@elias.williams

Veronica Ryan and her exhibition “Along a Spectrum” at the Paula Cooper Gallery for @nytimes last Spring. Many thanks to @jmwender ✨

Honored to have spent some time experiencing the Jackie Robinson Museum, which had its ribbon cutting today. Being inches away from the batting and cleat marks on his 1947 bat (slide 2) was pretty incredible. While the museum highlights Jackie Robinson’s achievements in sports it puts just as much emphasis on his social activism. Many thanks to David Robinson (slide 1), the son of Jackie Robinson, and Della Britton (slide 3), the president and chief executive of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. “It was such an important period of history that the museum encapsulates,” David Robinson said. “If we don’t have a remembrance of that struggle, we lose touch with a significant period of American history that can help guide us today and it is a tribute to all the people who have taken my mother’s desire and made it happen.” Shouts to @esw_viz for the call ✨🙌🏿✨

Kofi Hunter at Juneteenth in Queens Festival, St. Albans, Queens, June 2022 #JuneteenthinQueens #StAlbans #RoyWilkinsPark #Juneteenth #QGTM

Courtney at the Juneteenth in Queens Festival, St. Albans, Queens, June 2022 #JuneteenthinQueens #StAlbans #RoyWilkinsPark

Mr. Cheeks performing at the Juneteenth in Queens Festival, St. Albans, Queens, June 2022. #StAlbans #RoyWilkinsPark #JuneteenthinQueens #QGTM

“Five Boroughs, Five Days, One Question: What’s the vibe right now?” @nytimes Last month @dodai and I asked New Yorkers about their thoughts on how the city felt as we enter a third pandemic summer. Many thanks to @andrewhinderacker for the opportunity and @dodai for this great story. Link in bio!

Kijani, Jaden, Derek and Emery at the Next Generation Jam, Bronx, New York, June 2022

Next Generation Jam at Mullaly Bike Park, Bronx, New York, June 2022.

Summer Madness…

Pleased to share that my work on Black homeownership in St. Albans, Queens will be presented by @natgeo in the 11th Annual Photoville Festival! A banner of my photographs will be showcased on Washington Street and Prospect Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn from June 4th-June 26th. Many thanks to @pritheeva, @alexandramoreo and the whole @photoville family for making this happen.✨ ::::::: Starting in the 1940s, St. Albans became one of the few places in New York City where Black people could pursue the American dream of homeownership and business ownership. The predominantly African American and Caribbean American working-and middle-class neighborhood in southeast Queens is known by locals for its pride, strength, and unity. Through the years, Black luminaries, including singer Lena Horne, baseball icon Jackie Robinson, civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois, heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, and soul music superstar James Brown, have lived here. The housing crisis struck heavily in St. Albans and transformed the community into an epicenter of mortgage fraud. In 2007, Black communities throughout New York City were targeted by banks with predatory loans nearly seven times as high as loans in affected white communities. While the effects of the housing crisis still linger, the soul of this community persists. Photographer Elias Williams spent the first 15 years of his life in and around St. Albans, the Queens enclave that would become the primary subject of his long-term project celebrating the nuances of Black homeownership in the midst of economic hardship and preserving the identity of one of New York City’s historically Black communities.

Happy to share that I’ll be cozy upstate in the Fall for the @cpw_kingston Woodstock AIR Program! Shouts to everyone involved in making this happen and all the great artist I’ll share this opportunity with 🙌🏿 We Outside ✨😌🧘🏿‍♂️😌✨

@natgeo—As archeaeologists, divers and forensic scientists attempt to recover DNA from the remains of Clotilda, the last known American slave ship, I returned to Mobile, Alabama to photograph descendants of the enslaved africans aboard the ship. Many thanks to @pritheeva and @beckythale for the assist✨ ::::::: Joycelyn Davis, descendent of Clotilda survivor Charlie Lewis. ::::::: Darron Patterson, descendent of Clotilda survivor Pollee Allen. ::::::: Patricia Frazier, descendent of Clotilda survivors James and Lottie Dennison ::::::: Vernetta Henson, descendant of Clotilda survivors Pollee and Rose Allen ::::::: Emmett Lewis, descendant of Clotilda survivor Cudjo Lewis

Nano at Mullaly Bike Park, Bronx, New York, April 2022 #UndergroundNeverDies #BMXintheBX #MullalyBikePark #BX

I waited years to make my move, shortly after you asked why I waited so long 🥰 Being on this loving and fulfilling journey alongside you makes me ask myself the same question. Happy birthday to my gentle, hilarious and brilliant Hunni Bunni @hellobunni 😘❤️‍🔥

Desmend at Mullaly Bike Park, Bronx, New York, March 2022 #BMXintheBX #UndergroundNeverDies #MullalyBikePark