Black Miami & Queer Storytelling
We are excited to highlight a recent academic publication emerging from Black Miami-Dade’s ongoing public history work.
Nadege Green, founder of Black Miami-Dade, and photographer Vanessa Charlot are the authors of “Haitian Daughters of Memory: Queer Storytelling in Miami,” published in the Journal of Haitian Studies. The Journal of Haitian Studies is the only peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to Haiti and its diaspora and serves as the flagship publication of the Haitian Studies Association, published by the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Drawing from Give Them Their Flowers: An Exhibit of Black LGBTQ+ Miami History, a 2023 exhibition presented by Black Miami-Dade, the article examines the project as a public history intervention. Drawing from their shared upbringing in Miami, the authors analyze how portraiture, oral histories, and archival materials were mobilized to confront the historical erasure of Black queer Miamians, situating the work within broader scholarly conversations on memory, diaspora, and community-based archival practices.
Nadege Green Vanessa Charlot
“Haitian Daughters of Memory: Queer Storytelling in Miami”
Journal of Haitian Studies (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Volume 30, Issues 1–2, Spring & Fall 2024, pp. 243–250
Abstract:
Give Them Their Flowers: An Exhibit of Black LGBTQ+ Miami History is a visual storytelling project to commemorate and preserve the legacy of Black queer Miamians. Curated by Nadege Green, with contributions from photographer Vanessa Charlot, the 2023 exhibit at the Little Haiti Cultural Center brought together portraits, historical records, and an interactive memory space designed to engage visitors in the act of remembrance. Central to the exhibit was a space called "The Repast," which reimagined a Black family's living room after a funeral, inviting visitors to honor and reflect on the lives of Black queer loved ones. Through photography, oral histories, and archival materials, the exhibit challenged the erasure of Black queer history in Miami and the broader Caribbean diaspora. It emphasized the intersection of identity, space, and memory, particularly within the context of the Haitian community in Little Haiti. The exhibit also engaged with the idea of queerness as a fluid and complex identity, informed by the cultural, historical, and social conditions of Black life in Miami. Drawing inspiration from Edwidge Danticat's Create Dangerously, the exhibit explored the role of artists as keepers of memory, grappling with the fear of forgetting and the responsibility of bearing witness. The project aimed to reclaim Black queer narratives and situate them within the broader history of Miami, a city whose Black communities have been repeatedly displaced and marginalized. Visitors were encouraged to participate in this act of communal memory by adding their reflections to a guest book, creating a living archive of Black queer experiences.
Rezime (Haitian-Creole):
Give Them Their Flowers: An Exhibit of Black LGBTQ+ Miami History (Bay yo flè yo: Yon ekspozisyon Istwa Nwa LGBTQ+ Miami) se yon pwojè rakonte istwa vizyèl ki komemore ak prezève eritaj Nwa keer Miamians yo. Nadege Green te òganize, ak kontribisyon fotograf Vanessa Charlot, ekspozisyon ki nan Sant Kiltirèl Little Ayiti rasanble pòtrè, dosye istorik, ak yon espas memwa entèaktif ki fèt pou angaje vizitè yo nan zak souvni an. Santral nan ekspozisyon an se yon espas ki rele « The Repast », ki re-imajine chanm k ap viv yon fanmi Nwa apre yon antèman, envite vizitè yo pou onore ak reflechi sou lavi moun yo renmen etranj Nwa yo. Atravè fotografi, istwa oral, ak materyèl achiv, ekspozisyon an defi efase istwa keer Nwa nan Miami ak pi laj dyaspora Karayib la. Li mete aksan sou entèseksyon idantite, espas, ak memwa, patikilyèman nan kontèks kominote ayisyen an nan Ti Ayiti. Ekspozisyon an angaje tou ak lide keerness kòm yon idantite likid ak konplèks, ki enfòme pa kondisyon kiltirèl, istorik, ak sosyal nan lavi Nwa nan Miami. Desine enspirasyon nan Create Dangerously Edwidge Danticat a, ekspozisyon an eksplore wòl atis yo kòm gadò memwa, lite ak laperèz pou bliye ak responsablite pou rann temwayaj. Pwojè a gen pou objaktif pou rejwenn naratif etranj Nwa yo epi mete yo nan pi gwo istwa Miami, yon vil kote kominote Nwa yo te deplase ak majinalize plizyè fwa. Nou ankouraje vizitè yo pou yo patisipe nan aksyon memwa kominotè sa a, ajoute refleksyon yo nan yon liv envite, kreye yon achiv k ap viv nan eksperyans keer Nwa yo.