Developing Digital Content Illuminating The Black Women’s Mural”

(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) — The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF) has announced the launch of “Beyond the Wall: Developing Digital Content Illuminating The Black Women’s Mural“. The NNJCF’s ArtsBergen initiative developed the educational, inspirational website expounding on the meaning, significance and process of the creation of “The Black Women’s Mural: Celebrating Black Suffragists and Black Women in Englewood”, a public community-driven artwork created on the Women’s Rights Information Center’s (WRIC) building centrally located in the City of Englewood.

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. This public artwork, honoring the Black community’s contributions, was revealed on November 14, 2022 in an outdoor ceremony.

Website and Digital Content 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 serves as an archive of the project and its participants’ stories and provides resources for viewers of the mural. Visitors to the website find important information about Englewood’s Herstory, stories about the women shown in the mural, interviews with these women and community advocates, and women’s suffrage. Resources are provided on a range of pertinent topics. These include a map showing other murals inspired by the centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment and black women’s suffrage found in the United States, a timeline of key events in the United States’ Voting Rights History, voting and connecting with the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, and additional resources with 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 building the interactive and engaging online experience. Raphael Sebastian, the project’s sound engineer, recorded the interviews.

Several members of the community serve as ambassadors and partners for the “Beyond the Wall” project in the City of Englewood. These Community Ambassadors include former Councilman Charles Cobb; Lilian Corcoran and Jenai Bacote from the Women’s Rights Information Center; Samuel Lee, CEO of Encounters in Black Tradition; Jacqueline Wisner of the Woman’s Club of Englewood; and Hali Cooper, Kia Thornton Miller, and Toni Miller, who are all shown in the mural. Additional partners include the Englewood Public Library and the Englewood Public School District. The Community Ambassadors and partners will promote the website and help to spread the potential for new programming and learning in the city’s schools and library.

Support includes 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, the Woman’s Club of Englewood, and the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. (Teaneck-Englewood and Vicinity Club).

Donations may still be made online. Contributions may also be sent by check made out to ‘The Northern N.J. Community Foundation’ and enter “Beyond the Wall” 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 to [email protected].

Founded in 1998, The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups to improve community life. Through collaborative partnerships, regional problems are identified and resolved. Opportunities are discovered and explored by talking and learning from each other and sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources. The Foundation works to grow more creative and inspiring places, greener and healthier places, and more places of belonging and opportunity.

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s ArtsBergen initiative, a regional arts alliance, works with a range of stakeholders, encompassing artists, arts organizations, businesses and municipal leaders, who use the arts to shape the social, physical, cultural, and economic identity of communities. Creative placemaking, a community-led, arts-driven approach, is used to increase vibrancy, spur economic development, and build capacity among residents to take ownership of their communities.

ArtsBergen is the only initiative in Bergen County, New Jersey offering a range of services in creative placemaking. The initiative has partnered with multiple municipalities facilitating creative teams, developing public art and creative placemaking plans, and directing and managing public art projects to preserve and express community culture.

Photo Credits: Northern New Jersey Community Foundation