CultureTechLens logoCULTURETECHLENS

“Culture, Clearly Seen.” Black Cultural Intelligence

Subscribe to CTL 10
14 flagships · 25 briefs · 8 dossiers · 965 entities — record updated October 4, 2026

Afro-Arts Theater

CTL-E-1218 · Venue · theater · unspecified

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Theater at 3900 S. Drexel founded 1967 by musician/activist Kelan Philip Cohran; also a meeting place for Black power activists and central to the growth of African American consciousness in Chicago. Gwendolyn Brooks received there 'the most stirring and significant tribute of her life' (Dec 28, 1969). Theater as political infrastructure.

Notes

Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from INST-001; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-INST-001:INST-005; source research type(s): theater. Era not present in source research record(s); marked unspecified pending human review.

Sources

Record CTL-E-1218 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 4 sources · CTL research: INST-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite this record

Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Afro-Arts Theater (CTL-E-1218),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1218/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Afro-Arts Theater (CTL-E-1218).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1218/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Afro-Arts Theater (CTL-E-1218) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1218/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Afro-Arts Theater (CTL-E-1218).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1218/

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The stages where Black performers had to be undeniable. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.

The Apollo Theater marquee, Harlem, 2010
The Apollo Theater marquee, Harlem, 2010Photo: Hans Joachim Dudeck, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mo'Nique on the red carpet at the 82nd Academy Awards, Hollywood, March 7, 2010
Mo'Nique on the red carpet at the 82nd Academy Awards, Hollywood, March 7, 2010Photo: SGT Michael Connors, U.S. Army, Public Domain, via DVIDS
Phyllis Diller, photographed in Reno, Nevada, October 2014
Phyllis Diller, photographed in Reno, Nevada, October 2014Photo: Allan Warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Trust & evidence

Evidence before authority. CultureTechLens publishes its methods, its limits, and its corrections alongside its findings. Claims carry grades — VERIFIED, SUPPORTED, PROVISIONAL, DISPUTED, UNRESOLVED — and unknowns are never reported as zero.

Every claim graded. Every source named. Every correction public — none to date.