The Great Migration: Indiscernables in Arizona

About the exhibit: The Great Migration was the relocation of more than six million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest and West from about 1915 to 1970. Despite the significant growth of the state’s African American population during this period, the impact of this migration has had little acknowledgement, marginalizing and rendering indiscernible black folks and their stories. This exhibit explores shared threads of experience surrounding the migration. It provides a glimpse into the lives of ordinary black Arizonans. It celebrates the survival of the ancestors and the establishment of enduring and thriving communities in the Valley.

This exhibit is part of a larger multi-disciplinary project of the same name developed by Emancipation Arts, LLC in collaboration with ASU’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

Photo credit: Part of an original artwork by Clottee Hammons. Caption/Title: “We Came from Somewhere … We Going Somewhere”