09/28/2026
Repost from ᕼᗩᑎK
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If you know anything about me. You know that my mother is my hero. In fact, she’s a superhero. Congratulations Deborah Willis on winning an for Reflections in Black on the 25th Anniversary of its initial publication!
The synchronicity is amazing because she is already in Cali for the Black Portraiture[s]] blackportraitures conference Getty ! If you are in LA now, I treat yourself to some time with the community.
Wherever she goes, love follows in her wake.
My mother has been through so much, and never lost the twinkle in her eye and her awe of people. She still thinks of herself as a little black girl from North Philadelphia, but many of us see her as a global icon. Not many people know that she won the MacArthur Genius award and opened Reflections and Black at the Smithsonian the same week Songhai was killed. Then she was diagnosed with cancer at the same time as her mother, got a job at yu goto NYU Tisch Photo & Imaging-DPI and moved to New York the week before 9/11 while still undergoing chemo. She had no hair, was physically exhausted, but was giddy about finally achieving her dream of being a professor at New York University!
Her mother recovered and lived to be 100. Mom bounced back like a champion and never stopped teaching, learning, and loving. I am so grateful to the students, staff, and faculty at that school for catching her and inspiring her to continue to manifest. I graduated a few years before my mom started in the same department and like to say I paved the way for her, but in reality, her heart has always been there. Keep dancing, lady!
