What memories might quilts contain? How does quilting preserve cultural and familial stories? How might art catalyze change? These are a few questions Global Oneness Project explores in its new elementary, middle, and high school lessons, companions to the short film While I Yet Live by Maris Curran.
This story follows five African American women who are acclaimed quilters and freedom-fighters. Set in the small rural community of Gee’s Bend, Alabama—40 miles south of Selma—the community of women share their cultural and family heritage of quilting. Gee’s Bend is home to around 700 inhabitants, most of whom are descendants of the original enslaved African Americans who worked for generations in the fields of the local Pettway plantation. The art of quiltmaking has been practiced and passed down through generations of community and family by the women of Gee’s Bend since the mid-nineteenth century.
Each lesson explores—in various ways—the significance of quilting in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, and its contribution to culture, art, and society.