Hello friends, As we mark Black History Month, I am delighted to pass the mic to my friend and co-conspirator, Nadia Nascimento. As one of Invisible Hand’s very first employees, Nadia has been a source of truth, joy and wisdom for this community since jump. She’s a mother, the founder of Black art collective, ARTNOIR, and one of the most talented creatives I’ve ever had the honor to work with. They don’t make em’ better. Over to you, Nadia. |
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Hi, There are a series of very nuanced things that happen to you in your life, as a person of colour, that builds a type of relationship with a country. I was born in Canada, with British and Cape Verdian Roots. My husband, my daughter and I now split our time between that oceanside home and Brooklyn, New York. I have a passport swelling with old stamps and visas. In some ways, I can make a home anywhere. But in others, I feel so far away from that. The flexibility of home resonates with me. But I feel little connection to where my homes were. For the past few years, I’ve been in close relationships with wild women -- with brilliant friends (many of whom are my most cherished IH colleagues), with curious folx that have held my hand in a shared, and unappealing, discovery that we had played a part in building a landscape of forgetting. That while we were pushing to demand more visibility, more space, more authority, we hadn’t pulled hard enough at the soil around us to unearth the history we were born to know. |
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**Photo caption: "An artist in Cameroon poses with a recreation of the photo Nadia mentioned. Their artwork added elements from Africa so Nadia's father's two homes were present." |
| My mind anchors to a photograph of my dad, taken back in the 1970s in Vancouver, Canada. He was new to Vancouver, fiercely picking up a new language and getting new work. In the photo he was wearing a blue boiler suit, darting through a parking lot, afro just right, chasing a basketball in front of the f-r-e-s-h-e-s-t mustard-coloured Mustang. His raw joy blurred the image. The world couldn't give or take away his joy because they—those who committed to the normative world—had given up on their own capacity for it. As I continued my own journey of pulling back the landscape that I glossed over, I learned more about the joy that lives alongside sorrow. The longing for home, the work to assimilate, and the gnarly truth about a joyful disposition that always makes life more dangerous for people of colour. |
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But knowing how many complexities lie in the history of my family, of my country, I am thirsty to find more stories to celebrate, and put on stage, in a place of knowing and unsilencing. |
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How can we truly know America if we don’t know our full history? That’s the question that plagued multidisciplinary artist and collector of artifacts Paul Rucker. It bothered him so much, in fact, that he has spent the past nearly 20 years collecting more than 20,000 pieces of global history ranging from before the 1400s to the present day – in the hopes that by knowing our history we can confront and work to dismantle the power systems that don’t work for us. |
How can we truly know America if we don’t know our full history? That’s the question that plagued multidisciplinary artist and collector of artifacts Paul Rucker. It bothered him so much, in fact, that he has spent the past nearly 20 years collecting more than 20,000 pieces of global history ranging from before the 1400s to the present day – in the hopes that by knowing our history we can confront and work to dismantle the power systems that don’t work for us. |
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His TED Talks will knock your socks off, and his next project: Cary Forward, a multidisciplinary arts space and lending library on Cary Street in Richmond, Virginia — is even more exciting. We had a chance to catch up with Rucker about this incredible work. Conversation highlights below: |
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| Paul Rucker: I have an autographed photo - Cabinet Card of Frederick Douglass* taken four months before he passed. It's amazingly detailed and pristine for being over 125 years old. The collection also includes photographs of Jesse Owens breaking records at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics.
*Pictured: "Fredrick Douglass - Abolitionist," the photo was taken four months before his passing (Image courtesy of the Cary Forward archive)
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PR: When I started collecting, many museums didn’t want these artifacts. It’s only very recently that institutions are interested — or even willing— to look closely at the horrific details of our shared histories. I was the first Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow at the new National Museum of African American Culture in D.C. It was great to see how the museum combined tragedy, resilience, and triumphs under the same roof. Cary Forward will have a similar approach, and it will be a community space for scholars, and local residents to move towards supporting systems change and repair. |
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PR: One of my most concerning documents is a North Carolina court case from the 1850’s in which a free Black man is being sued for being with an enslaved woman. The couple attempted to cohabitate together and start a family. These legal documents are reminders that the enslaved were property. That’s what the term “chattel slavery” means. Not only were you not your own individual, but your children were the property of the enslaver as well as anyone you chose to fall in love with. Over a decade later, in Virginia we saw the landmark case of Loving v. Virginia in 1967 declare that laws banning interracial marriages were unconstitutional. These stories help us to fully understand the brutality of these chapters in history. We know that enslavement still exists in many forms from human trafficking and forced labor. Understanding the history of enslavement and labor movements will support not only changes in policy but changes in minds. Then and only then can we have repair. |
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| PR: With African American studies being banned, and LGBTQ books also being banned by institutions, having access to this information is more important than ever. [We need to take] a very close and uncomfortable look at history, by leaning into truth, reconciliation, and then and only then can we have repair. I want Cary Forward to be the catalyst for repair.
Image: Constance Cary Harrison, pen name Refugitta - Author, playwright, designer of first Confederate battle flag (image courtesy of the Cary Forward archive)
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PR: Right now, the 6,000 square feet building has been purchased and is in need of renovations and build-out. A small staff will be needed to support archiving, programming, educators and administrative staff. We began with seed grants from the Mellon Foundation and Art for Justice, but we will need additional funding, supporters, and partners to help us succeed. |
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Rucker plans to open a multidisciplinary arts space and lending library on Cary Street in Richmond, Virginia, that will bring Rucker's collection of artifacts to the public and offer a location for community gathering. You can join Cary Forward’s growing community of supporters here. |
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By day, we are social impact strategists, project managers, content creators, and more — but by night, the IH team members are unique and passionate individuals who love opening our minds to new cultures and experiences. Curious what we’re reading and listening to? Here are our personal picks—from books to podcasts to memoirs—that we are loving right now. |
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| | “Don’t Touch My Hair” by Solange Keep Ya Head Up” by Tupac “People Get Ready” by The Impressions “This playlist is full of songs that tell stories of the collective struggle and indubitable resilience of Black people. It celebrates those stories and the Black experience in its entirety.” — Carlyn |
“Don’t Touch My Hair” by Solange Keep Ya Head Up” by Tupac “People Get Ready” by The Impressions “This playlist is full of songs that tell stories of the collective struggle and indubitable resilience of Black people. It celebrates those stories and the Black experience in its entirety.” — Carlyn |
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Check out Carlyn’s full February playlist here on Spotify. Plus, for another playlist that celebrates Black resistance, check out Black Joy = Black Resistance. 🎶 |
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| | “The Stoop” by Hana Baba and Leila Day from Radiotopia Presents “My Mother Made Me” by Jason Reynolds from Radiotopia Presents “Legacy of Speed” hosted by Malcolm Gladwell from Pushkin Industries “During a time when the news is often bleak, it's comforting listening to these podcasts that share uplifting Black voices and highlight lesser-known stories.” — Kim |
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Check out Kim’s full February podcast Playlist here on Spotify. |
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Vote for The Sum of Us! Invisible Hand was proud to have partnered with Spotify, Higher Ground Media, and Color Of Change to create a digital companion guide to Heather McGhee’s “The Sum of Us” podcast that provides tools to empower people to take action in their communities. “The Sum of Us” was named by The Atlantic as one of the best podcasts of the year, and has been nominated as an outstanding society and culture podcast by the NAACP. It couldn't be more deserving! Show your support for this amazing project by casting your vote here. |
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Mark the launch of Black Men Deserve More In partnership with the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), Invisible Hand built an action-oriented outreach program centered on distinct, breakthrough activations in an effort to increase awareness, improve engagement and lead to better Black patient representation in the MMRF CureCloud. |
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