Black/Land Project’s founder and director, Mistinguette Smith, joined us during the Spring 2016 Undergraduate residency. Mistinguette’s morning keynote, “Whose Speech Matters,” gave a deeply inspiring overview of the Black/Land Project while challenging us to see beyond the narrow frames of black relationships to land. Mistinguette also spoke about historical trauma in the context of black relationships to land in the U.S.

Mistinguette’s afternoon workshop, “Black/Land Questions: Place, Race, and Well Being” took her morning ideas deeper, again emphasizing the importance of questions and modeling a deeply ethical and action-oriented approach to interviewing and story collecting about place, race, and well-being. Stunning work.