Welcome to #BlackThoughtWallMadison!
This interactive installation was created through a collaboration among the Black Thought Project, YWCA Madison, and a local team of Black artists, racial justice, and restorative justice practitioners in Madison.
The Black Thought Project is making the world a sanctuary for Black thought and Black people. With local partners, we transform public and private places into sacred spaces where Black people can share our perspectives while others witness, protect and honor our expressions.
THIS WALL IS INTENDED AS A PLACE FOR BLACK PEOPLE TO SHARE OUR PERSPECTIVES.
Others who are not Black are called upon to protect this space for its intended use, witness, and honor what is shared. Why?
Throughout history and today, Black people are actively excluded and exploited. Society attacks and attempts to silence us, strip us of our homes, our identities, our sense of self. Society has limited our opportunities, beat us down when we organized, and tried to fight back. And yet we are still here.
We believe our experiences hold wisdom and carry seeds of our collective healing. If we can collectively see the world from the perspective of those never meant to survive, how might we understand our own humanity? How might we build our communities? How would we define safety? How might we live together? How might YOU live differently?
Our sense of place and home—from BBQs to birthday parties—may be under threat, but we continue reclaiming our joy and culture, our space, and our time.
With this project, we invite Black people to reflect and share publicly their perspectives on who we are, what we value, and our visions for the whole of humanity.
We invite everyone to honor those perspectives as wisdom for our collective healing and the building of a just society. Witness your reactions, your insights, allow yourself to be changed.
We know we matter. More than that, we believe our experience is sacred.
This is just the beginning. One chalkboard does not make a sanctuary. We hope you will join us in creating more of these to reclaim and transform many areas of the city. And each time we do, we call upon our non-Black community members to protect and respect the space.
For, if we cannot dedicate a single wall to the expression of Black thought, how can we ever hope to protect and respect Black lives?
Share on Social Media:
@aliciacreates #BlackThoughtWallMadison #CenteringBlackness #YWCAMadison
Learn more and join us at blackthoughtproject.com
Special Thanks to Operation Fresh Start for the construction of this Black Thought Wall and to the Madison Arts Commission for their funding support.