Black is Beautiful explores what makes “Black” beautiful with people’s intimate narratives through videography, photography, poetry, and visual artwork. Black is Beautiful intends to explore the concepts of love and acceptance in and around the Black and African American communities.

Participants in the “Black is Beautiful” project explored the meaning of “beauty” and the expression of beauty, mainly how all individuals express and embrace how Black is beautiful as an individual, part of a group, and part of the larger community.

As the Executive Director, I had the pleasure of working with an extraordinary team of devoted, creative individuals who were willing to sacrifice their time in our attempt to create something uplifting during a time of turmoil and civil unrest. Below, I would like to honor and introduce my team. With them, this project would be well executed and very limited in how it honors the expression of human beauty and racial empowerment. Please help me to honor their incredible talents, humility, and generosity.

Meet the Team

Luke Slaboda

Creator
Executive Producer
Photographer
Tévon Knight

Co-Creator
Director of Photography
Executive Producer
Noah Fairbairn

Website Developer
Co-Creative Director
Gabby Brickner

Creative Director
Senior Graphic Designer
Nick Hayward

Executive Producer
Production Editor
Ellis Flurry

Executive Producer

I AM - Jonathan Hyman

Spent years chasing after what should’ve already been inside,

Each time I came close, I tucked tail to run and hide,

Couldn’t explain it, couldn’t offer a reason why,

Now, I understand ignoring truth was as easy as believing the lie,

My black is gorgeous,

Spent years coming home to the same old mirror,

The one that was cracked way before it was delivered,

The one that told me I wasn’t beauty, but the opposition of it,

Now, I understand I was never the reckless nature of vanity, I was the canopy above it,

My black is divine,

Spent years telling myself, “to be black is a lifelong battle,”

But who wants to spend their life at war?

And if we must die,

Now, I understand I should be asking, “for who and what are we fightin’ for?”

My black is enduring,

Spent years asking for creamer, now we order coffee black,

Recalled a taste for the natural brew, or something like that,

We set the flat irons aside, picked out our natural crowns instead,

We wrap the heads of our heirs in silk, before their off to bed,

We wear the richness of our shaded hues as loud as we can,

We face our troubles with painted signs that read, “I Am A Man”,

My black is powerful.

Black is badass.

Spoken word artist SJ Henderson speaks to the reality of being black, her beauty as an individual, and delivers a message through her art form.

I am Enough - Kaylee Palamino

One day I woke up and I realized that I am enough

My beauty and my worth is not defined by what others call beautiful or worthy

I am enough because I am human and flawed and breathing and alive I am beautiful because every step I take to better myself is an act of resistance against a system that once deemed people like me illegal, immoral There is blood and sacrifice that shapes the very doorways that I have built for myself and walked through all alone
I am Black
I am biracial

And I am enough

Today, I breathe the same air as my ancestors who died and struggled for me to have the chance to look in a mirror and call what I see beautiful So how dare you look at me and think otherwise

Because I am enough

Black is it.

Local Athens business owner Homer Wilson describes the importance of the passage of information, survival as an African American male, and the beauty he finds in himself as well as others.