Umoja (2022)
Black Americans are often ridiculed—both within and outside the Black diaspora—for lacking knowledge of an origin stripped from us. Through grief, perseverance, and love, Black Americans have built a culture rooted in the practices of our ancestors from West and Central Africa—each adapting to survive. Umoja, a Swahili term meaning unity and a principle in kwanzaa “to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race,” serves as the guiding principle for this project. Umoja is a series of film-based portraits that reimagine myth by repurposing durags, bonnets, and other significant articles of Black American culture. This ongoing project celebrates the connection between Black Americans and Africa by having subjects reimagine and reinterpret communal or divinatory practices found in christian and traditional african spiritual practices, Umoja highlights the enduring bond between Black Americans and the mainland, reframing our cultural artifacts as tools for myth-making and unity.
