Awesome Black Creativity: An Alphabet of Meaning

Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published October 11, 2022.

Awesome Black Creativity, by Dave Kaleta and Richard Dryden, is a celebration of Black figures in LEGO bricks. The legacies span disciplines such as contemporary dance, photography, music, film, culinary arts, activism, and more. If you only know Dave and Richard from their appearance on LEGO Masters, you can check out their other work on Instagram (links above). I’ve been a fan of each and every one of their twenty-six builds, and the pair honored me with the opportunity to have some of my burning questions about the series answered. The builders recently put together a poster of the series, which can be purchased on Etsy.

Gwyneth: Let's start at the beginning. How did you come up with this project? I know that Dave built the Alphabet Starfighters before LEGO Masters, but this project is not a riff on the same theme. The first alphabet was an experiment in style and color within a building genre. This alphabet is a deep cultural dive.

Richard: It’s interesting how our Awesome Black Creativity project came about. It happened almost the same way our LEGO Masters journey kicked off. As our story goes, I called Dave, hoping he would accept my invitation to partner up for LEGO Masters. And here we are again, in January of 2022, when he called me to pitch Awesome Black Creativity.

Maintaining our presence after wrapping up LEGO Masters was important to me. We had such a great time working together on camera and building our friendship behind the scenes. Being able to build upon that momentum, through a theme that was close to home felt like the natural way to go. We also leaned on strengths that helped bring us together in the first place.

Photo: Tom Griscom/FOX

Richard: Since the start of our collaboration in 2021, our conversations about life and LEGO never waned. I fully embraced this next chapter, especially an A-Z series, because I was such a big fan of the Alphabet Starfighters before we became friends.

Dave Kaleta’s Alphabet Starfighters

Our roles were defined with Dave building and me writing. I hadn’t been writing as consistently as I would have liked to — Dave knew this through our many conversations. Throughout my career, I have done a lot of bio writing for musicians. Those bios, with all due respect to the artists, don’t always allow for a story to be told. Word count constraints or the turnaround time can play a factor. From my experience with magazine writing, I want to give a little more context, and reasoning, rather than just a bullet-point list.

The descriptions for our Awesome Black Creatives are much more dynamic, as is the research process. Juggling music journalism or lifestyle writing for so long, sometimes the results are very unfulfilling. Writing about Black people who have had such a direct influence on me, and on society, made me find worth in my writing once again.

Dave: I think many LEGO builders derive influence from their lives, whether it be from the culture they consume, their life experiences, or through their careers. When I first entered the large LEGO community 15 years ago, I tended to build pop-culture references, and we know those are the kinds of things that are popular and tend to get picked up by LEGO blogs. It’s a very powerful feeling to have people see your work, be inspired by it, and just tell you how great they think you are. But after a while, it felt like chasing the trends, and if I didn’t get the response I was hoping for I would feel bad about myself. One year at Brickworld Chicago I was speaking with the late Arthur Gugick, and he was telling me about his switch from making LEGO mosaics of recognized works to his own mathematical/geometric designs. (He was a math teacher.) To paraphrase, he told me that he wanted to stop recreating the art of others and be more intentional about creating his own.

Gwyneth: Thank you for sharing this story of how the AFOL community broadened your perspective and your artistry. How did you come up with this signature scale? Is it miniland?

Dave: I started a series of autobiographical builds at miniland plus scale—a style I fell in love with seeing Iain Heath (ochre jelly) pioneer it over the years. Many have heard the adage that writers should write what they know. I figured that if I built what I knew, I might feel differently about my art. I started to explore new techniques and expanded what was possible on this scale through this series. It also coincided with meeting my wife and having a child so there was a lot of material to draw from. I felt a totally different experience sharing this work online and at conventions and made different connections with viewers who could relate to what I was sharing. The alphabet starfighters were somewhat similar as they drew influence from my then three-year-old who was obsessed with Star Wars and learning his letters. As you said, it was a way to explore variations on a theme within a defined structure—also a good way to create many small builds that add up to a greater whole.

For the last few years, I’ve been doing a project in my kindergarten classroom called “Picture of the Day”. Each day I choose an image to share with my class and we engage in Harvard’s Project Zero protocol “See, Think, Wonder” where the students talk about what they “see”, what they “think” about, and what they “wonder” about from the image. I choose images that represent the diverse cultural communities these students belong to, but also I try to expose them to new communities they might not yet have experienced. We explore all different types of diversity: race, gender, sexuality, religion, economic, ability and neuro. After we use the protocol, we share a bit about each figure and why we chose them. It’s a wonderful way to intentionally explore diversity, equity, and inclusion every day.

Dave: I’ve long thought about how to transfer the “Picture of the Day” project to the medium of LEGO. Connecting and working with Richard on LEGO Masters was the first step. We had never worked together in real life before the casting process so we spent a lot of time getting to know each other on set. I’m sure he got tired of me talking about my kindergarten classroom— “Did you know that Fazlur Khan, a Bangladeshi structural engineer pioneered the tube and beam system? We can use that for our Make and Shake tower!” We intentionally wanted to set ourselves apart from other teams by being very clear about what we stood for as humans and putting that into every build for the audience to see. It’s been amazing to meet viewers in person and hear them say that they noticed and appreciated what we were doing.

After the show was over, I think we both missed the collaboration and wanted to find a way to continue what we had accomplished. We knew we both wanted to attend Brickworld Chicago, but we also wanted to have something new to show. I felt that I had built up enough experience building in the miniland plus scale that I could start telling the stories of others, not just my own. I pitched the idea to Richard of a series of 26 builds (one for each letter of the alphabet) that would highlight Black figures throughout history. We would do one a week and have a completed series to display in Chicago. We would collaborate on choosing the figures, I would do the builds and he would do the writing.

Gwyneth: As a parent, I immediately recognized the format, and I was impressed by how your work was not derivative of any of the dozens of ABC books I’ve been obliged to read. (Also, I would have loved to have seen these lesson plans in more Kindergarten classes.)

Richard: I’ve been a parent for 12 years—the books my son reads and still reads are always important to me. He reads a lot of our Instagram posts after they are published. He doesn’t know about some of the people in the series. For those he knows, it is a refreshing reminder of their impact; sprinkled in with maybe some unknown history.

Gwyneth: Did you figure out the individuals beforehand? Or did you choose week by week, as part of the challenge? How did you whittle down the letters overflowing with awesome Black creativity into one finalist?

Dave: As I remember, I started a list of the subjects before I even pitched the idea to Richard. But it was hard— how can you choose between so many important individuals? Someone was going to be left off and viewers might get mad. I remember thinking about the ABC format and trying to come up with a title. Inspiration, awesome Black CREATIVITY! If we focused on different Black creatives across various disciplines it would make choosing more fun.

Richard: Drafting a list of disciplines where Black innovation is at the forefront definitely made the project more fun. The source of their creativity was always important for us to discuss in the copy. There are obvious ways we define creativity: the visual design of architect Philip Freelon, the culinary artistry of Leah Chase. Then there are not-so-obvious ones like former NFL All-Star quarterback Colin Kaepernick who produced his autobiography into a Netflix series, in which we learn about his creative strengths to stand out in the many sports he played. Or individuals who are known for one thing, over time evolve into multi-hyphenates in music or film production like Usain Bolt or Venus Williams and Serena Williams.

The dream of a center to honor the journey of African Americans, was deferred for 100 years until architect Philip Freelon constructed what became the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington D.C.

Gwyneth: So, did you have a list of figures off the top of your head when you began? Did research drastically change that list?

Dave: We had our initial list going into the pitch meeting, but it changed a lot over our first few discussions. We wanted to be sure to include a wide array of creative fields, contemporary and historical figures, and a balance of gender. There were some that we both agreed on right away. For others, we would have a whole list of choices. In our first few meetings we had nailed down the A through H, but we had a long discussion about the letter I. Mostly we would just make our case to the other person about why someone was important to do, and we were both very open to listening to each other. We had the entire list of figures compiled pretty early on. Of course there are people who didn’t make the cut, but our goal was to reflect a diverse sense of creativity, not just the 26 most famous people we could think of.

When Issa Dee has her mirror moment, we are invited into her personal space, where her deep thoughts transform into rapping affirmations to boss up, or confessionals about love.

Gwyneth: How did you work out the workload between the two of you?

Dave: After deciding on the subjects I took on the building while Richard did the research and writing. We would often agree on a source image together and then take off on our own. I would send Richard images of each build in progress and he would let me get a peek at the copy draft. We each helped the other edit and make choices that made sense for the project as a whole.

Richard: The division of labor was well-balanced. I think the workload also yielded a strong balance of motivation we give each other too. This was 26 weeks of building and writing. Every week posed new challenges of condensing a person’s legacy into 2,000 characters, or at the very least, highlighting the significance of some of their life’s work into a post. I had my moments where I had to dig pretty deep to convey the most authentic version of our subject. Also, when the builds came out as awesome as they did, the copy had to also meet that high standard.

We were typically in sync with our selections. Most times, Dave would be ahead of schedule, building two figures ahead of one description I was writing. And once I saw what he was working on for a future installment, it pushed me to elevate my copy, along with any additional ideas to promote that week’s creation. We probably had more back and forth in choosing reference photos. The inspiration for the builds comes from iconic moments or signature poses, or accompanying stages that are synonymous with their profession. Having worked with Dave for some time now, I believe I know what he is looking for in the inspired images we source. Color, pose, and expression can all be recreated in bricks, harnessing our combined knowledge of parts makes anything possible.

Dave: I teach at a really amazing school with a set of outstanding librarians. Often I would be browsing for books to read in the classroom and find a new subject I hadn’t heard of before. That’s how Philip Freelon and Xenobia Bailey made it into the project.

Richard: Even though there was no way I could predict every build, once we had a strong reference photo, I knew Dave would work his magic. He always delivered on surprising me.

Gwyneth: Personally, I love how some of these figures were completely unknown to me. When I thought, "I don't know who this is, and there's probably a more famous person with that letter," I also thought, "Aha, but that's the point!" Can you talk about how you researched the text so people (like me) could not just see a cool LEGO build, but also learn from it?

Richard: The contributions of our Awesome Black Creatives are for everyone. The celebration of them through the medium of LEGO is a way for kids and adults to see accomplished individuals that look like them in a product that is starting to reflect diversity through a broader spectrum of Black and Brown skin tones.

The information on all of our subjects is out there. Knowing their names is the most important part of the process. The notion to “Say Their Names” is not just a cry for social justice, it is a way to value the person’s life, in this case a Black life. I often started my research with what is the most known aspect of this person. Most of the builds show the figures in a position of doing something with a creative tool, whether it is Janelle Monae’s guitar or in the case of activism, it is Colin Kaepernick kneeling. The words and the bricks worked in tandem with each other.

Scholarly essays or magazine articles were helpful sources on all of our subjects. I also liked reading the work of people they inspire. What is the longevity of this individual; why have they stood the test of time? YouTube has a great archive of interviews. These are good resources for quotes, along with a way to hear their voices, pick up on their tone, and get insight on the passion for their craft. Bookstores, local libraries and e-books are quick entry points. And above all, conversations! Talking to friends and family about our subjects gave me deeper insight into the current state of gender rights, and getting book recommendations from Dave about the designer of Halle Berry’s dress from the Oscars, or getting excerpts from children’s books about Philip Freelon.

The brute force of the NFL could not hold back Colin Kaepernick from making history.

Gwyneth: I love these research tips we all could use to better honor our world. How many of the people in your alphabet are living vs dead? Was that ever a criteria? Or a factor in illustrating the diversity of history? Did you purposely try to sample from many different epochs, for example, or did you ever want it to be a list of only contemporary figures?

Richard: I think the hardest part of our list of contemporary figures was narrowing it down to 26 individuals. The figures we covered were all special. The figures we didn’t cover were also special. Going into this project in January, we knew in the months ahead that we would overlap with the annual celebration of Black history month, Black music month, Women’s History Month, Pride Month, and more. Our contribution to these periods would be timely, but we wanted to take a slightly different approach by acknowledging individuals known and lesser known with a focus on their creative merits. Whether they were dead or alive didn’t play a factor. Their legacies would outlast their lifetime. In the case of bell hooks, Sidney Poitier, and Virgil Abloh, their recent deaths inspired us to produce our own tributes. In the collection, 15 figures are alive (we have both Williams sisters for the letter “W”) plus 12 deceased.

Gwyneth: Regarding LEGO building, did you have rules from the beginning about how to keep the figures in a consistent style?

Dave: I’ve had a lot of experience building at this scale over the last ten years, but I hadn’t had much opportunity to build BIPOC subjects. The growing LEGO palate certainly was a boon for these particular figures. This scale is slightly bigger than the miniland one used in LEGO parks, particularly the length of the arms and legs. I often get asked why they don’t have faces. No face built from LEGO could accurately display the emotions of humans, and as soon as you put one on it becomes cartoonish. The goal for me is to use body language to convey the emotions of each subject using dynamic posing.

I think the challenge came in finding new ways to be inventive and take risks. Often we would fall in love with a certain image, and it would be up to me to figure out how to make that happen. There’s something quite lovely about working on a project where you can share it on a weekly basis. Small satisfactions really built up my stamina and excitement to keep going in a way a large build does not.

Gwyneth: The emotions really come through in the posing. As you discussed above, inspiration photos were an important choice. Which figure (person) build was the most challenging and why?

Dave: Honestly the figures themselves were all within reason, but I spent almost an entire day trying to figure out the tennis racquets for Venus and Serena. I had some leftover soccer net material from Nina Simone, but that ended up out of scale with the figures. I was looking around for anything that might look like the stringing and came across the Technic Wedge Belt Wheel. I ended up cutting flex tube on a diagonal so that the tube could be secured through a 1x1 round plate with hole and finishing it in a technic axle and pin connector #1. This allowed the Technic wheel to sit within the flex tube using friction (and there’s also a bit of leftover flex tube in there as well).

Venus & Serena created a new path for Black girls on and off the tennis court.

Gwyneth: Which letter (ABC) was the most challenging to build? Are the letters based on a font? (If so, is there a historic significance, or is it your own creation?)

Dave: I love LEGO-created fonts and one of the things that we thought would really help make these builds more interesting would be some brick-built letters as part of the presentation. I started with “A” and that dictated the size of the square for all the other letters. We had A, B, and C done for the promo image, and those three letters helped create a font where vertical lines were three studs wide, while horizontals were four. I was able to keep this fairly consistent with the vast array of wedge plates in black until I got to “W”. That letter just does not fit nicely in a square format. The idea of greebling the letters was a way to make them hopefully more interesting to the viewers and a reference to Ekow Nimako. At first the greebling was super fun and a great way to use all those little bits that I hate sorting, but it started to become tedious. To make it more fun I would peek at Richard’s writeups and look for ideas that I could “hide” in the greebling or ways that the style of greebling could reflect the creative subject.

Gwyneth: Wow. I’ll have to look closer for those greebled Easter eggs! What's your favorite building technique that you learned or improved on in this process?

Dave: What I learned most from this project was being disciplined and scheduled. Many builders understand creative burnout, but we had set a schedule and I intended to stick to it. We could have waited until all the builds were done to start posting, but I enjoyed the challenge of having to have them ready each week. I would sometimes try to get ahead if I knew something was coming up, but for the most part, each creation was built and photographed that week.

Gwyneth: Did you ever find yourself unable to build a figure for any reason? (Too emotional, too technically difficult, the right piece doesn’t exist, etc.) Did you have to change any figures because of this? Did you run up against any copyright infringement issues?

Dave: I think the builds are really where the tension was between us! Early on, Richard coined the term “bonus build” which was something that might give the figure more context and set the scene — bell hooks’ seat for example. He kept pushing me to do more and more of these and I was already working on the figure and letter each week. It reminded me of our time on LEGO Masters where Richard would often come up with a grand idea to add to the build when we were already pressed for time. He was always right of course, but it would stress me out that he wanted to create more work when we were already struggling with what we had. I would have ideas for Oprah or Virgil Abloh and Richard talked me into more complex setups. Again, he was right, but I was always stressed at trying to get it all done!

Richard: I have to laugh every time I think of these moments. It’s not an “I told you so” laugh. Yes, I have a tendency to push the boundaries a bit, to see if we can rise to the occasion. Dave and I know each other so well, it’s like we can almost sense what the other person is thinking.

I’m more shocked and in awe at how each build turned out. For instance, seeing Virgil Abloh’s runway built out of LEGO was stunning. By no means would I ever say to Dave, “we need to recreate an entire multi-colored runway and fill it with as many models as possible.” I do love the term “bonus build” though. Once that term was out there, it became harder to see a reference photo and not imagine the entire scene built out of LEGO. Now you’re not just seeing a figure, but we are now in their world of creativity.

Author and civil rights activist bell hooks expanded upon Sojourner Truth’s foundational speech advocating for women’s rights.

Gwyneth: Have any of the figures depicted (or their estates, etc) noticed and responded to your builds? (Insert stories)

Richard: With every figure we’ve built, the goal is to capture their essence in the moment we are referencing. Making a connection with the families and the estates of our dearly departed subjects gave this project a deeper sense of purpose.

Nina Simone’s estate was the first to contact us. Their website, Instagram and Twitter pages do a great job at preserving news clippings of Nina Simone’s concerts and her many collaborations. We wrote a post for their social media platforms where they re-shared the build. For one of the most dynamic builds where we included a brick-built piano, it was one of our strongest showings thus far.

Leading up to the letter “Q,” I reached out to Joseph Patel, who is a mutual friend of Questlove. I knew what we had in the queue was going to be a hit. So I asked Joseph to re-share it, and I’m sure that Questlove saw the post via Jazzbeezy’s IG story. The repost on Questlove’s page, and later by The Roots and okayplayer’s social media really opened up the visibility of our project to a lot more people. We’re so grateful Questlove, who has an affinity for LEGO brooches, gave us props for our tribute.

Philip Freelons family were moved emotionally by our creation. His son reshared our build, saying that his dad would have loved it. Although Ryan Coogler is not on social media, his brother checked it out and commented. Ryan and I have mutual friends through composer/ producer Ludwig Goransson (who scored Creed and Black Panther), who also saw our post from some shares of my Instagram story. Venus Williams liked our post for the letter “W,” along with Xenobia Bailey. The estate of Zora Neale Hurston also appreciated our tribute to the late-great author.

“To Be Young, Gifted & Black” is a generational mantra, funneled into a motivational anthem sung by Nina Simone.

Gwyneth: I was waiting the entire alphabet for Zora Neale Hurston! “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was one of my favorite books, but I wondered if there were another “Z”.

I imagine that the series started off with a lot of eyes watching. Did response to the alphabet grow as it went along?

Richard: Every week opened up a torrent of visits to each post. Our weekly recap posts from LEGO Masters episodes introduced viewers to our format of creating insightful content on our Instagram pages. The ABC project continued that momentum. However it kept the attention on a subject. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are consistent messages we want to convey in our builds. And we know there is a need for more representation across ethnicities and gender in the world. The response to this effort has been a force of change that we are proud and honored to present.

Gwyneth: Richard, you mentioned to me that this project started as a way to mentally cope with current events. I feel that this project masterfully channeled those negative feelings into something positive. The internet, where we largely learn of current events, can be a nasty place, however, and you shared these online. How do you feel about the project's reception? Were you surprised by any positive reactions from unexpected corners of the world? Did the project ultimately help with catharsis, or is there more work to come?

Richard: One thing we have to keep in mind as we look at certain individuals such as Colin Kaepernick, Gordon Parks, or Marsha P. Johnson, they endured some of the most devastating injustices in this country. What BIPOC individuals have experienced since the onset of the 2020 pandemic, is it more of the same? Is it history repeating itself? So much of that went through my mind as we witnessed the eroding of civil liberties and gun violence run rampant. Through these current events, I tried my best to channel my frustration into the copy, to somehow provide a little bit of hope.

You see, these figures again, had to overcome obstacles many of us don’t have to face today. Sure our struggles are different from theirs, maybe just as difficult. Yet their talents were able to shine despite racism, homophobia, and patriarchy. Being on the other side of this project now that we’ve completed one stage of it, I have a little more hope because of the positive responses we get in person and online. As the Awesome Black Creativity project expands to other media I feel like we’re getting to a better place when it comes to reckoning with the history of racial inequality.

Graceful bodies in motion performing on the world’s stage is the legacy of Alvin Ailey.

Gwyneth: I’m honored to learn so much about this project from you. I also loved hearing earlier about how your twelve-year-old learned more through your work. Have you shown the complete alphabet anywhere IRL?

Dave: Brickworld Chicago has been my home convention since 2010 (I had never been to another until this past year) so I was excited for us both to be there and able to present it to our peers and the public. I also knew that this is totally unlike anything else you will see at a LEGO convention. My wife built custom wooden tiered shelves so that they would be more visible. We edited Richard’s writing down a bit and presented it on museum board so viewers could read about each subject. And we spent the entire public days talking to people about the project. We were so honored that it was nominated and won for “best artwork” alongside some of the best work by outstanding artists—Simon Liu, Ted Andes, Nick Jensen. We also were proud to receive a GayFOL award. We have a few things in the works to share the collection with a larger audience.

Gwyneth: GayFOL award and “best artwork” are huge honors. As is a “Nerd of Note” trophy you received from us. I concur, that is an exceptional list of talent. (So many BrickNerds!) Speaking of “art”, does your alphabet have any future plans - perhaps to display in a museum or as a touring piece, with a companion book?

Richard: For us, one of our goals for Awesome Black Creativity’s presence should be in public spaces. AFOL conventions are a great start, but exhibiting it beyond non-LEGO enthusiasts allows us to reach a wider audience. There is a lot to digest with this project. It’s really important to see it in person to grasp the scale and intricate detail of each figure. As we’ve seen at Brickworld, visitors eagerly read through the accompanying text because it is an opportunity to learn more. Naturally, a companion book would savor the experience for the future.

Gwyneth: Thank you so much for sharing your process. I look forward to the stories in these MOCs continuing to live and grow.

Have you been following Dave and Richards progress in this endeavor? What do you think they should tackle next? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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