Tempestuous Elements

Born into slavery in North Carolina, Anna Julia Cooper was a visionary Black feminist and educator in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, and only the fourth African American woman to earn a doctoral degree. Tempestuous Elements shines a light on Cooper’s tumultuous tenure as Principal of Washington, D.C.’s historic M Street High School, where she fought to keep Black education alive, despite the racism, gossip, and sexism that threatened to consign her efforts to obscurity.

Arena Stage (2024)

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Photography by Kian McKellar