Meet My Melanin

03/19/2023

One month ago today we gathered to celebrate our movement - and y'all showed up! It was an experience we will never forget!

These photos were beautifully captured by Melanie Ortiz and Sam McBride of Lewisburg Studio by Melo Foto. Please privately reach out to us at [email protected] to gain access to our password protected album of all the photos!

Thank you again to the Samek Art Museum, Susquehanna Valley United Way, Campus Theatre, Bucknell Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures and countless others for supporting this event and helping make it happen!

Our Meet My Melanin exhibition had the breakdown of 3 class visits, six events, and 417 walk-in people for a total of 638 people who visited the gallery! We also gave 3 private tours and have 30 new sign-ups to join the movement!

I really appreciate the people who have encouraged me to rest. I have been doing so, radically, and been witness to how rest and surrender can produce more results than pushing and hustling. My emails have been on pause to radically restore myself and to intentionally feel into what's next.

Integrity and Freedom. Two words I've been dissecting, a lot. With opportunities presenting themselves, I recognize the importance of choosing wisely. This isn't just a project, it's my heart - and protecting it, so it can stay wildly free, is important.

Currently you can find Round 2 on display at Evangelical Community Hospital in their new lobby. While we don't encourage a visit to the hospital if you don't have to, it is really cool to have the Meet My Melanin faces and stories supported in such a public way, in such rural and white dominated spaces, outside of Black History Month. The Samek Art Museum and Evangelical Community Hospital have both been supportive and understanding of how important this is, and we respect it!

To help keep our movement going and free you can donate and/or become a sponsor at meetmymelaninmovement.org/donate

Enjoy the photos friends!

Peace and Power,
Jetta Nicoline Harrison
Founder/CEO

03/02/2023

3 days left 🦋 It’s been a pleasure working with the Samek Art Museum and we will be sad to see this exhibition come to an close. It won’t stop here though! Round 1 is currently in our newest exhibition at Evangelical Community Hospital and Round 2 will be making its way there in the upcoming week!

The Meet My Melanin exhibition will be closing on Sunday, March 05, at 5 pm. Be sure to stop by our Downtown location, 416 Market Street, Lewisburg, PA, before then.

03/02/2023

Our sign up sheet, that’s been available to the public in the Samek Gallery during the exhibition, is overflowing!! Help keep our photoshoots, workshops and events FREE by donating or becoming a sponsor!

Thank you to the Association for Inclusion, Respect, and Equity for supporting us with this portal ✨

Donate. Become a Sponsor. Make a Difference.

Want to support and give back to the movement that's taking the globe by storm?! Become a donor or sponsor TODAY!

02/24/2023

Tonight we’ll be introducing the Whitney movie at the Campus Theatre! Right back where our Meet My Melanin: Red Carpet Event took place ✨ Did you know the Campus Theatre’s screen is larger than your average movie theater’s? 🤩🦋 Come see it with us, even if you’ve already seen it! Doors open at 7:30pm

COMING SOON: Opening THIS FRIDAY (2/24) at the historic Campus Theatre, it is the premiere of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (PG-13) 146 mins. on the big screen! As it kicks off the start of our extra special celebration of Black History Month all weekend long, with a special introduction from Jetta Nicoline Harrison, founder of Meet My Melanin. And special attention to ALL CAMPUS THEATRE MEMBERS, we invite you to join us for our first MEMBERS ONLY MINGLE & MUNCHIES of the year, at 7:00 PM which includes an extra special signature beverage and snack for the film. Not a member and you want to join us for the fun? Become a member TODAY! Either way we hope to meet YOU under the marquee because we want you to be our somebody we see Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody with, here at The Campus Theatre!
Discovered by record executive Clive Davis and tracking her journey from obscurity to musical stardom, Whitney Houston rises to fame in the 1980s to become one of the greatest singers of her generation. A joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, one of the greatest female R&B pop vocalists of all time.
Campus Theatre Schedule: campustheatre.org/schedule

02/22/2023

The Samek Art Museum has been a dream to work with! The staff and museum guides have been respectful, helpful, attentive and most importantly, have shown that they believe in this movement. I am beyond grateful for everything we are achieving together! 🦋

02/21/2023

As I sit and process the magic that was our event this past Sunday I want to publicly share these slides from our pre-show slideshow, to say thank you again to our sponsors and the people who have helped us get here! I cannot do this on my own, nor do I want to and any level of support is appreciated!

Thank you:
Samek Art Museum
Campus Theatre
Susquehanna Valley United Way
and Bucknell Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures for sponsoring this event, and providing the Meet My Melanin movement space to continue our mission yesterday!

Thank you:
Kendy Alvarez - Mayor of Lewisburg, PA for using your voice and office to open the many doors that this movement has now been able to walk through 🌹

Thank you:
Adrienne Mael
Ammon Young
Andy Seal
Barbara Wankollie
Bill Driscoll
Carl Nelson
Carol Jensen Harrison
Cheyenne Purnell
Cymone Fourshey
Cynthia Peltier | CommUnity Zone
Danielle Velkoff
Darryll Purnell
Emily Gale
Francis Scarcella | The Daily Item
Gwen Bobbie
Imani Cohen
Isaac Breon
Jacob Kelley
Jamie Lynn Grobes, Tramaine Grobes and Bucknell Police
Jazmin Beverly
Jennifer Purnell
JoAnne Henry
Kayla Stevens
Kendra A. Aucker | Evangelical Community Hospital
Lakeisha Meyer
Leah Hartzell
Lisa Herrald
Lucy Nicholls Amolo
Lura Good | Hanna Radio
Marcellus Hammond
Mark Harrison
Mayor Kendy Alvarez
Melanie Ortiz | Lewisburg Studio by Melo Foto
Melodie Carter-Shaw
Michael Conard
Michelle Lauver
Monica Prince
Nabeel Jan
Nikki Krize | WNEP-TV
Penn Garvin
Rachel Barron | Perry County Council of the Arts
Raisa Berkheiser
Rebecca Armstrong
Richard Rinehart
Samek Art Museum Guides
Shae’Lynn Ames
Sharee Clark
Sonia Holbert
Sonja Schmoyer
Susan Jordan
Susquehanna University Africana Studies Program
Terrell Mosley
Theresa Engelbrecht
This Is Bigfoot Country
Tiffany Demmon
and Tilton Widro

Thank you for all your support big and small and thank you to those I may have missed, I promise it is not intentional! Thank you to countless others who have offered hugs, encouragement, feedback and love. These experiences are helping me and this movement grow and I am forever grateful. Let's keep going! ✨

Peace and Power,
Jetta Nicoline Harrison

02/19/2023

TODAY: Join us as we celebrate the beauty and truths of our Meet My Melanin Community on the Red Carpet of the exquisite Campus Theatre! Everyone sees the red carpet differently so go ahead and use this opportunity to dress your best in a way that feels good to you! There will be photo opportunities with Lewisburg Studio by Melo Foto and a reception to follow at the Samek Downtown Gallery! This event is FREE and open to the PUBLIC! Doors open at 1:30pm and we begin at 2pm!

See you soon! 🦋

For more information: Meet My Melanin: Red Carpet Event ✨