Experience history with the Mary Ann Shadd Cary Pillow! Soft velvet and a beautiful full color design on one side make this 18 x 18-inch pillow perfect for adding a stylish touch to any room. Celebrate a truly inspiring woman with this unique and exquisite pillow.

• Dimensions: 18x18 inches
• Cover only
• Printed on one side
• Made in Canada

Yung Yemi, Mary Ann Shadd, 2021

This work pays tribute to Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893), an American Canadian anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, and lawyer. Mary Ann Shadd was the first black woman publisher in North America and the first woman publisher in Canada. To honor her legacy, Toronto History Museums has created a range of exclusive products that will be sold at museum stores and online.

Yung Yemi's image is full of inspiring symbolism, including: a quilted shawl referencing underground railroad safehouses, purple, white, and gold colors symbolizing women's suffrage; a star on her crown representing the North Star of freedom; and Adinkra symbols from Ghana's Ashanti peoples on her earrings for wisdom, knowledge, freedom, and independence. The asterisk pattern on her inner shawl represents her authorship in her publication she did not initially put her name on the paper to avoid the scrutiny she would face as a woman publisher.

About the Artist

Yung Yemi, also known as Adeyemi Adegbesan, is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary artist whose practice aims to examine the cultural intersectionalities within Black identity. Reflecting on Black cultural ideologies from pre-colonial, colonial, present-day and future timelines; across regions, religions, varying levels of income and political lines, Adegbesan examines the dichotomy of the richness of Black experiences with the imposed societal homogeneity of ‘Blackness’. Through his work Adegbesan pulls from these varying elements to create Afro-futuristic portraits that embody themes of history, fantasy, speculative futures, and spirituality.