Rest (for Tired Negroes) (2025-present) lays to rest bigoted tropes about Black bodies while honoring the fullness of Black lived experience. Over the past decade, I have collected dolls and collectibles depicting racist stereotypes of African American people. Some were found in my grandparents’ home after their death; others were given to me by thrift shop managers and individuals who wanted them removed from circulation and placed in the hands of someone who would use them with care and intention.

This work documents the first of these burials: a large handmade plush doll with exaggerated features common to American racist craft traditions. Now housed in its coffin, the doll is transformed through an act of reclamation—covered in an altar that honors a full human being. This project does not seek to erase history, but to acknowledge how these representations shaped our ancestors and, ultimately, who we have become—as, Maya Angelou would say, “the dream and the hope of the slave.”

Below are images of the final resting place of the doll along with the process pics building the custom pine and oak coffin in collaboration with Berkshires-based master woodworker, Jay Allard. Below, you can learn more about my inspiration for this first piece, Boston-based fiber artist and educator, Theresa-India Young, and view source materials from the special collections at the UMass Boston Archive.