African American women and mothers deserve to be seen, heard, paid, and protected. They must be thanked and acknowledged for all they have done and continue to do. We need Black women.

This quote was taken from Bisa Butler’s Materfamilias which was on display in the Spring of 2023 in Pleasentville, New York at the Gordon Parks Foundation.

Feeling the need to get away from the city, I took a short train ride to Pleasentville. It was my first time at the the gallery. It was peaceful. Unlike the overpacked shows at the Met where one can’t read wall text or study art without the humdrum of a crowd, the gallery was still. Only one other person walked in the gallery.

The wall text that introduced the show was powerful. I didn’t know much about Butler’s work. I learned about her family, education, and craft. As a writer, I appreciated the written lessons a bit more than the colorful quilts. Her message was motherly yet radical.

Indeed, we need Black women! I thought while reading and seeing…. Need!! Need. We are in dire need of them. Need. Need. Black women need each other and Black women must remember that we are comrade sisters. We mustn’t forget that we want the power to determine our own destiny and we must continue to fight for it.

Butler’s words were the most striking about her show. The quilts were stunning but the stories that were told were authentic and affirming of African American life in the United States.

I came across a quilt she did at the beginning of her career and by far, very vulnerable.

Her wall text and quilt text reminded me of Ericka Higgins, Lynn French, Yasmeen Majid, Cheryl Dawson and made me feel warm inside as my mother’s love would do.

Happily, I stood there reading with the intention of sharing and reflecting.

In Butler’s story you find multi generational endurance of the Black women. She borrows from her family heirlooms and Gordon Parks archives. She spins the story into something like of Joseph’s coat of many colors. Just like the coat was given to the child of promise, each story is chosen carefully reflecting the Black Body as one with promise.

Towards the end of the show, far on the left side, was a screen of Bisa Butler talking about her career, what it means to be a Black artist and the true responsibility of an artist.