Black Her Stories

In this episode, we ride into a conversation with Sydney James. Fine arts painter and muralist Sydney G. James is a girl proudly raised in Detroit. With a BFA from the College for Creative Studies and a background in commercial art, James is a figurative artist whose bold brush strokes have humanized Detroit's industrial skyline.

Not limited to one dimension, Sydney's artwork can be found in private collections, galleries, museums, or on a pair of shoes. Her visual narratives project the complex realities of Black women while interrogating the concepts of safe spaces and community care.

A 2017 Kresge Arts Fellow and a dedicated mentor, Sydney is also the co-founder of BLKOUT Walls, a biannual street mural festival that elevates Black artists and stimulates the city's creative economy.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Black Love

• Girl with the D Earring

• BLKOUT Walls Street Mural Festival

• Empowerment

Resources:

• Sydney James

• https://www.sydneygjames.com/

• https://www.blkoutwalls.com/

• FB: Sydney James Art

• IG: sydneygjames

• Detroit References

• Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club

• Conant Gardens

• Highland Park

• People of Interest

• Linda Whitaker

• Jonni Page

• Halima Afi Cassells

• Jadakiss

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In this episode, we float weightlessly into a conversation with Sabrina Nelson. Nelson is a painter by degree from Detroit's College for Creative Studies. Influenced by Yoruba Religion, as well as Eastern and African philosophies, Sabrina's work is a combination of spirit, motion, and intimacy. Not limited by two dimensions, the scope of her work also includes sculpture, objects, performance and installations.

With professional appointments at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the College for Creative Studies, Sabrina Nelson has served as an educator, lecturer, and professional artist for 37 years. Coaching her community on the business of being a professional artist through active studio practice and mentoring.

A tenacious creator whose multi-dimensional art is truly out of this world, Sabrina Nelson is also a recipient of the 2022 Women's Caucus for Arts Lifetime Achievement Award and a 2021 Kresge Arts Fellow.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Muses

• James Baldwin

• Artivism

• The way Black women tell stories

Learn more:

• Sabrina Nelson

  • Professional Website

    • IG: sabrinanelson67

• Ashara Ekundayo

  • Ashara Ekundayo Gallery

    • IG: asharaekundayogallery

• Detroit References

  • James Baldwin Hangout Spots

    • Bakers Keyboard Lounge

    • Cliff Bells

    • Willis Show Bar

    • Detroit Institute of Arts

    • Rosie's Diner

  • Gallery Camille

    • Hermon Futrell

    • Kef Parker (IG: kefparker55)

    • Andrew Wilson (IG: drewberzzz)

In this episode, we're following the joyful rhythm of the city and talking to Detroiters about their style and art of Judy Bowman.

In this episode, we talk to:

• Brianna L Jones,

• Chanel Oldham

• Chuck Micheaux

• Crystal Delahugh

• Crystal Marie

• Valencia Davis

Resources:

• Judy Bowman

• Websites:

• https://www.judybowman.com/

• IG: judybowmanartist

• References

• Sugar Hill Historic District

• Krispy Addicts

• Tonico Brand

• Avenue of Fashion

• Fox Theater

◉ Get in Touch: Nourish.community

◉ IG: @blackherstories

◉ Support this podcast at — https://nourish.community/donate/

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In this episode, we dive into a conversation with Judy Bowman. Bowman is a mixed-media collage artist whose figurative works celebrate the rhythm and beauty woven into the fabric of Black American culture. Born and raised on the Eastside of Detroit, Judy uses vibrant colors and textured paper to illustrate visual narratives of her family, friends, and the everyday elegance of her community.

Considering herself a visual griot, she sees her job to tell stories that are reflective of her coming-of-age in Detroit's Eastside and Black Bottom neighborhoods. Often compared to Romare Bearden, she too is committed to a Black aesthetic and her craft. Judy Bowman is the recipient of the 2023 Mack Alive Ambassador Fine Art Collection Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2022 Alain Locke Recognition Art Awardee, and a 2021 Kresge Artist Fellow.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Jazz and the Importance of Practice

• Detroit Style and Fashion in the Black Community

• Pride, Dignity, and Respect

Resources:

• Judy Bowman

  • https://www.judybowman.com/

  • IG: judybowmanartist

• Websites:

• References

• Detroit Uprising of 1967

• AfriCOBRA

• Romare Bearden

• Charles White

• Jacob Lawrence

Get in Touch: Nourish.community/podcast

◉ IG: @blackherstories

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In the spirit of constant experimentation and eternal expansion, we're doing things a little differently this season.

As we continue to explore Detroit as a character through creative storytelling, we thought, what better way to uplift diverse narratives than to let Detroiter speak for themselves?

So we're hitting the streets, talking to strangers, and passing the microphone to members of the community to hear what they have to say.

This very first Community Voice episode was a collaboration between Michaela Ayers and Jassmine Parks. We hope you enjoy.

◉ Get in Touch: Nourish.community/podcast

◉ IG: @blackherstories

◉ Support this podcast at — https://nourish.community/donate/

◉ Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

In this episode, we dive into a conversation with Yvette Rock. Rock was born in Paramaribo, Suriname in 1975. She received a BFA in 1997 from Cooper Union in New York City and an MFA in Painting from the University of Michigan in 1999. Yvette is the co-founder of Detroit Connections at U of M, and founder and Executive Director of Live Coal - a non-profit organization in Detroit. She has been an artist-in-residence in Detroit schools since 1999, and an active member of her community as a professional artist for 24 years.

Yvette exhibits widely throughout southeast Michigan. Her accolades include three Knight Arts Challenge awards and a Documenting Detroit Fellowship. As a visual artist, community development activist, wife, and mother of five children, Yvette brings a wealth of life experience and insight into her art practice.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The power of play and experimentation

• Paramaribo, Suriname

• Memory & Motherhood

Resources:

• Yvette Rock

  • www.yvetterock.com

  • www.livecoal.org

• Websites:

• Referenced Works

• In Cedars Loving Arms

• Detroit RePatched

• Awards

• Three-time Knight Arts Challenge Awardee.

• Documenting Detroit Fellowship

◉ Get in Touch: Nourish.community/podcast

◉ IG: @blackherstories

◉ Support this podcast at — https://nourish.community/donate/

◉ Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

In this episode, we dive into a conversation with Takeisha Jefferson. Jefferson is a Michigan native and a seasoned portrait photographer passionate about art history. Her subjects frequently include her family, and her oeuvre also touches on Black womanhood and empowerment themes.

Her photographic storytelling has earned her a feature on Google Arts and Culture and a spotlight in Aida Amoaka's book As We See It: Artists Reshaping Black Identity, which showcases 30 black artists from around the world. As a disabled veteran, wife, and mother of four, Takeisha brings a wealth of life experience and insight into her art practice.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The power of the image

• The gaze

• How to advocate for Black women artists

In this episode, we dive into a conversation with Takeisha Jefferson. Jefferson is a Michigan native and a seasoned portrait photographer who has a passion for art history. Her subjects frequently include her family, and her oeuvre also touches on themes of Black womanhood and empowerment.

Her photographic storytelling has earned her a feature on Google Arts and Culture and a spotlight in Aida Amoaka's book As We See It: Artists Reshaping Black Identity, which showcases 30 black artists from around the world. As a disabled veteran, wife, and mother of four, Takeisha brings a wealth of life experience and insight into her art practice.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The power of representation, advocacy, and the image

• The gaze

• How to advocate for Black women artists

Resources:

• Takeisha Jefferson

  • Website: https://takeishas.com/

• Referenced Works

  • Google Arts and Culture

• Affiliations & Awards

  • • Nominated - Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2021 - Wetzlar, Germany

    • Committee Member - My Sisters and Me Women of Color Photographers

    • Member - Women of Color Unite

    • Member - Detriot Fine Arts Breakfast Club

    • Member - Women's Caucus for Art

• Carrie Mae Weems

  • Website: http://carriemaeweems.net/

• Referenced Works
  • The Kitchen Table Series

• Jassmine Parks

  • Referenced Work
    • blk

◉ Get in Touch: Nourish.community

◉ IG: @blackherstories

◉ Support this podcast at — https://nourish.community/donate/

◉ Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

Hello there!

It's been a minute, but Black Her Stories (BHS) is back! Catch up with BHS creator and host, Michaela Ayers, as she reflects on 2022 and looks ahead at what's on the horizon of a new year.

In season two, we continue our quest of unearthing stories of Black women based in Detroit, Michigan with a focus on visual artists. Together, we'll explore the roles of community, creativity, and history as sources of individual and collective power.

Through conversations with the city's eminent and emerging artists, we will find meaning in colors, shapes, symbols, and textures. We really hope you'll join us!

Season two of Black Her Stories will launch in March. Like, follow, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this episode, we wander into a conversation with Nandi Comer. Comer is the author of American Family: A Syndrome (Finishing Line Press) and Tapping Out (Northwestern University Press). She also serves as a poetry editor for Obsidian Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora and as the Director of the Allied Media Projects Seeds Program.

Together, we celebrate the work of Vievee Francis. Vievee Francis is a poet, award-winning author, and editor, and currently teaches English and creative writing as an Associate Professor at Dartmouth College. Of her own poetry, Francis said, "I'm very much saying that how African-American women are defined is inhuman in its narrowness and that I, for one, am not going to allow it."

We investigate the power of the persona as a tool for deep empathy, and how Francis's practice of telling stories that break the silence connects to the collective memories of the Juneteenth holiday.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The practice of persona in poetry and in community
• Creativity is a collective practice
• Anticipating contradictions within our personal and collective narratives

Resources:

• Nandi Comer
• Website: https://www.nandicomer.com/
• Referenced Works
• American Family: A Syndrome
• Tapping Out

• Vievee Francis
• About: Vievee Francis
• Referenced Works
• Forest Primeval

• Detroit References
• Hart Plaza
• The Ambassador Bridge
• Belle Isle

◉ Get in Touch: Nourish.community

◉ IG: @nourish____

◉ Support this podcast at — https://nourish.community/donate/

◉ Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

In this episode, we wade into a conversation with Jean Alicia Elster. Jean Alicia Elster is an author of young adult novels and children's books. A native Detroiter and former attorney, Elster has published a number of books including - Joe Joe in the City, Who is Jim Hines?, The Colored Car, and How it Happens.

Together, we celebrate the work of Ida B. Wells-Barnette. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Over the course of a lifetime dedicated to combating prejudice and violence, and the fight for African-American equality, especially that of women, Wells arguably became the most famous Black woman in the United States. As a skilled writer, Wells-Barnett also used her skills as a journalist to shed light on the conditions of African Americans throughout the South.

We explore how Wells-Barnette's practice of courageous truth-telling connects to Elster's role as a writer of young adult fiction. Jean also shares how we might better take care of our inner child and take much-needed time to process.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How people and community reinforce our sense of self
• The importance of life lessons and overcoming obstacles
• How to take care and protect our inner child

Resources:

• Jean Alicia Elster -
  • Website: http://jeanaliciaelster.com
  • Referenced Works
    • Joe, Joe in the City Series
    • The Colored Car
    • How It Happens

• Ida B. Wells-Barnette
  • About: Black Past: Ida Wells-Barnette
  • Referenced Works
    • On Lynching

◉ Get in Touch: Nourish.community

◉ IG: @nourish____

◉ Support this podcast at — https://nourish.community/donate/

◉ Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]