Imagine a world where Greenwich Village, New York City’s historic center of culture, was known chiefly for its Black inhabitants and their contributions.

How would this reframe our understanding of New York’s history? Unbeknownst to many, Greenwich Village and the surrounding lower Manhattan area were once referred to as "Little Africa." It was the first land owned by free Black people in New York from the mid-17th to the early 18th century. Owners of land in the Village included Domingo Anthony, who owned SW Washington Square Park; Paul d’Angola, who owned the lot between what is today Minetta Lane and Thompson Street; Pieter Tamboer, who owned Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street; and many others.

My shock upon discovering this information, integral to my history as a Black woman raised in New York yet unknown to me, prompted me to research this matter more deeply. I researched the free Blacks who owned land in Little Africa and continued tracking the progression of Black life in this area. By the beginning of the 20th century, its Black colony had migrated to Harlem—leading to my focus on specific Black creators who called the Village home or made significant contributions there during these later years. Those creators are Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, W.E.B. DuBois, Alex Haley, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Based on an earlier short film which documents my initial research on the subject, I designed a series of 100 postcards featuring images of the Village’s Black history, ironically emblazoned with nostalgic greetings mentioning Little Africa. Like countless reproductions of New York City’s image alongside phrases like “The Wonder City” or “The City That Never Sleeps,” these postcards carry the message of an alternative narrative of our city, one that is equally important but communally forgotten.

*I have obtained permission to use the images in my project that I do not own.