Considering Black people’s work through the widest perspectives provides versatile and insightful platforms for examining Black life and culture through time and space.

WORK-- The notion of work constitutes compensated labor in factories, the military, government agencies, office buildings, public service, and private homes.  It also includes the community building of social justice activists, voluntary workers serving others, and institution building in churches, community groups, and social clubs and organizations.  Understanding Black labor and its impact in all these multivariate settings is integral to understanding Black people, their histories, lives, and cultures.

The 2025 National theme, “African Americans and Labor,” focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of African Americans. Studying African Americans’ labor and labor struggles allows for new interpretations and reinterpretations of African American heritage and its continuing evolution. (ASALH)

Curated and presented by Junctions, the 2025 Lakeshore Mall, “African Americans and Labor – Cornerstones and Pillars” is a visual and oral exhibit, highlighting National, and some of Highlands County’s past and present African American entrepreneurs, labor contributors, and supporters.  Exhibit features include Guest Speakers, Entrepreneur and Labor Photographic Profiles, Literature and Artisan Displays, Oral History Video and more. The exhibit is intentional in encouraging broad reflections on intersections between African American’s work and their workplaces in all their iterations and key moments.

NOTICE OF FILMING, AUDIO RECORDING, AND PHOTOGRAPHY

By you entering Junctions' African American exhibit and any of its events or programs, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording may occur. By entering the event premises, you consent to interview(s), photography, audio recording, video recording and its/their release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, webcasts, promotional purposes, telecasts, advertising, inclusion on websites, social media, or any other purpose by Junctions and its affiliates and representatives.

Images, photos and/or videos may be used to promote similar Junctions events in the future, highlight the event and exhibit the capabilities of Junctions. You release Junctions, its officers and employees, and each and all persons involved from any liability connected with the taking, recording, digitizing, or publication and use of interviews, photographs, computer images, video and/or or sound recordings.

By entering the event premises, you waive all rights you may have to any claims for payment of royalties in connection with any use, exhibition, streaming, webcasting, televising, or other publication of these materials, regardless of the purpose or sponsoring of such use, exhibiting, broadcasting, webcasting, or other publication irrespective of whether a fee for admission or sponsorship is charged.

You also waive any right to inspect or approve any photo, video, or audio recording taken by Junctions or the person or entity designated to do so by Junctions. You have been fully informed of your consent, waiver of liability, and release upon entering the event.