Projects
Black Girl Freedom Fund
A Long Walk Home Is proud to be a founding partner of the Black Girl Freedom Fund, a 10-year philanthropic initiative designed to invest in the lives and livelihood of Black girls and young women in the United States. Join us and our partner organizations at this extraordinary time. Grantmakers for Girls of Color, Girls for Gender Equity, ‘me too.’ Movement, Ms. Foundation for Women, National Women’s Law Center, and Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium. SIGN THE OPEN LETTER
#SayHerName: The Rekia Boyd Memorial Project
The #SayHerName: Rekia Boyd Memorial Project engages black girls and young women as citizen-artists who research and help design temporary monuments, media installations, and share in working toward a permanent commemorative structure. Working with members and municipal leaders in the working-class neighborhood of North Lawndale and Martinez Sutton, Boyd’s brother and founder of Rekia’s Haven, this project is based in Chicago’s Douglas Park because it is the site where several high school girls have been abducted and later sexually assaulted since at least 2009 and where 22-year-old African American young woman Rekia Boyd was killed by an off-duty police officer in 2012. Our long term goal is a permanent monument dedicated to the life of Rekia Boyd and activate and infuse public spaces with their vision and voice and serve as a national model that recognizes black girls as innovative leaders and powerful organizers.
View Gallery
Black Girl Takeover: Douglas Park
Black Girl Takeover inaugurated a public art program by black girls and young women in North Lawndale’s Douglas Park to address the rising crisis of violence against black girls in Chicago. Partnering with the Chicago Park District, A Long Walk Home’s Girl/Friends artists and activists took over a park, a public space that often endangers black girls and their families, with various expressions of black girlhood. This included double-dutch, a live concert by Chicago’sJamila Woods, an outdoor photography exhibition and photoshoot, and the “Healing Tree,” a collective gathering special tribute to pay homage to recently missing and murdered Black girls.
Organized by: Scheherazade Tillet
Participating Artists/Performers: Jamila Woods, Martinez Sutton, [Katherine Dunham] [DJ] [Double dutch]
Partners: Chicago Parks District, Monument Lab, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago