5 Senses of Freedom
A Long Walk Home at SAIC
5 Senses of Freedom is a workshop facilitated by Jada-Amina and Dr.Aja Reynolds that prompts Black femme youth participants to imagine a future were Black femmes are liberated from misogynoir using their five senses as a channel and collage as a medium.
The workshop participants were members of the Girl/Friends Leadership Institute Summer Cohort 2019 and used the workshop to inspire a collection of collages titled Brand New Ebonies in their group show We Are the Future.
Brand New Ebonies is a collection of collages that embody Black femme’s collective future. Using Ebony magazines from the 80’s and 90’s the artists dedicate their works to the magic and breadth of Black femmehood. This collection continues in the traditions of other Black femme collage artists like Lorna Simpson, Krista Franklin and Kara Walker who champion and interrogate Black femininity through archival materials to reimagine Blackness through non linear hxstories.
About the Program
A Long Walk Home sees Black girls as leaders in the movement for racial and gender justice and supports that vision through the Girl/Friends Leadership Institute.
Over its 10 years, the Girl/Friends Leadership Institute has trained over 600 girls to use art to end gender and racial violence, find their voices, and become creative visionaries for justice. The program disrupts cycles of institutionalized trauma and invisibility by exploring the breadth and beauty of Black girls and young women in their communities, Chicago, and our country-at-large.