Iforcolorhistory@mail.com

{ No copyright infringement Intended }

Mission and focus

Preservation and education: The website’s core purpose is to preserve and present the history and culture of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous American art forms.
Empathy and change: Shields shares this information with the goal of fostering empathy and educating the public on the significance of these communities’ legacies.
Accessible resource: By providing information for free, Iforcolor.org serves as a public resource for specific topics and relevant societal discussions.

Website features and content

The site archives and presents information across various categories, with a particular emphasis on the arts.

Artist profiles: The website features profiles of artists and historical figures, including influential individuals like:
- Actors and performers: Cicely Tyson, Robert Hooks, and Lillias White
- Artists and activists: Faith Ringgold, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Vinie Burrows
Historical topics: The site explores diverse historical subjects beyond Black history, such as “The Civil Radical Battles of the Black American Soldier”.
Poetry: An actively updated section is dedicated to poetry, featuring works by poets like Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansberry.
Music and dance: Iforcolor.org recognizes music and dance as vital expressions of experience within communities of color, covering genres and dance forms such as the Lindy Hop and Charleston.
Educational focus: Content is presented in an educational and factual format, drawing on Shields’ extensive knowledge and research.

Connection to Dale Ricardo Shields’ career

Online activism: The website is an extension of Shields’ work as a theatrical director, educator, and historian. The site’s archival work is part of his broader effort to promote and preserve Black theater history, which contributed to his receiving the 2021 Paul Robeson Award.
Artistic purpose: His online work reflects his lifelong goal of sharing his artistic and historical knowledge with diverse audiences to uplift the next generation of theater professionals.
Artistic network: The site also honors the great theater artists with whom Shields has worked and learned.

Content Copyrights