My ‘Why’s’ For this Work
I do this work because our collective memory as an African diaspora depends on it.
Bilphena Yahwon
Processing Fellow
Connect With Me
What I Do at Work
I am a Processing Fellow at Afro Charities, where I assist in preparing the AFRO American Newspapers' archival collection for public access.
My Background
I am an interdisciplinary artist, archivist, and restorative justice practitioner based in Baltimore. Born in Suakoko, Bong County, Liberia, my work focuses on individual and collective memory: how we inherit it, how we preserve it, and how we pass it down. I am the steward of The Womanist Reader, a free online library, a collective member of the interdisciplinary publishing initiative Press Press, and a founding member of New Generation Scholars Intergenerational Institute. I served as the Washington Project for the Arts Summer Artist-Organizer-in-Residence in 2021 and as a Transforming Communities Peer2Peer Fellow in 2018. I also serve as a 2024 Community Fellow for the Diaspora Solidarities Lab (DSL), curating The Archive Liberia Anthology, a compilation of various mediums, including short films, poetry, recipes, essays, digital mixed media art, and photography exploring Liberia and its diaspora. I launched Archive Liberia in 2020 as an invitation and site for recovering, holding and organizing the collective memory of Liberia.
Collection Items that Resonate with Me:
From the AFRO Collection:
This is a photograph of a scrapbook that Megan found. It's too fragile to go through in its entirety but based on the pages we could see, this scrapbook is a compilation of newspaper clippings, photographs, correspondence, event programs and invitations etc. regarding Carl Murphy's trip to Liberia for the 1952 inauguration of William V.S. Tubman. While the contents of the scrapbook made me nearly burst with excitement, the thing that resonated most with me is that someone at some point felt this trip — this conversation between Liberia and The AFRO — was important enough to not just document but to compile together for later use and/or viewing.
An Object From My Personal Collection
From My Personal Collection:
This photograph was taken in 2001 by my mother. The text not shown reads "one month in America." We were likely at the resettlement center in Virginia. I chose this photograph because it captures me wearing one of the only articles of clothing I came to the U.S. with from Danané, Côte d'Ivoire. I actually still have this jacket to this day and intend on holding on to it for as long as I can. I'm also most likely wearing one of my mother's gold chains. Lastly, I chuckle every time I see this photograph and how my mother chose to do my hair on this day.