Meet Diyah Najah
Diyah Najah is an Atlanta based artist. Diyah is a relief carving printmaker, a mixed media collage artist, and a painter. Diyah Najah’s art spans between the straightforwardness of her primarily monochromatic prints and the layered colors and textures of her mixed media collages and paintings. Diyah Najah is passionate about being a voice for neurodivergent artists, and her works center around her concern for the mental health and wellness of Black and Brown bodies. She creates bold, impactful images highlighting non-traumatic, life experiences of the diasporic community, body positivity, and the exploration and artistic expression that sheds light on the experiences of people living with neurodivergence and other invisible disabilities.
The more tactile the artform the better. Diyah prefers works that allow her to deeply engage with color, texture, pattern and movement. She uses specialty painting techniques in her collage, and repurposes all of her printed relief carvings to create new stories. Nothing is wasted. Diyah’s greatest achievement has been to teach herself relief carving and to embark upon her professional arts practice. Her most recent achievement was being accepted into the International Print Center of New York’s Winter, 2021 exhibition: Mapping Narratives. This exhibition received over 300 applicants worldwide and she was one of 40 selected and exhibited artists. This exhibition was juried by Black Women in Print.
For more information about Diyah:
https://www.artistdiyahnajah.com/
Connect with Diyah:
The Women of sweet auburn mural
The calling of names is important in the spiritual tradition of Nadiyah Najah Oyawoye Rodgers, who is known in short as Artist Diyah Najah. Diyah Najah, would like to thank Elevate Atlanta and Charmaine Minniefield, The Butler Street Community Development Corporation and Alfonza Marshall, the Butler Street YMCA and Jeremy "Rem" Hellmann, and Sweet Auburn Works and LeJuano Varnell, for aligning to be able to contract her to bring this mural project to life. Diyah Najah was directed to Sweet Auburn Works for some names to start. This creation started with the names of the women of Sweet Auburn-some familiar and others completely new to her. Diyah Najah would also like to appeal to the families of the 4th Ward District to call out more names and raise awareness so that the women who have in history and currently are helping to build and shape communities do not go unseen. Representation matters.
Armed with the names of prominent, and impactful women who have shaped the landscapes, experiences, and community of the Sweet Auburn District and have made a greater impact nationally and beyond, was just the first step in Diyah Najah’s creation process. The mural features the following women: Left Panel-top to bottom: Ella Josephine Baker, Geneva Morton Haugabrooks, and Mtamanika Youngblood. Right Panel-top to bottom: Alexis Scott, Carrie Cunningham, and Henrietta Antonin. These women are historical and current-day figureheads that aided in establishing the vitality and the revitalization of Sweet Auburn District. Entrepreneurs, business executives, founding members of prominent companies, educators, hospitality makers, civil rights leaders, community strategists and activists, and political voice platform makers. These are the pillars of the Sweet Auburn community.
Diyah Najah would be chagrined to avoid sharing that researching this mural project posed some challenges. There was just not enough documentation of the female leads of the past in the Sweet Auburn District. She noted that it was as if in some ways the women were lost in history. Even to locate enough images and portraits to choose from was a difficult task as the same few pictures of these prominent women were shared and re-shared online. That is where Sweet Auburn Works, the Apex Museum, and the Auburn Avenue Research Library (one of the artist’s top five favorite places in Atlanta) came in to aid in the connection with the women of history and the current prominent women who are aiding in the revitalization of Sweet Auburn. Through her research the connection to the subject matter was made and that is when Diyah Najah said she could finally birth the work.
Establishing and Revitalization are the words that were prime in Diyah Najah’s mind through her research process. These words go hand in hand when learning about Sweet Auburn. This mural is not only a story of the past, but of moving forward and the responsibilities of Black American citizens and other allies and changemakers who understand the significance of preserving the rich African American history and contributions to society that emerged from the Sweet Auburn District. African American citizens and other aware and accountable activists and citizens who know America’s repeated history of the desecration and suffocation of established and burgeoning, thriving Black communities are called upon to revitalize Sweet Auburn for its inherent value.
The value of Sweet Auburn is not just monetary. Looking around the district today, some may find it hard to believe that in the 1950’s Forbes coined the district, “The Black Wallstreet.” Diyah Najah contends that viewers are not looking hard enough or are looking through the wrong lens. Sankofa; Sometimes we are called to “go back and fetch it.” This is what Diyah Najah had to do in order to connect with the calling of the names. These names, with research, became the stories. These stories set the tone in the art that Diyah Najah created to honor the women of Sweet Auburn.
The work is a collaboration between the Ancestors, the Divine Feminine, and those here and now, living, breathing and working on earth. The work is meant to be interactive because as we often hear in conversation, especially surrounding Sweet Auburn, “Let not their work be in vain.”
The mural panels were designed to be interactive in a way in which the Divine Feminine energy centers the viewer and leads them into becoming a participant. The participant is then encompassed by the Divine Feminine and raised/elevated. Diyah Najah’s goal was to have the viewer turned participant to understand the right of passage, and be able to have a picture taken that centers them in responsibility, accountability, and necessity to, “Do the work.” We must preserve our past and honor those that have done the work by realizing we are the engines that will move forward/progress.
The work is of intention, revitalization/rejuvenation, and innovation. Each of the six women featured within the mural stand as pillars not only in the composition of the art pieces, but society and in the mind and hearts of those willing to do the work and to be the very best that they can be. The large black female figures stand tall, big, unabashedly stretching out to the source from which they derive their strength, and their message is to be living proof that “it” can be done. What is your “It?” is the question the artist posed through the mural. Diyah Najah embedded her contribution towards the answer to the question within the mural. She states that relying on the proof of those who have come before us and those who are living and breathing in their work right now on earth, is confirmation and support that the work can be done and that community matters.
Sweet Auburn is not a story that will burn like the flames of Tulsa Oklahoma Massacre. This mural is a calling for more. More African Americans, and other allies, activists, and ethical city and community planners who understand the significance and need of Sweet Auburn’s continued rise. The phoenix rising from the flames is Atlanta’s insignia. The artist wants the viewers of the mural to understand that not only are we the phoenix, but we also are the flames.
Rise up and feed the revitalization of Sweet Auburn, spend money there, donate to organizations supporting community growth, connect with the residents of old and new, visit and walk the streets and not just view, but also experience the art that is growing like trees. Learn the stories, say their names. Research the history of the Sweet Auburn District and acknowledge the suffocation and separation between the businesses and the residents that was intentionally planned by the construction of Interstate 85. It’s as if a river ran through it and doused the fire of an economically sound, and thriving Black community of varied professions.We are the phoenix and the flames.
Sweet Auburn is sacred ground and we are to honor it through action, responsibility, and accountability. There is no history or past to be forgotten or gotten over. There is only The Now, and it’s all connected.
THe old atlanta life insurance building
The intersection of Auburn Avenue and Jesse Hill Jr Drive used to be the heart of a thriving and bustling community. Nowadays, unfortunately, Butler Street is surrounded by a much different landscape than the one that existed at the time of its construction in 1912. One of the few survivors on the drive is the former Atlanta Life Insurance Co. Branch Building located at 229 Auburn Ave. The company that existed within this building, the Atlanta Life Insurance Co., quickly made the former slave, Alonzo Herndon, one of the wealthiest men in the city - white or black. The building also once served as the headquarters of the Atlanta Dance Theater.
For more info about The Old Atlanta Life Building:
https://www.wabe.org/gold-dust-twins-came-haunt-auburn-avenue/