Unapologetically Black Created May 26, 2022 Unapologetically Black explores the history of racial passing, particularly the ways in which some Black people, especially those who could be perceived as white, used that perception to navigate or escape systems of racial oppression. The history of passing is closely connected to slavery and its aftermath. For some enslaved people, appearing white could create the possibility of moving through spaces where Black people were legally restricted, including attempts to escape enslavement. Historical records, including runaway-slave advertisements, reveal how closely physical appearance was scrutinised and how race could determine a person’s freedom and safety. The figure in this work represents the transformation required to exist under such circumstances. The face is obscured and altered, suggesting an identity being covered by another identity one that society is more willing to recognize and accept. The spaceship like structure surrounding the head speaks to displacement: leaving behind a familiar identity, family, community, and history while entering a world where survival depends on becoming someone else. Passing could provide a path away from oppression, but it could also demand secrecy, separation, and the continual concealment of one’s origins. I titled this piece Unapologetically Black deliberately to confronts that history. It is an affirmation of Black identity in a history where that identity was often something people were forced to hide. BEHIND THE ARTIST’S MIND As an African and Nigerian woman, I have always been drawn to questions around identity. What makes us who we are? What happens when the world tells you that the person you were born as is not acceptable? And how much of yourself can you give away before you no longer recognise yourself? While researching Black history, I came across the history of racial passing. I kept thinking about what it must mean to live in a world where changing how you are perceived could determine whether you were captured or free, whether you were safe or in danger. And I began imagining the psychological weight of having to distance yourself from your own identity not because you hated who you were, but because survival demanded it. That became the emotional starting point for this piece. As a Nigerian, I think about Blackness from a very personal place. I come from a culture where identity is carried through our names, our skin, our hair, our language, our families, our stories and our history. So the idea of having to detach yourself from those things in order to survive felt especially haunting to me. This piece, is a visualization! The feeling of becoming a stranger to yourself. Looking back, I think this work was also one of the early moments where I began understanding what I wanted my art to do. FAQ IS THIS PHOTOGRAPHY? Yes, it is photography.