nikki giovanni’s simplistic but poignant plea to be interwoven in a quilt reveals fugitive possibilities of southern african american women’s quilting. for black women, quilting has illustrated their ability to live otherwise. constantly being frayed at the hems by the realities of heterosexist misogyny, black women often find themselves dealing with scraps. but the scraps are never the end.
Read More…A departure from traditional speculative and science fiction, Afrofuturism imagines new possibilities for those of the diaspora and envisions a world or worlds, where these individuals are a part of the future. For many decades, creators of speculative and science fiction, attempted to justify their choice not to include multicultural characters: the future would certainly be post-racial, so race shouldn’t matter in the genre. These creatives were wrong…
Read MoreThis week, Ida B. Wells, investigative journalist and civil rights crusader, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for “her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence against African Americans during the era of lynching.” The honor comes nearly 90 years following Wells-Barnett death in 1931. Her great-granddaughter, Michelle Duster stated, “Ida used journalism as a tool of justice…her life was threatened. But she truly believed that by collecting names, dates, and circumstances around the lynchings that she could transform attitudes and impact policy and laws.” We thank Ida B. Wells for her work, her life, and her dedication. We recognize her and celebrate her ALL DAY, EVERYDAY.
Read MoreWhile choosing which photographs to place in the exhibit, the co-curator and I immediately agreed on this image. Granny and Her Bible, 1973. She sits reading her Bible by an open window during a hot day in Baltimore. She kicks the sheets to the end of the bed resting her foot on the blanket. Beside her, draped on the chair, is her work outfit, purse, and the Baltimore Sun newspaper. She rests here, and although she tries to “escape” into the Word she cannot avoid the gaze of her grandson’s camera…"
Read More“Movement serves as a mechanism that seeks to fill the gulf between what we might call ‘freedom,’ or liberation on the one hand, and ‘emancipation,’ or formal inclusion in the (late) liberal state on the other. […] liberation is a velocity rather than a state of being” — Savannah Shange, Progressive Dystopia. what comes to mind when you think of liberation?
Read MoreIn this 1988 interview, Gloria Naylor detailed motivations behind the creation of Willow Springs—the community at the center of Mama Day. The creation of this fictive landscape was central to Dr. Randi Gill-Sadler’s analysis of Naylor’s novel. What does the fictional island do for Black women writers like Naylor?
Read MoreWhat is the generative space that results from the intersection of “marronage” and “electric”? The electric expresses an undercurrent of insurgency, a way of connecting that revitalizes the networks of survival established by the marroons. Bound together, “electric marronage” emblazons a language of resistance and refusal to the prescribed ways of life placed upon black/brown bodies; it is inherently charged, its frequencies are explosive, subversive, and fugitive.
Read Morejust stare at this photo. just stare. take it in while it takes you away. look right into the pools of their eyes. yearn to know the secrets and truths they hold. their spirits are deep. interconnected. the interlocking arms reflects a kind of bond that is inexplicable. they are bound to one another and to some/one/bodies.
Read MoreLaunched in 2020, the digital and material spaces of Electric Marronage are an effort to bring together scholars of Afro-diaspora studies, Afro-Latinidad, BIPOC feminism, and working artists to work alongside each other through workshops, digital curation, talks, and intellectual collaborations. Join us this spring for a series of events at Michigan State University (livestream links will be shared for each event).
Read More
