The Community Artists’ Collective returns with The Sankofa Emancipation Project for its second new arts installation honoring Houston pioneer Reverend John Henry “Jack” Yates.
This powerful photo-based art initiative is designed to reconnect modern-day Houstonians of the African diaspora with the celebration, creativity, and radical joy of their ancestors.
This year’s theme is “Faith Without Work Is Dead,” and it’s set at the historic Bethel Church, founded by Yates himself in 1865. The photo-based activation turns one of Houston’s most sacred Black heritage sites into a living expression of faith in action.
Led by artist and project manager Kristi Rangel, the installation invites participants to honor their ancestors by wearing vibrant colors and expressive headwear that reflect their faith traditions. The portraits, taken on Bethel’s flower-adorned steps, will become part of a digital archive connecting present-day Houstonians to the legacy of Freedmen’s Town and the people who built it.
“We’re talking about the kind of faith that built communities from nothing,” Rangel said. “Faith that turned freed people into founders, mothers into educators, laborers into leaders. That same spirit still lives in us, but it only matters if we act on it.”
Participants will be photographed sitting on a pew surrounded by ferns and white flowers as a visual tribute to Yates and the spiritual strength that sustained generations after emancipation.
“The ferns represent fortitude and faith,” Rangel said. “We’re reimagining what it looks like to honor our ancestors through joy and creativity. This is about reclaiming sacred spaces and filling them with color, pride, and community.”
Honoring an enduring legacy
Martha Whiting Goddard, great-granddaughter of Yates, says the project carries her family’s story forward in a way that blends history with art and action.
“When I saw the photos being taken on the steps of Bethel Church, I knew I wanted my children and granddaughter to be part of it,” she said. “That’s where so many of our family stories began. This connects our past, our present, and our future.”
Goddard’s family has preserved early 1900s portraits of Yates’ daughters, now housed in the Houston Public Library archives. Those photographs inspired Rangel’s use of modern portraiture to build a visual bridge between generations.
“Jack Yates wasn’t just a pastor. He was a teacher, a builder, a community leader. He helped freed people learn, buy property, and create Freedman’s Town. What they built back then was rooted in faith and action, and this project keeps that alive.”
Martha Whiting Goddard
“Jack Yates wasn’t just a pastor,” Goddard said. “He was a teacher, a builder, a community leader. He helped freed people learn, buy property, and create Freedman’s Town. What they built back then was rooted in faith and action, and this project keeps that alive.”
Even after fire damage left only the façade of the original church standing, the Bethel site remains sacred ground.
“It’s still holy space,” Goddard said. “When people gather there dressed in ways that honor their ancestors, it shows how faith endures. God’s presence is still in that place.”
Photos from the installation will debut on December 6 during The Community Artists’ Collective’s Ashé Market, accompanied by food, music, and local art.
Sankofa Emancipation Project Part II
WHEN: Saturday, November 1, 2025
TIME: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
LOCATION: Bethel Church Historic Site, 801 Andrews St., Houston, TX 77019
