Marlene Graham (a.k.a. Afua Kafi-Akua)

Marlene Graham (a.k.a. Afua Kafi-Akua)

Senior Manager, Uris Center for Education, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marlene Graham has worked as a museum professional, media producer, professor, and distribution executive for three decades at many cutting edge organizations including Women Make Movies, The Cinema Guild, Antenna Audio, and Third World Newsreel. She is currently the senior manager of the Uris Education Center and Educational Media at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an adjunct professor in the Communications department at The College of New Rochelle’s DC37 campus, and a distribution consultant and board member at Third World Newsreel. She holds an M.A. in Media Studies from The New School and a B.S. in psychology from Howard University.

Marlene is also a poet, writer, musician, and media artist. She began her artistic career in New York performing as a percussionist and was a founding member of the all-female funk/rock band IBIS. She is one of the spoken word pioneers who performed in the ‘80’s on alternative stages like the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Her work has been published in national publications including the Spelman College Scholarly Journal of Women’s Studies, SAGE. Most recently, her interviews with music legends Betty Carter and Nona Hendryx were published in the arts anthology Encyclopedia. She co-produced an award-winning documentary about violence against lesbians entitled JUST BECAUSE OF WHO WE ARE which aired on PBS. Her mixed media installations consisting of photography, video, music, and spoken word, exploring socially relevant topics including immigration, homophobia, and our political future have been exhibited in galleries on both coasts.