Crossroads: Intersection of Black Family Culture

Muskegon Art Museum | Muskegon, Michigan

Opens December 11, 2025

Crossroads: Intersections of Black Family Culture is an interdisciplinary exhibition that explores the cultural significance of Black family dynamics in the Americas, which evolved from centuries of resilience against slavery, colonialism, and systemic oppression. In response to forced separations and disrupted biological ties, Black communities developed unique family structures centered on communal relationships, extended networks, and collective responsibility. These adaptations include fictive kinship, where non-biological relationships hold familial status, and kinship care, where community members share child-rearing responsibilities beyond traditional nuclear family models. Black family culture's emphasis on mutual support, interconnectedness, and shared responsibility serves as both a survival strategy and a form of resistance against systemic devaluation. Crossroads examines this cultural framework that remains foundational to Black identity and celebrates community strength while preserving a rich cultural legacy deeply rooted in the African diaspora.