Illumination In Darkness Project: African American Cemeteries in Alachua County FL.

In 2022, many historical African American cemeteries are struggling to survive. Many African American resting places are abandoned and found under parking lots, buildings, abandoned schools, and so on. I stepped out of my comfort zone to research the dead and venture to discover the stories of the African American cemeteries in Alachua County Florida. It was an adventure not to just understand some of the African American burial rights, pattern formations, decorations, cemetery characteristics, but it was mostly to honor our ancestors and their spiritual life through the visual arts. Additionally, cemeteries are both museums and art galleries. The visual narrative of the Alachua County African American cemeteries is about the combining of two mediums: photography and painting. This project was carried out to memorialize African American ancestry through this process. This video doesn’t cover all the cemeteries that were photographed. There are an estimate of 30 to 40 African American cemeteries in Alachua County. We (my children and I) visited about 34 cemeteries with the success of photographing 24. This was due to restrictions, mean dogs, and over grown vegetation. Nevertheless, all 24 out of 34 cemeteries photographs can be seen in the table top picture book. This project was Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture grant, along with Queenchiku Ngozi Art Gallery, Inc., Shooters Touch Films studio, and several others. Thank you.