Cliff Joseph

Clifford Ricardo Joseph (June 23, 1922 – November 8, 2020) was a Panama-born American artist, art therapist and activist.

[6] In 1968, he co-founded the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) with Benny Andrews, Henri Ghent, Reggie Gammon, Mahler Ryde and Edward Taylor.

[8] The founding and mission of the group came in response to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's presentation of the exhibition Harlem on My Mind, which included no Black artists.

[12] Joseph and Andrews also requested that the Whitney postpone its exhibition in order for consultation with BECC and "other community representatives" to take place.

[11] According to a 1978 profile, Joseph's art practice "ma[de] racism, war, and sexism his principal pictorial concerns".