Black Youth
Resistance & Power Fellowship
2025 Cohort
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Not Pictured:
DaQuon Allen
Eyces Tubbs
Dallis Ellis
MyLijah Latham
Harmony Whitman
Art Showcase Spotlight
This multimedia piece, entitled “Song of Peace,” is inspired by people and stories collected from communities in both Puerto Rico and Alpine, Alabama. I recently visited Puerto Rico with the intent of studying the island’s ecology, but I ended up falling just as deeply in love with its history and mythology. Atavey, who is referenced in both photos and words, is the supreme goddess of the Taíno—the indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico. It is told that she birthed the island itself. During the trip, we spoke with an artist who’d painted a rendition of Atavey on a wall within his home, visible on the bottom right corner of the collage. A few weeks later, I visited the grave of my grandmother and grandfather, who grew up and raised their family in Alpine, Alabama. They lived in close connection with the land. The work they did was strenuous, but they were joyfully dedicated to their family and their community. My work speaks to the connection between history, art, and land. In both places, I came to understand that the connection between Black artists and Black farmers is their dedication to a craft which ultimately brings them peace and deep fulfillment. For them, meaningful work is liberating, and peace is the ultimate liberation.
All visual media was shot by me using a 35mm film camera. The poetry was written to compliment the collection of photos.
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Kai Watts
Since the beginning of me finding out about this particular cohort I always knew for my final project I wanted to stay true to myself & create something that encompasses my love to black culture, thus birthing my piece “We the People of Black America”. For my project I created a wearable piece of art that merges both the traditional Pan-African Flag with the Soulaan Flag which celebrates blackness through our Complexities, Struggles, & Unity as a group of people. The colors in this piece play a huge role as far as symbolism goes. The color black represents our people past, present, & future. The color red represents the blood shed in our collective fight for equity. The color green for me represents the abundance that our community is finding in our interpersonal lives & lastly the gold represents the resilience or “ase” that we hold as a community. I Chose to make a durag because it’s a notable head piece in our culture that protects our crown and shields our hair from day to day debris. When people see my piece I pray that it’s a reminder of the sacrifices that our ancestors took whether if it was willingly or unwillingly & I hope that it encourages people to continue to protect our culture and advocate for fruitful future for generations to come!
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DaQuan Allen