Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom

10/09/2026

In 1958, Henry Clay Anderson photographed Douglas Burns, Charles Henry Sayles, and Alfred A. Neal on a large swing in Greenville, Mississippi. Two wear white dinner jackets; the third wears a dark tuxedo. Bow ties, polished shoes, and a boutonniere complete their formal dress. Their crossed legs bring striped socks and gleaming shoes into the foreground. Seated shoulder to shoulder, they pair carefully arranged clothing with relaxed poses, making the swing a casual setting for a dressed-up portrait. nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2007.1.69.21.78.B

10/08/2026

I had the chance to preview "Sunday Best: The Power and the Glory of Black Style," which explores Black fashion through the lens of the Black church. I’m honored to have served on the exhibition’s advisory board, and I’ll be sharing more about it in the coming weeks and months. Let’s begin with the opening looks. On the right are a coat and top hat worn by Frederick Douglass, which you may remember from last year’s "Superfine." On the left is a recreation of Anna Murray Douglass’s wedding dress, made by Cassandra Bromfield's Ready to Wear. Together, these garments lay the groundwork for an exhibition that explores Black style as a practice rooted in spirituality and community. ago.ca/exhibitions/sunday-best-power-glory-black-style

10/06/2026

Building a Black Nation, founded by Nicole, gathers dispersed histories of Haitian sovereignty. At its heart are three gowns made by Rebecca Morrison that recreate those made for Haiti’s first and only Queen Marie-Louise Christophe and her daughters. Their first exhibition “Imagining a Nation: Between Haiti and Bergamo” explores her Italian exile and Haiti’s influence on visions of nationhood. The dresses will travel from Italy to the UK and US before remaining in Haiti, where they will remain.

10/05/2026

A photograph of a photograph in the making. Around 1937, Eliot Elisofon captured Zack Brown photographing two unidentified men peacocking on a Harlem sidewalk. Their boaters and tailored suiting project ease and elegance beside a gleaming automobile, likely a Buick. This behind-the-scenes glimpse gives the documentation of black style as much attention as black style itself. nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2010.53.4

09/30/2026

Textile literacy was essential to the early history of hip-hop. Grandmaster Flash used felt and wax paper as DIY tools to create a custom slipmat for his turntables. Standard turntables generated too much friction for him to move a record smoothly by hand while extending drum breaks. Drawing on his familiarity with fabrics through his mother’s work as a seamstress, he found that felt allowed the record to glide, while a layer of wax paper underneath reduced the remaining resistance. The platter could keep spinning as he held or manipulated the record. Flash notes that he still uses these same materials today and could not perform without them.

09/30/2026

I’ll join Monica Miller to discuss Portrait of Pierre Louis Alexandre (c. 1879–80), a recent addition by Swedish artist Alma Holsteinson to the collection of AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario. Together, we’ll explore the portrait’s connections to the AGO’s exhibition Sunday Best.

With a collection of more than 90,000 works of art, the Art Gallery of Ontario is among the most distinguished art museums in North America.

09/24/2026

Painted in Stockholm in 1879–80, Alma Holsteinson’s Portrait of Pierre Louis Alexandre depicts a black man born in French Guiana who became one of the most frequently portrayed black models in 19th-century European art. A dockworker who found additional work as a life model at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, Alexandre sat for some of Sweden’s leading artists. Holsteinson’s striking portrait, recently acquired by the
AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario, and will be the focus of a talk between me and Dr. Monica Miller on Oct. 21. ago.ca/events/monica-miller-and-jonathan-michael-square-conversation

Pierre Louis Alexandre, 19th Century Top Model || A newly acquired portrait at the AGO illuminates the story of a 19th-century life model. Come see it, on view now on Level 1.

https://tinyurl.com/muhr7jz4

Alma Holsteinson. Portrait of Pierre Louis Alexandre (1844-1905), c. 1879-80. Oil on canvas, Overall: 92 × 74 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchase, with funds by exchange from the R. Fraser Elliott Estate, 2025. Photo © AGO. 2025/1061

09/21/2026

To understand American popular culture is to understand minstrelsy. Join me and Princeton historian Rhae Lynn Barnes for a conversation about her new book Darkology, exploring the disturbing history of blackface and its lasting influence. See us in conversation next Monday, September 28, at 6 PM at The New School (6 E. 16th St., NYC). This event is free and open to the public! event.newschool.edu/darkology

09/18/2026

Kenneth P. Green Sr.’s 1967 photograph captures a group of black women and a young girl dressed for church outside West Oakland Methodist Church. Their carefully coordinated ensembles speak to the importance of fashion and self-presentation within everyday black life. Part of Green’s extensive documentation of the Bay Area’s black community during the 1960s and 1970s, the photograph records a multigenerational expression of style at a moment when affirming images of black women were largely absent from mainstream American media.