Artwork title : Harriet Jacobs: Journey to Saturn, Launch!

The video is inspired by the life of Harriet Jacobs, an African American woman who escaped from slavery in the U.S. state of North Carolina in the mid 1800s. During the escape, Jacobs spent 7 years hiding in a small attic and primarily sitting or lying down. The seven year journey to Saturn of the NASA/European Cassini Huygens mission reminds us how far one can travel in the time that Harriet was forced to remain still and hidden. The video reflects my own practice as an aerospace engineer who regularly pursues projects in collaboration with engineers and scientists from Africa. The piece also responds to a long heritage of African American female poets who write about space travel, from Phillis Wheatley to Henrietta Cordelia Ray to Tracky K. Smith. The full series of videos contains a mission update, in the iconic style of the NASA Television broadcast, showing progress for each of the 7 year Journey to Saturn. This is year 0.