Black Americana
![In the throes of the Rodney King riots in 1992, Nehemiah Cisneros’ family store for Black collectibles in Inglewood was razed. Black illustrated books and Golliwog dolls salvaged from the ashes wound up on the shelves and in the closets of Cisneros’ childhood bedroom, ambivalent and uncanny reminders of both violence and resistance. “As the lifeless doll eyes of racially exploitative faces stared back at me while [I was] trying to fall asleep, I formed an atypical relationship with trauma; trauma became my guardian angel,” the artist said. photo: Control Gallery in Los Angeles](https://journalofantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Artist-Nehemiah-Cisneros-with-his-Golliwog-dolls.jpg.webp)
By Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher When we use the word “Americana” to identify an item associated with the culture and history of America, we are often referring to objects of historical rather than cultural significance; however, if the last decade of cultural…