SUMMERTIME, FAMILY & COLORED GIRLS

Summer has a rhythm all its own. It invites us to gather—for cookouts, festivals, long conversations on porches, and, perhaps most importantly, family reunions. There is something sacred about returning to one another, introducing younger generations to elders they've only heard about, telling the old stories again, and discovering new ones along the way.

For Black families, reunions carry a deeper resonance. They are celebrations born from survival. They affirm connections that history once tried to sever and remind us that our stories endure because someone chose to remember them, tell them, and pass them on. If you've never explored the history of Black family reunions, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture offers a wonderful history of this enduring tradition.

Phillips-Reid Family Reunion, 2024. Little Rock, Arkansas. Courtesy of Vivian Phillips.

I am reminded of the reunion spirit when reflecting on the fiftieth anniversary of Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. Since its groundbreaking Broadway premiere in 1976, Shange's choreopoem has become something more than a play. It is a family inheritance. It has been handed from mothers to daughters, aunties to nieces, professors to students, directors to casts, and friends to friends. Dog-eared copies have circulated through dorm rooms, dressing rooms, classrooms, and living rooms. Each generation has discovered itself in Shange's words and, in turn, passed them on.

"i found god in myself & i loved her / loved her fiercely"

This anniversary year has become a national reunion around Shange's extraordinary legacy. Celebrations include the dedication of a historical marker in her hometown of Trenton, New Jersey; new productions and public performances across the country, including a free staging in Philadelphia's Malcolm X Park; a musical interpretation at Lincoln Center; an upcoming London production; and a major academic conference next spring. Together, these celebrations remind us that for colored girls continues to speak across generations, cultures, and artistic disciplines.

ARTE NOIR is honored to join this celebration through our partnership with the Ntozake Shange Trust. Beginning August 19, we present Colored Girls for Colored Girls: Evolution of Expression, an exhibition featuring women of African descent whose visual narratives explore memory, identity, resilience, joy, and the enduring complexity of Black womanhood. On view through November 15, the exhibition reflects not only Shange's profound influence but also the generations of artists who continue expanding the conversation she began.

Like every good family reunion, this exhibition is about gathering. Throughout the fall, ARTE NOIR will host music, dance, conversation, and performance, creating opportunities to experience the living legacy of for colored girls. We invite you to join us—to remember, to discover, to reconnect, and to celebrate the artists and storytellers who continue carrying this remarkable work forward.

After all, the stories that become family heirlooms are the ones we choose to keep sharing.

Vivian Phillips, Founder, ARTE NOIR