“It is in history that we learn about ourselves. And it’s in history that we are fortified. You move a little bit different when you understand who you are, you move differently and you tell different stories.” —Nadege Green

Maven Nadege Green, Black Miami-Dade founder and memory worker, has been opening her studio on the YoungArts campus where she is currently an artist-in-residence, to policymakers, advocates, and other creatives to preview works in progress for her latest installation, The Power of Her Hands: Black Washerwomen in Early Miami.

In an expanded version of these studio visits, Out in the Wash: Truthtelling About Black Women’s Labor in Early Miami, Maven Leadership Collective Founder and Creative Director Corey Davis joined Nadege in conversation at the YoungArts Jewel Box recently.

Together, they contemplated the influence of gender, race, and class on how, historically in this city, we have attributed value to labor and formed perceptions of the laborers who perform it. Such community-based exploration is critical to understanding how our collective identity evolved and the myth-making necessary to sustain and normalize it.

The washerwomen were integral to Miami before its founding in 1896 and powered the economic and civic institutions responsible for the city’s growth.

Miami’s neighborhoods are rapidly changing in character and populace. What must remain? If we are to build a blueprint for a more broadly welcoming urban landscape and rewarding economy, we need more opportunities like Out in the Wash for robust evidence-based discussions about the historical contributions of inhabitants who often exist outside the telling of Miami’s familiar creation story.

The Power of Her Hands: Black Washerwomen in Early Miami is on view in the YoungArts Gallery located at 2100 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami from December 1-7. Special thanks to YoungArts for hosting Out in the Wash. For more information on Black Miami-Dade, click here.