February 2023: Celebrating Breadth of Impact
By Julia Gamolina
To our readers,
As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, I've been thinking about something Maya Madison mentioned in her latest interview alongside her mother, Sandra Madison, which is that the number of Black female architects in the United States is still in the 500s. Within that 500 however, is a dynamic array of changemakers who have had significant impact both in the creative, technical, and social aspects of our profession.
What I hear most about Madame Architect is readers' awe at the breath of professionals we've featured, who come from many different places of origin and who have many unique focuses with the field of architecture. What's even more special to me is that the same breadth exists within the community of Black women we've profiled. The selection below highlights this; whether they be established practitioners, emerging activists, or students and recent graduates, the range of these women's focus is wide and the impact significant. Take a look at the profiles and let me know who else is doing stellar work in the industry that should be on our radar.
Yours,
Julia
Feature Interviews:
NextGen:
Days With:
And finally, what I'm reading this month:
1. AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason - I interviewed Jeanine Hays in 2020 on how to make our homes as comforting and special as possible during lockdown. This book, which Jeanine created with her partner in business and life, Bryan, builds on things we discussed and focuses on the Black Family Home. Look out for our design critic’s review of it next week!
2. Finding Me by Viola Davis - I love Viola Davis (her "Hot Ones" interview is my absolute favorite), so in honor of her achieving EGOT status at the Grammy’s last night and for a break from all things architecture, this is my top pick for the month.
3. But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies edited by Akasha (Gloria T.) Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott, Barbara Smith, and Brittney C. Cooper - I read this in the summer of 2020 and come back to it time and time again. “As the first comprehensive collection of Black feminist scholarship, But Some of Us Are Brave was recognized by Audre Lorde as “the beginning of a new era, where the ‘women’ in women’s studies will no longer mean ‘white.’”