Join BmoreArt’s Jeffrey Kent and Teri Henderson for a conversation with artist-archivist Webster Phillips and his collaborator and-curator Rassaan Hammond for a discussion of Roots Need Water, an exhibit of historic photos by I. Henry Phillips Sr. at the Connect+Collect gallery.

Find out more about the I. Henry Photo project and Webster’s ongoing documentation of quotidian Black American experiences through his grandfather’s historic photographs, and challenging the status quo through art and culture and building a collective and inclusive Baltimore archive.

Webster, who has worked as a high school photography teacher, notes the gaps in education about African American history. “When kids are taught in school, they’re taught slavery, civil rights, Jim Crow.” Beyond the narrative of oppression, he says, “It’s sparse.”

While both his father and grandfather photographed political figures and celebrities passing through town, they also documented daily life for Black Baltimoreans, the unknown figures that Webster wants to uncover. Given the historic erasure of Black communities, Webster is using the lens of his family to shed light on his community.