“Heritage Quilt” shows history, fulfills a promise in Lafayette, Louisiana

By TheGrio Staff

The “Heritage Quilt” shines a light on a Black and Creole community in southwest Louisiana

The African American Heritage Foundation’s “Heritage Quilt” contains 81 squares that highlight the people and places associated with Lafayette, Louisiana. Some squares are images of politics, music or education subjects, while others are photos of individuals.

The foundation is making a big effort to tell the story of the people in the pictures.

“Everyone may have known a piece of it, but together [the quilt] told a story of a treasured past,” Pearly Alfred told the Advocate. “It told of a community that used what they had, that valued what they had and that respected their community and each other.”

Alfred’s involvement with the project runs deep, being one of the women who helped create the quilt. But she’s also the one who promised that it would get finished…

The Heritage Quilt was completed in 2019 and touring ramped up this year. The group offered to take the quilt to local schools during Black History Month, a natural tie-in.

Stop by TheGrio to find out how this quilt brings together a community.

Learn about Faith Ringgold, who uses artworks such as quilts as activism. Another famous quilt, the AIDS Memorial quilt, celebrates lives lost from the pandemic.

Check out our breaking news section for updates about black issues.