This year, especially, has been a tessellation of marches, rallies, and policy struggles to call for an end to police brutalities and usher in a truly fair, just country. The newest exhibit at SOMArts honors the fact that Black women have played (and continue playing) a pivotal role in pushing our society forward in the right direction.

Akin to how SFMOMA intersected the activism with the pandemic for their Close to Home: Creativity in Crisis — an exhibition featuring local artists’ responses to the pandemic and recent political unrest — SOMArts has now debuted their The Black Woman is God: Reclaim, Reconfigure, Re–Remember showcase, exploring the overlaps of race and gender, and how systemic racism and omnipresent patriarchal ideologies can mute Black women's additions to the wold.

Now in its fourth iteration, this year's installment of the "The Black Woman Is God" series consciously sheds a light on the Black women creatives bending, as Martin Luther King Jr. famously stated, "the arch of the universe" toward justice (and inclusivity). The exhibit is organized to highlight how Black women are essential to establishing a more righteous nation — and create a sustainable, moral future.

"Your Soul Knows," by contributing artist Tiffany Conway (Courtesy of SOMArts)

This exhibition reclaims physical spaces that have been historically denied access to Black people — libraries, museums, most cultural institutions altogether — and reclaims the narrative from collective trauma to a celebration of African diasporic traditions and practices. Per a release, the community connections made through this exhibition "call the viewer to re-remember that Black people have been contributors to not only to African culture but the Global society."

Screenshot from virtual tour of SOMArts' "Black Woman is God: Reclaim, Reconfigure, Re-Remember" exhibit.

May we, per vice president-elect Kamala Harris, always remember this: “Black women [are often] overlooked, but so often prove they’re the backbone of our democracy.”

Black Woman is God: Reclaim, Reconfigure, Re-Remember is on view at SOMArtsCultural Center now until Saturday, December 12, 2020, with timed entry ticketing; you can view SOMArts’ COVID–19 plan visitor safety guidelines, here. The entire exhibit is also available online through an interactive virtual experience.

Related: SFMOMA Set To Reopen Next Week With New Large-Scale Wall Projects, Pandemic-Inspired Artwork

Image: Courtesy of artist Mimi Tempest via SOMArts