arts. education. activism. wellbeing.

Celebration band, June 19, 1900 | Photo by Grace Murray Stephenson via The Portal to Texas History "No one of us can be free until everybody is free." --Maya Angelou When Maya Angelou said these words, she was reflecting broadly on the state of (in)equality in the United States, in a CNN interview with Anderson Cooper. While this interview was not about Juneteenth per se, I think about her words often in relation to the holiday. Juneteenth commemorates the last date of the l

It is an interesting phenomenon in the United States to take observances that once held meaning and turn them into more mundane gatherings primarily focused on consumption and capitalism. From secular to sacred traditions, the US has almost systematically scrubbed real meaning from our holidays and replaced it with reasons for blowout sales and barbecues. Histories have been erased or re-written. Re-enactments, once tools for remembrance, have become the butt of jokes. Unless

Recently, I've been spending some time revisiting the Harlem Renaissance--an original blueprint of a Black creative and cultural movement that has had lasting impact. We can't really talk about the Harlem Renaissance without starting with its father, Alain Locke . I definitely recommend reading Locke's essay, The New Negro , to better understand this transformative time. To learn a bit more about Locke's impact on Black visual art in particular, check out this video from Blac