Peabody Essex Museum

There’s only one country that can claim to be the birthplace of humanity. This country today is home to over 75 ethnicities, and is the only African nation to resist colonial rule. This country is Ethiopia.

The walls of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, are filled with images of Black life. In “As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic,” moments of everyday life are exalted, illustrating both the aesthetic beauty and political power of uninterrupted Black existence.

Gio Swaby, a Bahamian artist working in Canada, is all about uplifting and celebrating Black women in her textile-based portraits.