Rachel Cargle

Reimagining

Rachel Cargle is a North American public academic, writer and lecturer, and a motivating, illuminating activist. Her work focusses on the intersection of race and womanhood, and she, together with other social justice activists, have changed my way of 'seeing' race.

The background pattern of this Glass Cathedral is derived from an African cloth that reminded me of the sea, Rachel's dreadlocked hair flowing with it. She is wearing the crown of ancient wisdom, and holding a golden book, her teachings.



Rachel's clothes are blended into the background, from some angles she is nearly invisible - a reference to my 'Invisible Women' concept explored in other Glass Cathedrals. Being unseen can equate to being undervalued and vulnerable, which has obvious resonance with Black women's historical experience. But if invisibility is how you are seen (or unseen) from the outside, your strength and power must necessarily emanate from within - invisibility transformed into a super power.

Links to Rachel Cargle's work | Personal Instagram account | The Great Unlearn Instagram account