As We Rise presents an exciting compilation of photographs from African diasporic culture. With
over one hundred works by Black artists from Canada the Caribbean Great Britain the United
States South America as well as throughout the African continent this volume provides a
timely exploration of Black identity on both sides of the Atlantic. As Teju Cole describes in
his preface Too often in the larger culture we see images of Black people in attitudes of
despair pain or brutal isolation. As We Rise gently refuses that. It is not that people are
always in an attitude of celebration--no that would be a reverse but corresponding
falsehood--but rather that they are present as human beings credible fully engaged in their
world.? Drawn from Dr. Kenneth Montague's Wedge Collection in Toronto--a Black-owned collection
dedicated to artists of African descent--As We Rise looks at the multifaceted ideas of Black
life through the lenses of community identity and power. Artists such as Stan Douglas LaToya
Ruby Frazier Barkley L. Hendricks Texas Isaiah Liz Johnson Artur Seydou Keïta Deana Lawson
Jamel Shabazz and Carrie Mae Weems touch on themes of agency beauty joy belonging
subjectivity and self-representation. Writings by Isolde Brielmaier Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi
Mark Sealy Teka Selman and Deborah Willis among others provide insight and commentary on this
monumental collection.
