Tanishia Lavette
@tanishialavette.bsky.social
Writing toward freedom. Researching race, policy, and curriculum memory. Scholar of structure, believer in story. Quiet space for in-progress thoughts and archival echoes.
Image Citation:
Paxson, C., photographer. (ca. 1864) Learning is wealth. Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa. Slaves from New Orleans / Chas. Paxson, photographer, New York. Louisiana New Orleans, ca. 1864. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2010647....
Paxson, C., photographer. (ca. 1864) Learning is wealth. Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa. Slaves from New Orleans / Chas. Paxson, photographer, New York. Louisiana New Orleans, ca. 1864. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2010647....
Learning is wealth. Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa. Slaves from New Orleans / Chas. Paxson, photographer, New York.
1 photographic print on carte de visite mount : albumen ; 10 x 6 cm. | Photograph shows Wilson Chinn, Charles Taylor, Rebecca Huger, and Rosina Downs, sitting, reading books.
www.loc.gov
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Image Citation:
Paxson, C., photographer. (ca. 1864) Learning is wealth. Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa. Slaves from New Orleans / Chas. Paxson, photographer, New York. Louisiana New Orleans, ca. 1864. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2010647....
Paxson, C., photographer. (ca. 1864) Learning is wealth. Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa. Slaves from New Orleans / Chas. Paxson, photographer, New York. Louisiana New Orleans, ca. 1864. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2010647....
These photographs were part of a campaign, but they’re also a curriculum. They are a visual logic of who should be pitied and who should be saved.
I wrote about the Rhetoric of Recognition on Substack. Check it out.
open.substack.com/pub/tanishia...
I wrote about the Rhetoric of Recognition on Substack. Check it out.
open.substack.com/pub/tanishia...
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
These photographs were part of a campaign, but they’re also a curriculum. They are a visual logic of who should be pitied and who should be saved.
I wrote about the Rhetoric of Recognition on Substack. Check it out.
open.substack.com/pub/tanishia...
I wrote about the Rhetoric of Recognition on Substack. Check it out.
open.substack.com/pub/tanishia...
These images show us more than their subjects.
They show us the boundaries of white comfort.
They teach us the currency of respectability.
And they remind us how deeply literacy has always been political.
They show us the boundaries of white comfort.
They teach us the currency of respectability.
And they remind us how deeply literacy has always been political.
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
These images show us more than their subjects.
They show us the boundaries of white comfort.
They teach us the currency of respectability.
And they remind us how deeply literacy has always been political.
They show us the boundaries of white comfort.
They teach us the currency of respectability.
And they remind us how deeply literacy has always been political.
I think often of the man in this image.
What he was told to do.
What he was allowed to say.
Whether this scene, frozen in time, reflected his life or just our nation’s hope for its own.
What he was told to do.
What he was allowed to say.
Whether this scene, frozen in time, reflected his life or just our nation’s hope for its own.
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I think often of the man in this image.
What he was told to do.
What he was allowed to say.
Whether this scene, frozen in time, reflected his life or just our nation’s hope for its own.
What he was told to do.
What he was allowed to say.
Whether this scene, frozen in time, reflected his life or just our nation’s hope for its own.
It matters that these images existed.
They demonstrate that Black literacy was not only feared but also sold as a moral good.
They show that Black presence in educational settings had to be imagined, even staged, before it could be tolerated.
They demonstrate that Black literacy was not only feared but also sold as a moral good.
They show that Black presence in educational settings had to be imagined, even staged, before it could be tolerated.
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
It matters that these images existed.
They demonstrate that Black literacy was not only feared but also sold as a moral good.
They show that Black presence in educational settings had to be imagined, even staged, before it could be tolerated.
They demonstrate that Black literacy was not only feared but also sold as a moral good.
They show that Black presence in educational settings had to be imagined, even staged, before it could be tolerated.
“Learning is Wealth” wasn't just a slogan.
It was an invitation to see education as a charitable cause, and Black people as worthy recipients, so long as they looked ready to assimilate.
It turns literacy into performance.
And freedom into fundraising.
It was an invitation to see education as a charitable cause, and Black people as worthy recipients, so long as they looked ready to assimilate.
It turns literacy into performance.
And freedom into fundraising.
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
“Learning is Wealth” wasn't just a slogan.
It was an invitation to see education as a charitable cause, and Black people as worthy recipients, so long as they looked ready to assimilate.
It turns literacy into performance.
And freedom into fundraising.
It was an invitation to see education as a charitable cause, and Black people as worthy recipients, so long as they looked ready to assimilate.
It turns literacy into performance.
And freedom into fundraising.
The back of the card reveals its mission:
“The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted exclusively to the education of colored people…”
This was an abolitionist fundraising image. But like many visual artifacts of that time, it was also a performance.
“The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted exclusively to the education of colored people…”
This was an abolitionist fundraising image. But like many visual artifacts of that time, it was also a performance.
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
The back of the card reveals its mission:
“The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted exclusively to the education of colored people…”
This was an abolitionist fundraising image. But like many visual artifacts of that time, it was also a performance.
“The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted exclusively to the education of colored people…”
This was an abolitionist fundraising image. But like many visual artifacts of that time, it was also a performance.
The children are dressed identically to those in other images labeled “white-passing slaves.”
Their role is strategic.
They lend innocence, proximity to whiteness, and sentimental appeal.
Together, the group embodies a visual argument:
Freedom + literacy = national redemption.
Their role is strategic.
They lend innocence, proximity to whiteness, and sentimental appeal.
Together, the group embodies a visual argument:
Freedom + literacy = national redemption.
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
The children are dressed identically to those in other images labeled “white-passing slaves.”
Their role is strategic.
They lend innocence, proximity to whiteness, and sentimental appeal.
Together, the group embodies a visual argument:
Freedom + literacy = national redemption.
Their role is strategic.
They lend innocence, proximity to whiteness, and sentimental appeal.
Together, the group embodies a visual argument:
Freedom + literacy = national redemption.
That idea was radical. Unsettling to some. And so, it had to be made legible. Made safe.
He is seated.
Still.
Respectable.
Not teaching, not leading, but reading.
Sharing space, not authority.
Participating, not disrupting.
The image cues belonging, but on careful terms.
He is seated.
Still.
Respectable.
Not teaching, not leading, but reading.
Sharing space, not authority.
Participating, not disrupting.
The image cues belonging, but on careful terms.
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
That idea was radical. Unsettling to some. And so, it had to be made legible. Made safe.
He is seated.
Still.
Respectable.
Not teaching, not leading, but reading.
Sharing space, not authority.
Participating, not disrupting.
The image cues belonging, but on careful terms.
He is seated.
Still.
Respectable.
Not teaching, not leading, but reading.
Sharing space, not authority.
Participating, not disrupting.
The image cues belonging, but on careful terms.
The presence of the Black man (Wilson Chinn), positioned calmly, reading, surrounded by children, was doing more than documenting a scene.
It was projecting a future.
One where formerly enslaved Black men would now read alongside white children. In schools. In public. In the nation.
It was projecting a future.
One where formerly enslaved Black men would now read alongside white children. In schools. In public. In the nation.
July 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
The presence of the Black man (Wilson Chinn), positioned calmly, reading, surrounded by children, was doing more than documenting a scene.
It was projecting a future.
One where formerly enslaved Black men would now read alongside white children. In schools. In public. In the nation.
It was projecting a future.
One where formerly enslaved Black men would now read alongside white children. In schools. In public. In the nation.
Tomorrow, students across New York will take the U.S. History Regents exam.
Freedom, in this sense, won’t be tested. If emancipation appears, it will likely be credited to Lincoln alone.
But the legacy lives in images like this one,
and in the stories we choose to teach our children
Freedom, in this sense, won’t be tested. If emancipation appears, it will likely be credited to Lincoln alone.
But the legacy lives in images like this one,
and in the stories we choose to teach our children
June 19, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Tomorrow, students across New York will take the U.S. History Regents exam.
Freedom, in this sense, won’t be tested. If emancipation appears, it will likely be credited to Lincoln alone.
But the legacy lives in images like this one,
and in the stories we choose to teach our children
Freedom, in this sense, won’t be tested. If emancipation appears, it will likely be credited to Lincoln alone.
But the legacy lives in images like this one,
and in the stories we choose to teach our children
What is Knowledge?
On Thought, Refusal, and Reclaiming Knowledge from the Margins
substack.com
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
As we pause this week to honor Juneteenth, not only as a historical event, but as a cultural marker of freedom’s delay and demand, I invite you to ponder:
What stories are we taught to remember?
And what else could we be reading?
What stories are we taught to remember?
And what else could we be reading?
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
As we pause this week to honor Juneteenth, not only as a historical event, but as a cultural marker of freedom’s delay and demand, I invite you to ponder:
What stories are we taught to remember?
And what else could we be reading?
What stories are we taught to remember?
And what else could we be reading?
Understand the work of LBJ via his speeches, but also listen to Fannie Lou Hamer as she addresses the DNC in 1964 with her primary account of voter suppression.
sncclegacyproject.org/fannie-lou-h...
sncclegacyproject.org/fannie-lou-h...
Fannie Lou Hamer: Testimony to Credentials Committee, DNC 1964
Fannie Lou Hamer, 1964 Democratic National Convention Atlantic City, NJ The National Park Service (NPS) is streaming a 23-minute documentary video for their visitors, which is also ideal for the class...
sncclegacyproject.org
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Understand the work of LBJ via his speeches, but also listen to Fannie Lou Hamer as she addresses the DNC in 1964 with her primary account of voter suppression.
sncclegacyproject.org/fannie-lou-h...
sncclegacyproject.org/fannie-lou-h...
Read MLK coupled with Bigger than a Hamburger, by Ella Baker, and listen to Septima Clark’s interview in 1976. Both offer direct critique of top-down educational systems and the community’s role in shaping the movement.
www.crmvet.org/docs/sncc2.htm
dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compound...
www.crmvet.org/docs/sncc2.htm
dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compound...
Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement -- Bigger Than a Hamburger
'Bigger Than a Hamburger' -- Civil
Rights Movement leader Ella Baker analyzes the importance of the sit-in
movement in 1960.
www.crmvet.org
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Read MLK coupled with Bigger than a Hamburger, by Ella Baker, and listen to Septima Clark’s interview in 1976. Both offer direct critique of top-down educational systems and the community’s role in shaping the movement.
www.crmvet.org/docs/sncc2.htm
dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compound...
www.crmvet.org/docs/sncc2.htm
dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compound...
Review letters from Abraham Lincoln, but read “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” (1845) to better understand how enslaved Americans defined freedom on their terms.
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Review letters from Abraham Lincoln, but read “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” (1845) to better understand how enslaved Americans defined freedom on their terms.
These questions reinforce a narrative of Black progress as dependent on presidential action and political context. Turning to additional sources, Off the Bookshelf, offers deeper insight into the fight for freedom and voting rights, told by Black Americans themselves.
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
These questions reinforce a narrative of Black progress as dependent on presidential action and political context. Turning to additional sources, Off the Bookshelf, offers deeper insight into the fight for freedom and voting rights, told by Black Americans themselves.
The twenty-sixth question on the exam delineates President Johnson as the successful champion and force behind changing the outcome of voting rights for Black Americans. President Johnson is the hero, with no mention of the grassroots work that forced political will.
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
The twenty-sixth question on the exam delineates President Johnson as the successful champion and force behind changing the outcome of voting rights for Black Americans. President Johnson is the hero, with no mention of the grassroots work that forced political will.
Question 23 pulls from King’s “Give Us the Ballot.” The excerpt begins by affirming appreciation for recent legislation and ends by questioning the obstacles to universal suffrage. Absent are the movement’s collective efforts or King’s full critique of exclusion.
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Question 23 pulls from King’s “Give Us the Ballot.” The excerpt begins by affirming appreciation for recent legislation and ends by questioning the obstacles to universal suffrage. Absent are the movement’s collective efforts or King’s full critique of exclusion.
In questions 9-10, Abraham Lincoln prioritizes the Union. Emancipation is presented as a strategy, not a moral imperative. Politically, neither emancipation nor the welfare of Black Americans is paramount. The humanity of the Black race is secondary to national unity.
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
In questions 9-10, Abraham Lincoln prioritizes the Union. Emancipation is presented as a strategy, not a moral imperative. Politically, neither emancipation nor the welfare of Black Americans is paramount. The humanity of the Black race is secondary to national unity.
Of the 28 multiple-choice items in the January assessment, only 4 deal primarily with Black Americans.
Each question frames Black history through others’ actions, those of presidents, policies, or institutions, rather than Black people’s agency, resistance, or interiority.
Each question frames Black history through others’ actions, those of presidents, policies, or institutions, rather than Black people’s agency, resistance, or interiority.
June 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Of the 28 multiple-choice items in the January assessment, only 4 deal primarily with Black Americans.
Each question frames Black history through others’ actions, those of presidents, policies, or institutions, rather than Black people’s agency, resistance, or interiority.
Each question frames Black history through others’ actions, those of presidents, policies, or institutions, rather than Black people’s agency, resistance, or interiority.