Cotsen Textile Traces Talk: The Black Atlantic: Embroidery, Imperialism and Mobility in the Horn of Africa

Mobility across the Atlantic has been shaped by a century of interaction between the West and the Horn of Africa. In its early years of independence in the 1940s, Ethiopia’s relationship with the West was highly complex. While Ethiopia fought brutal wars against Italian invasion, the British and American roles in defeating Italy during World War II laid the foundation for eight decades of Western intervention in the region.  
 

Organized by GW students, “The Black Atlantic” micro exhibition uses an embroidered legging fragment from 1940s Ethiopia to explore the country’s relationship with the rest of the African continent and the Western world.  

This talk focuses on Haile Selassie, a central figure represented in the fragment, as a contradiction-laden embodiment of this history. In examining Ethiopia’s history as a key site of Western involvement on the African continent, this talk highlights how state relationships and global systems of power across the Atlantic have produced and shaped the movement of people to and from Africa. 

Speakers 

Lance Lokas, anthropology and photojournalism, B.A. ‘25 
Elizabeth Odu, anthropology, B.A. ‘27 
Nettie Rattray, political communications, B.A. ‘29