The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation announces the launch of “Beyond the Wall: Developing Digital Content Illuminating The Black Women’s Mural” website. The Foundation’s ArtsBergen initiative developed the educational, inspirational website. The new website expounds on the meaning, significance and process of the creation of “The Black Women’s Mural: Celebrating Black Suffragists and Black Women in Englewood”. This public community-driven artwork appears on the Women’s Rights Information Center’s building (WRIC). The Center is centrally located in the City of Englewood, New Jersey. Visit this innovative website now.
Beyond the Wall: Black Women’s Mural website opens.
In 2022, Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh painted the 520 square foot mural on the WRIC’s exterior wall, located at 108 West Palisade Avenue in Englewood’s bustling downtown. The mural, produced with community input from Black women in the city and the city-at-large, celebrated Black women’s voices, raised awareness about Black suffragists, and encouraged civil discourse within the community. On November 14, 2022, the community gathered to see this public artwork revealed in an outdoor ceremony.
Beyond the Wall: Black Women’s Mural Website Created
“Beyond the Wall” expands upon the installation of “The Black Women’s Mural”, providing an educational website with interactive digital content. The site discusses the meaning, significance, and process of the artwork, as well as details about the “herstories” and biographies of each of the six historic and living Black women represented in the mural. The website provides an archive of the project, its participants’ stories and resources for the mural’s viewers. The website’s visitors find important information about Englewood’s “Herstory” and the women’s stories shown in the mural. Furthermore, interviews profile these women and community advocates, as well as women’s suffrage.
Resources also provide a range of pertinent topics. For example, a map shows other murals inspired by the centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment. The map also shows black women’s suffrage found in the United States. In addition, a timeline offers key events in the United States’ Voting Rights History, and voting and connecting with the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. Additional resources offer books, museums, and other websites to visit for more information.
A talented team created the website. Jasmine Daria Cannon, a scholar, curator, and writer, developed and created the content for the project, writing verbal stories through biographical sketches, tapping into history and incorporating curated material from varied sources and disciplines. Lilith Haig, a designer of both websites and motion graphics, worked behind the scenes. She built the interactive and engaging online experience. Raphael Sebastian, the project’s sound engineer, recorded the interviews.
Community Ambassadors and Partners
Several members of the community serve as ambassadors and partners for the “Beyond the Wall” project. These Community Ambassadors include former Councilman Charles Cobb and Lilian Corcoran and Jenai Bacote from the Women’s Rights Information Center. Furthermore, Samuel Lee, CEO of Encounters in Black Tradition, and Jacqueline Wisner of the Woman’s Club of Englewood became ambassadors. Hali Cooper, Kia Thornton Miller, and Toni Miller, who are all shown in the mural, also serve as ambassadors . Additional partners include the Englewood Public Library and the Englewood Public School District. The Community Ambassadors and partners promote the website. They also help to spread the potential for new programming and learning in the city’s schools and library.
Funding
Support came from a range of donations. This program was made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Funding has also been made possible in part through grant funds administered by the Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, Department of Parks, through a General Operating Support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. Other donors provided support for the project. They include Age-Friendly Englewood, NVE Bank, and the Woman’s Club of Englewood. In addition, the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. (Teaneck-Englewood and Vicinity Club) donated.
Donations may still be made online. Contributions may also be sent by check made out to ‘The Northern N.J. Community Foundation’, with “Beyond the Wall” entered in the memo line. Send checks to the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, 1 University Plaza, Suite 128, Hackensack, New Jersey 07601. For further information about the NNJCF, “Beyond the Wall”, or the mural, call 201-568-5608 or send an e-mail.
