Join us in NOMA’s Lapis Center for the Arts for a conversation on the importance of Land and Labor acknowledgments with Sherry Parfait & Solomon Matthews, moderated by Queen Mother Sula.

Recognizing our connections to the land and to one another is essential in fostering a sense of community, allowing us to navigate a shared awareness of place. The land bridges our imagined past with our experiences in the present. Much of the success of Louisiana today is founded not only on the forced labor of enslaved people, but also on the generations of experience and knowledge of indigenous nations and communities in this area. The practice of developing and using a Land Acknowledgment statement is to meaningfully recognize the original inhabitants of a location, their experiences of forced removal, and the dispossession of their ancestral homelands. Similarly, a Labor Acknowledgment statement reminds us that much of the economic progress and development we see today has often been built upon the unpaid labor and forced servitude of enslaved people. 

This featured lecture inspired by the current special exhibitions Dawoud Bey: Elegy & Nicolas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed will explore how acknowledgment fosters community, accountability, and a shared awareness of place. 

Doors open at 5:00 pm. The lecture starts at 5:30 pm, followed by a Q&A.

This program is free and open to all. Seating is first come first served, advance registration is suggested.

REGISTER HERE

About the Speakers and Moderator

Sherry Parfait

Sherry Parfait is an enrolled citizen of the United Houma Nation (UHN), Louisiana’s largest Indigenous Tribe, and she has been a New Orleans resident for seven years. She provides public relations and marketing services to the UHN and serves as the Editor of the UHN Quarterly, the Nation’s newspaper. She also works for Gordon Arata Montgomery Barnett, a full-service law firm in downtown New Orleans, where she provides administrative and marketing support and serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee. Sherry is a Chips Quinn Scholar and a member of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), and she is Vice President of the New Orleans Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). She is also working on a Master’s degree in Marketing & Communications at Loyola University.

Solomon Matthews

Born in Mid-City New Orleans at Charity Hospital and raised in Kenner, Louisiana, Solomon Matthews is a dedicated educator, advisor, and cultural advocate. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Northwestern State University of Louisiana and a master’s degree in Education from the University of Southern California.

Solomon’s professional career spans academic and career advising, as well as leadership in new student and family programs within higher education settings. After returning home to New Orleans, he transitioned into community-based arts and cultural work, first serving as the Community Programs Director at Ashé Cultural Arts Center and now as its Program Officer. He also teaches as an adjunct faculty member in Delgado Community College’s Adult Education program. In all his roles, Solomon is committed to strengthening community engagement, expanding creative programming, and uplifting the cultural legacy of the city.

Queen Mother Sula

Queen Mother Sula’s bio will be available soon. Please check this page for updates.