Black Jelly by Nikki Johnson

Public Story

Black Jelly

Copyright Nikki Johnson 2024

Updated Feb 2022

Location Array

Topics Culture, Feminism, Fine Art, Happiness, Hope, Loss, Nude, Personal Projects, Perspectives, Photography, Race, Relationships, Sexuality, Spirituality, Still life

When writer Melanie Maria Goodreaux invited me to contribute photos to her book of poetry, she asked for three photos. Fatefully three photos became five, 10, 20 , and so on, etc. The fruits of our labor is Black Jelly.

Black Jelly is the first solo book of poetry by Melanie Maria Goodreaux merged with personal photos and select photography of Nikki Johnson. Both artists bask in African-American eccentricities while mixing emblems of southern roots, religiosity, sex, death, and transformation. The two bring their southern roots to the work.

"Here is Black Jelly. With verve, with power, with provocative flair, Goodreaux honors the body electric, the fullness of her mind, and strength of her humanity. Forged by the heat of history and cultural geographies, we go places where fig leaves fail to hide, folk wisdoms that celebrate divine visions and black womanhood."

— Major Jackson, author and one of New York Times' Black Male Writers of Our Times, Poetry Editor at the Harvard Review.

Women| Black Jelly Black Women Erotic Photography PoetryBlack Lives Matter
Black women, poetry, body acceptance, eroticism, collaboration, photography, East Village, New York, New Orleans, Steve Cannon, www.blackjellybook.com