Oral History of interviews of Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Janet

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Oral History of interviews of Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Janet "Sula" Evans, and Carl Reed

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During the interviews of Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Janet "Sula" Evans, and Carl Reed, you get a better understanding of how the Pandemic affected their lives to what it is today. Between these 3 leaders, you can feel a sense of understanding how deeply intertwined the virus was to spirituality and internal changes. Through Covid-19, Sula has a sense of more creativity and slowing down. She felt the pandemic offered people a chance to relearn how to treat one another. Cherice felt the impacts of Covid hit her family and close ones. She felt the spirit of Olokun, the Orisha of the Bottom of the Ocean. Carl homed in on his safety for his family and protecting those around him. You can feel how Mardi Gras 2020 was a reflection of what the future was going to hold, especially through the creation of Carl’s suit, the Graveyard suit. All 3 felt the pulls of Covid directly in their lives but reflected on the Good Life as a sense of freedom, healing, self-determination, and safety.

Cherice Harrison-Nelson

Cherice Harrison-Nelson is an educator, narrative beadwork, visual and performance artist, and arts administrator. She is the co-editor of 11 publications and coordinated numerous exhibitions and panels on West African-inspired cultural traditions from New Orleans. Her creative expressions have been performed, presented, and exhibited locally and internationally. She approaches her art as a cognitive provocateur, with the specific intent to engage observers through imagery and performance that simultaneously explore gender roles, classism, and other limiting/confining norms. Her work is primarily autobiographical as well as simultaneously ancient and contemporary. She uses imagery from her family history, ancestral homeland, and life experiences, she is her primary muse. She is the recipient of several honors: Fulbright Scholarship to study in West Africa; Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Award, 2016 United States Artist Fellowship and a Joan Mitchell Artist-in-Residence. She is the daughter of Herreast J. Harrison and the late Big Chief Donald Harrison, Sr.

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Publication Date

Fall 2021

Publisher

Lexcie Thomas

City

New Orleans

Keywords

oral history; mradi gras; COVID-19

Disciplines

History

Oral History of interviews of Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Janet

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