STEFFANI JEMISON in A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
April 13 – September 22, 2024

A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration illuminates the enduring impressions of the Great Migration through the eyes and work of twelve contemporary artists. Between 1915 and 1970, in the wake of racial violence and pervasive inequalities, nearly half of the country’s African American population left their homes in the rural South. Many migrated to cities like Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston, while others relocated within the South. Between 1940 and 1970, the Bay Area’s own Black American population increased by nearly 300,000. The Great Migration transformed the economic, cultural, social, political, and ecological makeup of the United States.

This extensive dispersal of people across the country altered nearly every aspect of Black life and culture. By exploring very personal and at times difficult histories, the artists consider how reverberations from the Great Migration continue to affect their lives and the lives of many Black Americans. A Movement in Every Direction reveals lesser-known stories of this unprecedented phenomenon. It honors the paths, decisions, and sacrifices of ancestors; their pursuit of their hopes and dreams; and the brighter tomorrows they imagined for themselves and their loved ones.

The exhibition is co-organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

For more information, please visit BAMPFA's website.