed us how "weird" can actually be liberating. -- MR

Frank Ocean, "Boys Don't Cry"

Why we're excited: Even Adele thinks it's been too long

"I'm just fucking waiting for Frank fucking Ocean to come out with his album. It's taking so fucking long." -- Adele, to Rolling Stone

After releasing perhaps the most universally acclaimed album of the decade, "Channel Orange," in 2012 and scoring a couple Grammys, Frank Ocean has remained largely out of the public eye for the last four years. Sure, he's given us some hint at what the album, rumored to be titled "Boys Don’t Cry," might sound like, but we’re largely in the dark. In a genre long plagued by homophobic overtones, Frank Ocean's debut was especially notable for its source material: a teenage relationship with another man. Every lyric on that album is deeply personal, and we can’t wait to hear what new experiences he has to share. -- CD

Jeff Buckley, "You and I"

Why we're excited: All-new covers from a deceased singer-songwriter

Jeff Buckley released just one solo album, "Grace," in 1994, which featured his now well-known cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." Three years later, the budding singer accidentally drowned while swimming in a channel of the Mississippi River at just 30 years old. Now nearly two decades after his death comes a posthumous release featuring 10 cover songs, mostly recorded in 1993 by Buckley for Columbia Records. Due out March 11, 2016, "You and I" will feature Buckley's covers of The Smiths, Led Zeppelin and Sly & the Family Stone, among others. A research team unearthed the mostly unheard material while rummaging through Sony Music archives for the 20th anniversary of "Grace." Sony describes the album as "a revelation, an intimate portrait of the artist performing a variety of cover songs and original music expressing a range of emotion channeled through his singular sensibility." All we can say is ... "Hallelujah!" -- LM

Britney Spears, TBD

Why we're excited: It's Britney, bitch. Any questions?

Britney owes us big time after the tragedy that was "Pretty Girls," but we have a feeling 2016 will bring the Spearitual experience the #BritneyArmy so desperately needs. The pop icon has been teasing a new album in the works for almost a year now, and we're thinking it'll drop in 2016 for a few reasons: First, she's working with some buzzy, promising DJs and producers like BURNS and Matthew Koma. Second, she's been showcasing a newly energized side of herself on the Vegas stage and in dance rehearsals. (Watch this body roll and tell us you don't feel alive.) And last but not least, after she got into that passive aggressive feud with Iggy Azalea, we can almost guarantee we'll never hear another collaboration from them again. #Blessed -- LZ

Katy Perry, TBD

Why we're excited: The lyrics don't always make sense, but you can't tell us they're not catchy

Perry has been laying low since her 2013 release of "Prism," and it's about time for more of her bubblegum earworms to hit Top 40 radio. We don't know much about her newest album, slated for a 2016 release, aside from her manager's assurances that it will happen. In a world where the queens of pop -- most notably Beyoncé, and now Rihanna -- favor dropping albums with an element of surprise, we can see Perry following suit. (And maybe she'll feel like dishing on best frenemy Taylor Swift.) -- MR

Animal Collective, "Painting With"

Why we're excited: That hipster couple danced down the aisle to "My Girls" almostsix years ago

I once bought a joke T-shirt off the music blog Stereogum that had the caption "Stuffed Animal Collective" and featured toys playing instruments. I thought it (and I) was so cool, but Animal Collective will always be connected in my mind to early, exciting times of discovering the farthest outreaches of what I liked (and didn't) and who I was (and wasn't). So, despite their last album, "Centipede Hz," being sort of a let down, I'll always be excited for a new record from Panda Bear, Avey Tare and Geologist. Their album "Merriweather Post Pavilion" once had me so entranced that I accidentally ran a red light. Besides, it's too sad to think those days of discovery can't be conjured up again by something I used to love. -- TVL

The Strokes, TBD

Why we're excited: Julian Casablancas gives us life

Call me too much of a fan or just call me Chanel, but I ALWAYS latch on to anything Strokes-related. Although, I have a bittersweet relationship with some of their ventures, including Julian Casablancas admitting on television that they were just doing things for the money. As we know, the band has mad drama. Despite those troubling things, I'm pretty psyched to see what The Strokes possibly have in store for 2016. If anything, their appearance at this year's Governor's Ball (happening in June) might unearth some details. BRB, just going to go listen to "What Ever Happened." -- CP

Ariana Grande, "Moonlight"

Why we're excited: We can't be annoyed at her when we're dancing

Famous doughnut-licker Ariana Grande gets a bad rap. Sure, she allegedly said that she hopes her fans "fucking die." But, hey, everyone makes mistakes, right? What we know for sure is: Girl. Can. Sing. She’s already given us "Focus," the first single from her upcoming album. If that song’s any indication, in 2016 we can finally just focus on her music. Then she can finally focus on licking more doughnuts. -- BB

Beyoncé, TBD

Why we're excited: We never know what to expect, or when to expect it

David Bowie may have invented the whole "surprise drop" thing, but Beyoncé started thetrend back in December 2013 with her last album, "Beyoncé." Fast-forward a calculated amount of time since then to accommodate touring and minimize risk of overexposure, and it seems we're due for another release anytime now. (She's already getting back in the swing of things with that Coldplay "Hymn for the Weekend" video.) Rumors about various collaborations are floating around like surfborts -- and she may already have even shot a video for a single of her own. Or maybe she's doing the whole album with Jay-Z. While we're all waiting for an answer, I'll be signing up for Tidal. -- SB

Drake, TBD

Why we're excited: C'mon, it's going to be good

Anytime Drake releases an album, he adds another word to our vocab -- just look at what he did with "YOLO," "woes" and "HYFR." His last single, "Hotline Bling," got a lot of heat for its video, but it was incredible aesthetically and really unambiguously different. His turtleneck, dance moves and James Turrell landscapes have spawned bizarre memes, amazing covers and hilarious spoofs, but I'm really just excited for some more Meek Mill disses and Steph Curry (with the shot) shout-outs. -- CL 

Lucius, "Good Grief"

Why we're excited: More to add to our indie pop dance playlist

If this ethereal five-piece band slipped under your radar with their last full-length, 2013's "Wildewoman," don't let it happen this time around. The band, led by vocalists Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessing (who often don matching hairstyles and outfits for their performances), charmed in their last release with soulful indie pop tunes that appeal to both millennials and their tuned-in parents (sample size: me and my mom). If their latest single "Born Again Teen" is any indication, their upcoming "Good Grief," out March 11, will supply us with plenty of crush-worthy tunes and style inspiration for 2016. -- JC

At The Drive-In, TBD

Why we're excited: Because these guys broke up in 2001

At The Drive-In was the first band that I ever listened to that I "discovered." They were my band, not any of music fanatic friends'. Mine. Their music was so driving, I couldn't imagine they weren't breaking things in the studio while recording. Driving, but still with these deliciously addictive riffs and vocal melodies. Oh, the vocal melodies: so tasty. Relationship of Command, they're last album before breaking up, is like the soundtrack to a film. When I heard they were getting back together and releasing new music in 2016, I felt like I was getting an old friend back, but also ready to to experience something very special, a band that I loved taking a break, growing as artists, and then coming back to do it again. It's an exciting time. -- AM

Kanye, "Waves"(?)

Why we're excited: This is not album of the year

This is album of the life. -- MS

Contributions by Bill Bradley, Jill Capewell, Cole Delbyck, Carly Ledbetter, Andy McDonald, Lauren Moraski, Chanel Parks, Melissa Radzimski, Maxwell Strachan, Todd Van Luling and Lauren Zupkus.

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Who says no good movies open in February? The Coen brothers have promised that won't be the case this year. Their latest, the Old Hollywood satire "Hail, Caesar!," hits theaters on Friday. The Huffington Post and its parent company, AOL, have an exclusive featurette about one of the lead characters, a fixer (Josh Brolin) tasked with locating an A-list actor (George Clooney) after he's kidnapped for a $100,000 ransom in the middle of shooting a "Ben Hur"-style epic.  

Brolin says his character deals with the "loony bin of the movie industry," so say no more: We'll see you at the movies this weekend, when "Hail, Caesar!" opens nationwide.

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This article originally appeared on artnet News.

The Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has come under criticism for recreating the tragic image of the the drowned three-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, whose lifeless body washed up on a beach near the Turkish town of Bodrum in September 2015.

Ai's reenactment was taken by the Indian photojournalist Rohit Chawla for India Today. A print of the image was also exhibited at the India Art Fair in New Delhi, as part of a curated exhibition simply titled “The Artists."

In the photo, Ai lies facedown on a pebble beach on the Greek island of Lesbos, where the artist has set up a studio to work on several projects dealing with the European migration crisis.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Chawla admitted that Ai and his assistants “actively helped in staging this photograph for us."

Meanwhile, India Art Fair co-owner Sandy Angus defended the project. “It is an iconic image because it is very political, human and involves an incredibly important artist like Ai Weiwei," Angus told the Washington Post. "The image is haunting and represents the whole immigration crisis and the hopelessness of the people who have tried to escape their pasts for a better future," he added.

The reaction on social media was markedly different, however. Referring to Ai's version of the image, one Twitter user remarked: “Just because its by a famous artist doesn't mean it is a) art or b) good."

Twitter user Nigel Britto agreed. “I have never understood modern/contemporary 'art', and after seeing Ai Weiwei pose as a dead Syrian child, I understand it even less," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Guardian editor David Batty called the stunt “lazy, cheap, crass," while academic Heather D'Cruz said the image was “disrespecting Aylan Kurdi."

On Instagram, Sascha Kurfiss wrote: “[…] Not sure about my feelings. Is it art? Is it just populistic? For sure it is PR…and now I know why he is posting all those pictures from Lesbos the last weeks…to prepare this stunt."

Contrary to what Angus said, it is the original image, taken by the young Turkish photojournalist Nilüfer Demir, that “represents the whole immigration crisis," and not Ai's copy. The artist's attempt to capitalize on the heartbreaking fate of a young child is truly tasteless.

It is important to raise awareness on an undoubtedly urgent issue, but this is not the right way to do it.

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Before Salma Hayek became Frida Kahlo on the silver screen, she portrayed the beautiful but manipulative Teresa in the 1989 telenovela "Teresa." The soap opera was a hit for Mexico's TV network, Televisa, and Hayek became a star.

Nearly three decades later, Univision's "!Despierta América!" found Hayek's first audition tape for Televisa. The morning show published the footage on Jan. 22, though it just started to make its rounds online over the weekend.

A 20-year-old Hayek with her hair in tight short curls told the camera her name, age, where she studies and that she has no experience. OH, how things have changed!

Watch the Oscar-nominated actress' audition tape in the video below.

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