Signed copies of our newly published book, Black Archives: A Photographic Celebration of Black Life, are back in stock!
For a limited time, signed copies are available for purchase in-store at @44thand3rdbookseller in Atlanta or online through their website (U.S. only)
Link in bio.
We thank you all for sharing and supporting our work through Black Archives and so grateful to be in community with you.
Born in Coconut Grove in 1926, Thelma Gibson devoted her life to serving the Miami community as a nurse, civic leader, and advocate for opportunity.
Over the years, she worked to bring people together across South Florida, including helping establish the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Miami-Dade County.
Mrs. Gibson passed away in 2026 at the age of 99. In Coconut Grove and throughout the historic Little Bahamas community she helped champion, her legacy continues to be felt.
Special thanks to Dorothy Jenkins Fields of The Black Archives; Elishama Withers; the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative; and the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Miami-Dade County.
#thelmagibson #floridahistory #blackhistory #America250 #coconutgrove
#blackbusinessmonth
@blackarchives.co Founded in 2015, by @renatacherlise, is a multimedia platform that brings a spotlight to the Black experience. Through an evolving visual exploration, Black Archives provides a dynamic accessibility to a Black past, present, and future.
#BlackArchives and @gettyimages introduce the Black History & Culture Collection – a resource that provides free, non-commercial access to a comprehensive collection of imagery that is historically, unseen, untold, and uncovered.
The Black History & Culture Collection is a not‑for‑profit initiative created to provide access to historical and cultural images of the African/Black Diaspora in the US and UK, gathered from content owned by Getty Images.
Creative direction @russham
Music by: @groovesince1989
Explore + shop: www.blackarchives.co
Via @historymiami:
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“We’ve been too busy trying to survive. It’s going to be up to you and your generation to save the history.”
Dr. Dorothy Jenkins Fields has devoted her life to preserving the history of the Black community in South Florida. Hear her story, from growing up in Overtown in the 1940s to establishing the Black Archives and being responsible for the successful restoration of the Lyric Theater (@lyrictheatermia ).
#blackmiami #blackmiamidade #miamihistory #floridahistory #overtown #overtownmiami #dorothyjenkinsfields
When the Black archives meet Black rainbows: we are humbled to continue celebrating and congratulating @corinnebaileyrae on her newest record and latest creative project, Black Rainbows! As a Mellon Archives Innovation Fellow at Rebuild Foundation, Corinne conceived of this body of work while spending time researching within our archives and collections at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago.
Corinne, whose work is uniquely inspired by the Johnson Publishing Company Library and Ed J. Williams Collection of “Negrobilia,” has shared that “engaging with these archives and encountering Theaster Gates and his practice has changed how [she] thinks about [herself] as an artist and what the possibilities of what [her] work can be.” It has been a privilege and honor to be a part of Corinne’s project.
As we look ahead to the opening of the St. Laurence Arts Incubator, we are excited to soon share expanded opportunities for artists, scholars and creatives to engage with our collections, our sites, our programs and our communities through residencies, classes, workshops and more. Thank you to the @mellonfoundation whose deep belief of our work and investment in the amplification of our archives made this fellowship possible.
NEW! Collecting family photos and stories in Brooklyn, director Herrana Addisu and Black Archives retell the history of the Carty family from Trinidad to New York 🗽
Illustrating the rich narratives of Black immigrant families, Addisu and @chucha.studios collaborate with @blackarchives.co for short film ‘Welcome Home’ – honoring the legacy of George Carty and his community in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn
Tap the link in bio to watch the full film on NOWNESS🎥
Director @herranathegreat_
Art Director and Producer @renatacherlise
DOP @wonderworkr @oomo.studio
Photographer @stevesweatpants
BTS @snikka
Production Manager @ruthmm_
Production Coordinator and Project Manager @meebra3
Production Assistant @mustafaaosmann
Featuring: @m_u_z, George Carty, Gerald Valme, Zara Valme, Shandel Burke, Catherine Mbali, Kojo Mbali, Nigel Caldon, Vaughn Caldon, Shawnee Gibson, Isaiah Frazier, Torian Easterling, and Sean Pressley
Special Thanks to Roderick Huntley and Russell Hamilton
18th & Vine isn’t just a place. It’s a legacy. 🎷
A hub for Black entrepreneurship and the heartbeat of Kansas City jazz, its influence helped shape American music.
This Black History Month, we honor the entrepreneurs, musicians and residents who built this legacy, and those who continue to carry it forward.
Archival materials courtesy of the Black Archives of Mid-America 🖤 @blackarchiveskc
Have you ever visited the Black Archives of Mid America in the historical 18th & Vine district? It’s FREE to visit and open Monday-Friday 9 AM-5 PM. Scheduled tours are available too! Visit the link in our bio for more.
The Black Archives was expressly created to collect and preserve every facet in African American culture; music, art , theater, education, the military, medicine, sports, religion and community affairs in the Midwest. It was founded May 8th, 1974 by Horace M. Peterson III and initially located at 1821 Paseo in the old Paseo Y.M.C.A. building. In 1976, the Black Archives moved to 2033 Vine, old Firehouse No.11. The firehouse, located in Kansas City’s Historic 18th and Vine District, itself is representative of African American history in this region as it was home to the first Black fire company in Kansas City.
#kcparks #wherekcplays #blackarchives #blackhistory #africanamericanhistory #18thandvine
✨6 BLACKITY BLACK COFFEE TABLE BOOKS✨ Here’s my small, but dope, coffee table book collection about Black history, art, culture and fashion.
📚BOOKS SHOWN📚
1. Danielle McKinney: Beyond the Brushstroke - Text by Barbara McKinney
2. Black Archives: A Photographic Celebration of Black Life - Renata Cherlise
3. Photography and the Black Arts Movement (via National Gallery of Art DC)
4. Black is Beautiful - Kwame Braithwaite
5. The Look - Michelle Obama with Meredith Koop
6. American Sublime - Amy Sherald
#interiordesign #coffeetablebook #blackart #blackhistory #fashion
✨ “Build it and they will come.” ✨
The Obama Presidential Center, set to open in Chicago in 2026, continues a long Black tradition of protecting knowledge against erasure.
📚 From Timbuktu to Chicago
Timbuktu was once a global hub of learning, its manuscripts on science, law, and philosophy later scattered or destroyed under colonialism. Its loss reminds us that Black archives have always been fragile — and preserving them is an act of survival.
🏛️ The U.S. & Literary Memory
Even today, erasure persists. The removal of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from institutions like the U.S. Naval Academy shows how Black voices are still silenced. The Library of Congress itself has faced political attacks, underscoring that cultural memory is always contested.
🌍 Why the Obama Center Matters
By building this library, President Obama affirms that Black stories deserve permanence. Libraries in our communities are more than buildings — they are griot spaces, where history and resilience live on.
✨ We keep building.
✨ We keep remembering.
✨ We keep resisting.
#ObamaPresidentialCenter #ObamaFoundation #LibrariesMatter #Timbuktu #GriotTradition #MayaAngelou #CagedBirdSings #BlackHistory #ResistErasure #KnowledgeAsPower
Published this week, Black Archives by @renatacherlise is a stunning collection of timeless images that tell powerful, joyful stories of everyday life and shed light on Black culture’s dynamic, enduring influence through the generations. The images showcase reunions, nights out on the town, parents and children, church and school functions, holidays, big life events, family vacations, moments at home, and many more occasions of leisure, excitement, reflection, and pride. Featuring more than three hundred images that spotlight the iconic and the candid, Black Archives offers a nuanced compendium of Black memory and imagination.
𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜 𝗗𝗘𝗬 – 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗸 𝗗𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗲𝘃𝗲
Orkater en Bijlmer Parktheater vieren Srefidensi Dey! Wat betekent 50 jaar onafhankelijkheid?
Deze avond vormt een muzikale reis door het verleden, heden en de toekomst via de mooiste fragmenten uit 𝙒𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙠𝙞 𝙫𝙨 𝙒𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙠𝙞, 𝘿𝙚 𝙂𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚 en 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨. In 2022 zong de cast van 𝘿𝙚 𝙂𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚 Srefidensi (van Lieve Hugo) in The Black Archives, kijk je met ons mee?
In 𝘿𝙚 𝙂𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚 volgen we een gezin dat in 1975 – wanneer de onafhankelijkheid in Suriname wordt uitgeroepen – in De Gliphoeve terechtkomt, de eerste flat in de Bijlmermeer die gekraakt wordt door Surinaamse activisten. 𝘿𝙚 𝙂𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚 is een voorstelling vol levenskracht en muziek als houvast om te overleven en door het beton heen te breken.
Muzikant en acteur Gery Mendes speelde in alle delen mee:
𝘛𝘪𝘫𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘫𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘢𝘳 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘬𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘨 𝘪𝘬, 𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘒𝘢𝘢𝘱𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘢𝘯, 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘢𝘮𝘴𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘸 𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘬𝘴𝘵: “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦!”. 𝘌𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦, 𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘫, 𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘬 𝘰𝘱 𝘮𝘪𝘫𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘵, 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘣 𝘨𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘵. 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘚𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪 𝘋𝘦𝘺,
𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘺.
⏰: 25 november @ Bijlmer Parktheater, 20.00 uur
🎟: https://www.bijlmerparktheater.nl/agenda/viering-srefidensi-dey-rsqc
🎥: Onderdeel van het publieksprogramma ‘Surinaamse School: The Talkshow’ van het Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In het kader van de tentoonstelling Surinaamse School, schilderkunst van Paramaribo tot Amsterdam.