Roots: Poetry, Performance, and Photography

Abstract

The editors of Voices in Urban Education (VUE) first became connected to “artivist” Divinity Nix-Sow when she submitted a series of photographs to the student art competition for our special issue focused on community healing, sustenance, and resilience at the intersections of technology, art, and social justice. Alongside her photographs, Divinity emailed us the following: Hi, my name is Divinity Nix-Sow! I’m from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. I am a poet, natural hair stylist, model, and overall artivist! The theme of this issue really stood out to me because it represents everything I stand for. The photos I’m choosing today are from my Black History Month natural hair shoot! I’ve been a stylist since I was 15. I am self-taught and my business recently turned 5 years old! I also recently wrote a poem called Roots which inspired the entire theme of my photo shoot. I wanted to honor and pay homage to where I started and where I come from. So, I collaborated with my photographer and traveled across NYC for 2 weeks to style all of the models' hair. I shot this in my neighborhood beauty supply store, which the manager let me do free of charge! It’s truly something special when you can take one little idea from your notes app and turn it into reality.  Our editorial team was blown away by the power of Divinity’s poetry, performance, styling, and photography. We have included one of the photographs to introduce the Expressions in Urban Education section of this issue. The full collection of photographs are also included here, along with her poem, Roots, which appears in both written and video format.