California African American Museum
We are Not Strangers Here
Los Angeles, CA • opened 2023

"We Are Not Strangers Here" explores the little-known history of African Americans’ relationship with wilderness and natural environments. Most Black people who migrated to California preferred metropolitan areas, rejecting agricultural labor because of its association with slavery and sharecropping. But African Americans are not strangers to rural California.

Through historical photographs, texts, ephemera, video, and archeological objects, this exhibition reveals nineteenth- and early twentieth-century residents living in varied rural landscapes from coastal mountains to the Central Valley and desert communities. Their civic accomplishments helped transform the state. We Are Not Strangers Here highlights the importance of Black Angelenos in particular to these efforts.

Developed with Picnic Design. Red Cape Studio was hired to design the physical layout and structures for the exhibition.

Photographer: Elon Schoenholz