Our Journeys, Our Stories: IN OUR OWN WORDS

Our Journeys, Our Stories: In Our Own Words pays visual homage to the women who are making a difference and creating shifts in the African-American community on many levels. Often these impacts are invisible as they are layered with so many other themes that overshadow the full body of the Black Woman’s Experience. Far too often, the many layers of the Black Woman have been misrepresented or ignored. In spite of the complexity and diversity of their “work”, Black Women often have been relegated to the position of a “footnote” in the stories of others.
This exhibition seeks to bring illumination to those Women that create paths for others to trod, that diminish the pain and bring healing through education, artistic expressions, social intervention, entrepreneurship, (will need to add here). These women are the backbones of our families and our communities and this photographic collective creates an awareness of the powerful ways in which they shape, mold, and facilitate the evolution of the consciousness of our People.
It is the desire that this exhibition provides a cross-cultural, cross-racial awareness of the power of the Black Woman’s position in her village. It is the intent of this exhibition to enhance the understanding of the legacy handed down to little girls from their villages. It is those villages that nurture and sustain the impulses that enable these women to walk their paths, share their wisdom, and tell their stories.
As the viewer walks through the exhibition, there will be visual displays of the women in their environments where the “work” takes place. There will be videos that capture the narratives as the women describe their journeys, the people that helped to shape them, and how that energy is manifesting in their lives today. Their journeys will be documented and framed alongside their images to provide greater clarity on the ‘paths taken’.
Though this show is about Black Women, it is not solely for “Black Women or Black People”. It is a tapestry of wisdom, humor, artistry, intellect, power, gentleness, stoicism, vulnerability, courage, independence, love, and the myriad of experiences that make US WHO WE ARE: A force that will continue to provide the foundation for all the generations to come. A collective that needs to be experienced and understood by all creeds, cultures, genders, and races.
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“Through her voice I saw a free woman, down on her land, a woman who knew how to kill her own chickens, hunt her own possum, cut her own cotton, fix her own roof, make her own whiskey, walk in her own shoes, and speak her mind, tell her own story.

A black woman.
Ready for the journey.
The Journey.”
― Bonnie Greer, A Parallel Life

Transitive....
Somewhere between "monochrome and color"..."light and shadows"....beauty resides
MAJESTIC...
The Queen arrived...bringing the wisdom of the ages and preparing the path of Illumination for her Tribe..her Clan...her People....
Understated
“Elegance is not about being noticed, it's about being remembered.”

― Habeeb Akande
Vigilance....
“They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.”
― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Complete
Love of SELF....I have never known happiness like this. I feel warm, comforted and wrapped up in a vibration of joy. There is no language that can describe this love.”
― Alexandra Elle, Love in my Language
Finding Peace
“To look life in the face, always, to look life in the face, and to know it for what it is...at last, to love it for what it is, and then, to put it away...”
― Virginia Woolf
Untitled
“Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.”
― Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
Freeing...
Not the loving, but the part
just after—
the remembering
when you gathered
the broken pieces
of what once had been whole
and the part after that—
the forgetting
when you drowned those pieces
one by one into the abyss.”

― Neena H Brar
Hidden...
“Who am I? I am that. Nothing can change that. Words, intellect and concepts can never reach that. It is the perfect silence without vibration.”
― Amit Ray....
REMEMBERING
“You are your best thing”

― Toni Morrison, Beloved
Gathering
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou
GRACE....
“i love myself.'

the
quietest.
simplest.
most
powerful.
revolution.
ever.”
― Nayyirah Waheed
Speak
I have known the joy and pain of friendship. I have served and been served. I have made some good enemies for which I am not a bit sorry. I have loved unselfishly, and I have fondled hatred with the red-hot tongs of Hell. That's living.”

― Zora Neale Hurston
Instinctual...
“She was so quiet. So reflective. And she could erase herself, her spirit, with a swiftness that truly startled, when she knew the people around her could not respect it.”
― Alice Walker
Contemplation
....contemplate.....all that is of Joy... .......reflect on....all that fills your Heart.... ....hold onto......all that frees your Soul... ........relinquish.......all that brings you despair
You are the Wonderment....the Cherished....the One that will ....bring forth healing and sustenance for all those that are hungry....give generously and gracefully of YOUR Bounty.... ...Without Losing your SELF.... .
Cocoon...
“Dipped in chocolate, bronzed in elegance, enameled with grace, toasted with beauty. My lord, she's a BLACK WOMAN"

― Yosef A.A. Ben-Jochannan
Flowering....
“If you are a kind and a peaceful person, you will see yourself when you look at an elegant flower!”

― Mehmet Murat ildan
Beckoning
“Lovers find secret places
inside this violent world
where they make transactions
with beauty.”

― Rumi
Acceptance
“When you know you're ENOUGH!

When you stop focusing on all things that you're not.
When you stop fussing over perceived flaws.
When you remove all imposed and unbelievable expectations on yourself.
When you start celebrating yourself more.
When you focus on all that you are.
When you start believing that your perceived flaws are just that - perception...”
― Malebo Sephodi
Sassy
"I am essence of Rose Solitude
my cheeks are laced with cognac
my hips sealed with five satin nails
I carry dreams and romance of new fools and old
flames
between the musk of fat
and the side pocket of my mink tongue."

Jayne Cortez
Bare
“She wore her scars, and looked as best as she could. He made her comfortable and removed them one by one. She stood bare in front of him. He kissed her naked soul and tattooed a promise on her skin”
― Himanshu Chhabra
Transcendent....
Simply stated...I give...I give...and the abundance is returned....
Indomitable
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Women of Wakanda
“We will continue to serve, but from this day forth, our eyes will be open. We will serve, but we will also think and act for ourselves, and what we think best.”

—Ayo, to Aneka
I AM
“I am shedding.
I am not a new me.
I am my old me in my new me.
I remain, carved with the soul of my knife.
My mess scattered all over my countenance.
I am me.
Take me as I am.”
― Malebo Sephodi
ROYALTY
Malkia (Swahili)
Arriving...
“In search of my mother's garden, I found my own.” .
― Alice Walker....
Contemplation
“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart.
...live in the question.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke —
Vigilance...
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me......
Unsilenced
“If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.”
― Zora Neale Hurston
Soul-full
“I have danced too deeply in my shadows, to ever fear the walk of my sunshine.”
― Nikki Rowe
BEING..ness
“I am art.
I am authentic.
I am love.
I am me.”
― Malebo Sephodi
RESPITE.....
"Fall in love with someone
who tastes like adventure
but looks like
the calm, beautiful morning
after a terrible storm"
— Nikita Gill
Miss Thang
“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.”
― Zora Neale Hurston
MEDITATION....
When you just sit in silence the wind blows through you, the sun shines in you, and you realize you are not your body...you are everything.

-AK
RECIPROCITY....
"When a woman is really in touch with her sensuality, she naturally draws beautiful things, people and deeply nourishing relationships into her life...."
HER ESSENCE
Let my soul smile through my heart..... and my heart smile through my eyes....that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.
.
- Paramahansa Yogananda
MELANIN....BABY
I am dripping melanin, and honey, I am black without apology."

— Upile Chisala
SHADES OF BLUE
SOLITUDE...
And when she was alone, she felt like the moon: terrified of the sky, but completely in love with the way it held the stars.
DREAMS
I still believe in fairy tales, happy endings and little girls that dream of growing up and becoming "strong, fierce, powerful, gentle, and wise women".
UNWAVERING
There is something so special about a woman who dominates in a man's world. It takes grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer"
-
Rihanna
UNMASKING
In her darkest moments....she chose to reveal her deepest fears....knowing that she would be catapulted into a place of power and strength...
SASSY