A new mural in downtown Englewood celebrates Black women’s voices, raising awareness about African American suffragists and honoring contributions by the local community.
The mural, painted by artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, is located on the wall of the Women’s Rights Information Center on West Palisade Avenue. It was designed with input from Black women in Englewood, as well as the greater community, and will be on permanent display.
“People suffered to give us these rights. Everyone can do something,” Lil Corcoran, executive director of the Women’s Rights Information Center, says of the women in the mural.
The project was facilitated by the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s ArtsBergen initiative in partnership with the Women’s Rights Information Center, Metro Community Center and the Woman’s Club of Englewood.
The mural features leaders from the past and present, including suffragist Ida B. Wells; Dr. Josie Carter of the Women’s Rights Information Center; Hali Cooper, an Englewood resident and Black Lives Matter activist; Englewood resident Kia S. Thornton Miller and her daughter, Toni Michelle Miller; as well as a group of protesters picketing against segregation in Englewood’s public schools.
“Through public art, we honor the significant accomplishments of these women in history, while bringing together and elevating the voices of Black women in the City of Englewood today,” says Danielle De Laurentis, associate director of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.
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