A powerful new installation transforms Houston’s Emancipation Park into a vibrant tapestry of ancestral remembrance, cultural pride, and communal healing.
The Sankofa Emancipation Project is a photo-based art initiative created by lead artist Kristi Rangel that aims to reconnect African diaspora Houstonians with their ancestors’ celebrations.
The photo-based art initiative located at the Eldorado Ballroom aims to reconnect African diaspora Houstonians with their ancestors’ celebrations.
On June 7, 2025, participants are asked to dress in white and be photographed alongside a flower-adorned slab car, resembling early 20th-century Juneteenth parades with a modern Southern twist.
The project’s name is equally meaningful. Sankofa, a concept from Ghana often symbolized by a bird looking backward while moving forward, urges us to “go back and fetch it” to learn from the past as we shape the future. Emancipation, referencing Juneteenth, grounds the project in the history of Black freedom and the following celebrations.
The birth of an idea
The project’s origin can be traced back to Rangel’s multi-year initiative at the Community Artists’ Collective called The Witness Series, an arts and nature program that activated underutilized green spaces across Houston. Over the last four years, it has engaged more than 600 Houstonians in cultural reflection and healing. For its fourth iteration, Rangel focused on self-care and communal restoration, particularly for Black communities navigating ongoing societal trauma.
As a former educator with over two decades of service, Rangel rediscovered her identity as a painter after reading about Toni Morrison’s late start in literature. She enrolled in art classes at Houston Community College, eventually earning an associate degree in studio art.
“I’ve always poured into others, children, communities, students,” Rangel said. “Art was the final piece of the puzzle. It’s how I heal and it’s how I offer healing to others.”
Through her art, she aims not only to beautify but also to reclaim. Her first major inspiration came while visiting Anne Taylor Park in Sunnyside, where a formerly enslaved woman is buried. The park, neglected and overlooked, became the first site for the Witness Series and now, a cornerstone of Rangel’s mission to reclaim spaces with lost histories.
“In a time of political uncertainty and stress,” Rangel said, “I wanted to center radical joy, not in spite of trauma, but because of it.”
While researching African American relationships with nature, Rangel discovered historical photographs of Jubilee carriages, ornately decorated with flowers and used in early Juneteenth celebrations. These images inspired her to reinterpret that legacy through a contemporary lens.
From jubilee carriages to slab cars
“Back then, the carriage was a symbol of hope and dignity,” Rangel explained. “Today in Houston, that carriage is the slab car, a rolling homage to Black Houston culture and style.”
The project will become a breathing tribute that invites community members to have their portraits taken, completely free of charge.
“Freedom is not something that can be given, it’s something you claim,” Rangel said. “Our ancestors leaned into that promise and created joy out of the ashes.”
It was a moment of collective transformation when the newly freed, dressed in their best, celebrated in public and affirmed their humanity through pageantry and flowers. The Sankofa Project revives this essence, inviting Houstonians to reflect on a single guiding question: “What kind of ancestor do you want to be?”
“We were excited to help bring it to life, especially the visual homage to those iconic Jubilee carriages. We might not have horses today, but we’ve got horsepower.”
April M FraZier, assistant director of the Community Artists’ Collective
April M Frazier, assistant director of the Collective, praised the collaborative spirit behind the initiative. “This is one of many powerful ideas Kristi has brought to us,” Frazier said. “We were excited to help bring it to life, especially the visual homage to those iconic Jubilee carriages. We might not have horses today, but we’ve got horsepower.”
Frazier says The Sankofa Emancipation Project is a perfect marriage of art and heritage, especially in a city like Houston, where slab culture is both a fashion statement and a symbol of pride. “We’re connecting the historical and the contemporary,” she said. “Our style, our culture, this is how we honor where we come from.”
The portraits will be featured in a digital gallery on the Collective’s website and a traveling pop-up art exhibit in Houston starting on Juneteenth.
Event Information
June 7th – Sankofa Emancipation Project Photo Session
Eldorado Ballroom
9:00-12:00 PM
June 19th – Juneteenth en Blanc
June 19, 2025
12:00 – 5:00 PM
Community Artists’ Collective
