Some teachers testify that students motivate them, but associate professor of cultural anthropology Jong Bum “JB” Kwon is going the extra mile. Inspired by his former students, Kwon is leading a study to examine the obstacles and aspirations of Black artists in St. Louis.
Kwon’s pursuit follows a 2023 survey by the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) that revealed Black creatives and artists were not as well off as their white counterparts.
Earlier this year, the National Endowment for the Arts selected Kwon’s study as one of 18 research grants approved for funding. The honor comes with a $45,000 grant, which will be matched by funding from other sources.
“I’ve had very talented young Black students come through my classes,” Kwon said. “Some of them became creative; be they dancers, singers or other kinds of art. Just talking with them and learning more about what they had been up to during and after they graduated really stoked my interest in what it meant to be a young Black artist here.”
As a teacher of urban anthropology, as well as race and ethnicity, Kwon notes it can be hard to find resources for his classes, partly because a lot of the scholarly literature around young Black people tends to focus on the negative aspects, rather than the positive aspects, of their lives, causing disproportionate representation.
“There’s very little that really describes and analyzes the normal aspirations and dreams of young Black people and how they do that within a very specific context,” Kwon said.
Arts and culture contributed over $800 million to the St. Louis economy in 2022, according to the RAC – clear evidence of the arts’ importance as an economic driver, which could be boosted further by the dismantling of racial bias.
“All the research shows that if we address – as a region – racial inequality and segregation, the regional economy would benefit by tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars,” Kwon said. “Almost all the research demonstrates that segregation is a hamper or obstacle to economic growth.”
Kwon hopes his research can encourage more people from the surrounding areas, such as Webster Groves, to regularly visit and engage with the city’s arts and music scene, helping change the way St. Louis is perceived in their own eyes, as well as those of the general public.
“I think there are these old ways of thinking about the city that have to change,” Kwon said. “So we need to change the way that people think and talk about the city and Black youth. And once we can begin to do that, I think that things can begin to change.”
The ultimate goal is for everyone to thrive equally, and policy discussions and representation are very valuable to reaching that.
Kwon holds some scholarly aspirations, as well, thinking about turning the future results into a book, academic articles or policy papers, while aiming to make the work publicly accessible.
“My hope with this is to get some conversations started, to get policy changed and to change the way that people experience the city,” Kwon said.
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