“I have this
cloak
of invisibility" These achievements did not stop Nance from
learning. She obtained a Masters in Fine Arts
from the Maryland Institute College of Art in
1996 and even graduated New York Universi-
ty’s Interactive Telecommunications Pro-
gram.
As an aspiring photojournalist, her powers
may seem intimidating. Not everyone is born
with such talent and abilities. However, it is
her awareness that led her to be a great story-
teller. She understood the community she
belonged to and the need for outsiders to
view the ordinary working class Black people
as humans with a unique culture. Nance became a digital pioneer among the
Black community when she developed an Ifa
divination Web application. A year later, she
worked together with the New York Public
Library’s Schomburg Centre for Research in
Black Culture by putting more than 500
images of nineteenth-century African Ameri-
cans online.
“We’re all really special; we all have stuff. But
it’s up to us to find out what our stuff is.” These days, with social media platforms such
as Instragram and Twitter, it has made shar-
ing raising awareness of our culture easier
than before. Art is now more recognised as a
career and a form of communication among
the Black community. It has even been used
to raise awareness of the Black identity. And
Marilyn Nance has helped us achieve that.
Though her images may seem ordinary to
people within the community, when her pho-
tographs become recognised, it gives a sense
of pride to African Americans. They no
longer see embarrassment in what they do.
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