07/07/2021
We at Cassandra’s Closet have been quiet up until now regarding the conversation around The Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. We wanted to create space for voices that have previously been marginalized to share their experiences and express their concerns. We acknowledge the historical significance of the venue, and the way it has affected (and continues to affect) people: especially Black, Indiginous, and other people of color. We respect the position of those who have chosen not to be involved in any event at this venue.
We also recognize that the JASNA Greater Louisville Region has in the past failed to address the serious implications of the event's location, to feature significant numbers of diverse speakers and presenters at the event, to include diverse vendors, to create community guidelines, to create safe spaces for people of color, to include significant numbers of people of color in the planning process, and otherwise to be intentional about inclusion and accessibility.
However, this year, the event is organized by Historic Locust Grove, a living history museum with JASNA Greater Louisville serving primarily in an advisory capacity. We researched their programming and the changes they have been making as a museum to better educate the public on the history of enslavement perpetrated at the plantation.
Historic Locust Grove has hired more interpreters of color, put together community guidelines (https://locustgrove.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Community-Guidelines-for-the-Jane-Austen-Festival-1.pdf) for their events, created a clear and thorough diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism statement (https://locustgrove.org/diversityequityinclusion/), and begun to develop the kind of intentional commemoration programming that we'd like to see more of everywhere: for example, the recent opening of Louisa's House, an enslaved family's dwelling, at which Debra Middleton, a descendent of some of those whom the Croghans enslaved, spoke and presided.
Furthermore, Historic Locust Grove worked closely with Ayana Olatunji and Renata Dennis who served as consultants for this year's Jane Austen Festival. Both of these women of color are people I deeply respect. Their integrity and their work in diversity, equity, and inclusion is well established. After Renata conveyed to me that she felt they were, “earnest and legitimate in their wanting to do the right thing,” we decided to participate this year as vendors.
We are (as far as we know) the first and only Black-owned business to participate in the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville. We were pleased to see that several speakers of color will be presenting this year, including Dr. Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, Dr. Danielle Christmas, and Dr. Alice Villaseñor. In addition to the physical safe space that we would like to provide in our tent, there will be a safe space hosted by Locust Grove moderators including Shannon Floyd, a trained mediator and certified social worker, and a virtual safe space moderated by Ayana Olatunji and others. For more information about the festival programming, please see the Historic Locust Grove page https://www.facebook.com/historiclocustgrove/ and the Jane Austen Festival page on their website. https://locustgrove.org/janeaustenfestival/
We're also aware that, after speaking with Ayana, the JASNA Greater Louisville Region has recognized the necessity of creating their own DEI committee; Carrie Wright and Mary Landrum are actively looking for diverse volunteers for this endeavor.
As a Black business-owner working in a predominantly white field, I (Lena) feel a strong sense of responsibility to make a positive change in the Jane Austen and costuming community. We want to push the conversation forward and make space for future Black and POC vendors, creators and costumers.
We will be launching our Miss Tre line, designed by Trenell Mooring, African fabrics, regency silhouettes, a collaborative creative effort that has been in the works since February of this year. Trenell has personally selected each fabric in the line and we’ve worked closely together to bring each one of her beautiful designs to life.
It was always our intention to debut the line at the Jane Austen Festival, but we feel it’s even more important now to highlight and celebrate Black creators and artists in the historical costuming space. By being present, we will be able to offer a safe space for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks who need one. After doing our research and deciding to engage in the festival with intentionality, we invested all of our business and even personal finances into the preparations for this, our first post-lockdown, in-person event. We are a very small business, and we have put it all on the line.
We understand however, that some people in our community are choosing not to engage with the event and continue to have reservations. We too are curious to see if Locust Grove’s planning and programming will live up to its intentions and theme of “Race, Power & The Arts in Jane Austen’s World.” A topic which resulted in vocal criticism by many of their usual attendees and a significant drop in registration and the sale of ball tickets as compared to previous years.
The Jane Austen community and historical costuming community have historically been a predominately white space. That’s why I personally invest my time and energy to forward diversity, equity, inclusivity and accessibility in these communities and work towards change. Our integrity as a business and my personal integrity as a woman of color are far more important than our profit margin. That is why we have worked in our local community costuming schools, children’s theater, the After School at the Klein program and more. We do this because it’s important to us. Our community is important to us. It is important that we reach and support those with fewer opportunities, as we’ve been supported in our turn. Working with schools and nonprofits has often meant breaking even or operating at a loss.
If you choose not to support this year’s Jane Austen Festival, but would like to support Cassandra's Closet, you can order from the Miss Tre line directly through our website https://cassandras-closet.com/ or subscribe to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cassandrascloset. If you have feedback for us, ideas for ways that we could have a greater impact or do better, please contact us directly at [email protected].
