won’t you celebrate with me 

By Lucille Clifton 

won't you celebrate with me 

what i have shaped into 

a kind of life? i had no model. 

born in babylon 

both nonwhite and woman 

what did i see to be except myself? 

i made it up 

here on this bridge between 

starshine and clay, 

my one hand holding tight 

my other hand; come celebrate 

with me that everyday 

something has tried to kill me 

and has failed.

A celebration can be as private as a wish, as monumental as a graduation, or as commonplace as a meal prepared at home. Celebrations are acts of hope and gestures of gratitude: hope for an abundant future and gratitude for a shared human experience. Poet, writer, and educator Lucille Clifton’s “won’t you celebrate with me” is an homage to Black resilience and a meditation on what it means to celebrate.    

This small, focused exhibition brings together works by five African American artists: Calvin Burnett, Darrel Ellis, Jonathan Green, Wadsworth Jarrell, and Lorna Simpson, highlighting the ways these artists honor history, culture, and heritage through various media including painting, photography, sculpture, and printmaking. Celebration is the result of a collaboration between Curators and Educators exploring The Fralin’s permanent collection. It is a reflection of collective efforts and a chorus of voices, and perhaps more importantly, it is an invitation.   

Lucille Clifton, “won't you celebrate with me” from Book of Light. Copyright © 1993 by Lucille Clifton. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press. Source: Book of Light (Copper Canyon Press, 1993)