J’can academic plans Black Money Exhibit tour
WHEN DR. Harcourt Fuller found a wallet with banknotes — including one with the image of Marcus Garvey — underneath a house in Kingston, Jamaica, when he was just nine years old, little did he know that it would lead to him becoming the founder and director of the multifaceted Black Money Exhibit in the United States.
The Jamaica-born associate professor of history at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, was recently in Toronto for a public talk titled “African Diasporic Histories and World Currencies” hosted by Blackhurst Cultural Centre.
“The Marcus Garvey banknote was the one that caught my eye. I was looking at it wondering who the person on it was, the colour and everything. When I went out on the road, I was so excited that I ran to the first adult I saw. I showed it to this man who took it and ran off, that’s really what started my journey,” said Fuller who lived on Crescent Road in Kingston 13.
His work as a historian has resulted in not only the exhibit, but a soundtrack, music videos, a Black Money Talk conversation series. He is recognised as a consultant, screenwriter and producer of films.
“At its core it’s an exhibition of over 300 banknotes from more than 80 countries and territories: Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Dr. Fuller, noting that some coins and art objects are also included.
TRAVELLING EXHIBITION
The exhibition was showcased at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in Atlanta from the fall of 2018 to March 2019. Since then, the professor has been fundraising and redesigning it to become a travelling exhibition.
The Canadian consulate i n Atlanta, under the leadership of then consul general Nadia Theodore, sponsored the closing event of the exhibition in collaboration with the Bank of Canada Museum and other stakeholders.
The numismatist has travelled to cities throughout the US, the UK, and Jamaica to spread the word about the exhibition and has created a website, blackmoneyexhibit.com. A collaboration with his nephew, Kimoy Fuller, aka Pustinho, as his production partner resulted in the creation of several songs and music videos from various countries.
Dr. Fuller regards money, especially Jamaica’s currency, as a marketing tool to help the citizens, populations and the world “to say these are the people who have made our country great. Despite our challenges, we’ve had people who have made significant contributions with their blood, sweat and tears and their patriotism to make this country into a great island.”
He was the educational outreach director for Roy T. Anderson’s first documentary, ‘Akwantu: The Journey’, and wrote the discussion guide and curriculum that accompanied the film. He collaborated with Anderson on the documentary, ‘Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess’, crediting it as ‘one of the best things’ that he ever did in his life. He is currently involved in the making of a movie about Nanny which he says is now in development with a Hollywood producer.
He claims ancestry i n the Maroons of Moore Town, known as the new Nanny Town, a group which he says considers themselves Nanny’s descendants.
DOCUMENTARY SERIES
In 2018, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study the 18th century Jamaican military leader who fought against and beat the British and is depicted on the Jamaican $500 bill.
Dr. Fuller hopes to include a theme, ‘Black Women on Money’ as an outgrowth of the Black Money Exhibit. This has been on his list of to-do items since 2015 when there were discussions about putting Harriet Tubman’s image on the US$20.
“From that, I wanted to look at this movement to get Harriet Tubman on the $20 by looking at other black women who have appeared on banknotes and then more recently African American women have been put on US coins,” said Fuller. He says a documentary series in development will feature twelve episodes.
In 2021, the United States Mint appointed him to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, as the member recommended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Although he has lived in the US for most of his life, Fuller said he loves Jamaica, ‘warts and all’, and has a business in the Maroon community of Ginger House in the Moore Town area of the Rio Grande Valley.
Katawud Village is a Maroon, family-owned and managed ecotourism enterprise “created to stem the decline of our Maroon heritage, encourage environment conservation while providing a sustainable and viable source of income for the community.”
Fuller also has a clothing line, Katawud Apparel, does film projects through Katawud Films, and music creations under Katawud Music.