red, white, Black and Blue: an Homage to African American Indigo

The iconic “American Blue Jean '' has become synonymous with the image of the American West. Throughout the U.S. the development of indigo and cotton plantations went hand in hand to support the growing denim industry. Often left out of the history of denim and blue jeans are the enslaved African American bodies who labored with the indigo in harsh and unrelenting conditions, and who innovated its cultivation and process. In Nikesha Breeze’s altar, the human-proportioned stack of blue jeans and limbs placed on top serve not only to honor those who were enslaved but also act as a potent reminder that colonial endeavors depended on the labor of stolen and enslaved bodies.