Harriet Tubman - During the Civil War

Harriet served as a scout, spy, guerrilla

soldier, and nurse for the Union Army.

She liberated over 700 slaves along

South Carolina’s Combahee River and

is considered the first African American

woman to serve in the military. She was

nicknamed “The Moses of Her People” for

liberating so many enslaved people by

way of a secret network of people, places,

and routes called “The Underground

Railroad.”

Harriet’s litebox is made from a laptop

computer box. A map of the Under-

ground Railroad sits below her photo.

The box is crowned with a saying she

famously used to motivate those she

she guided along their days-long journey

to freedom. The litebox is on exhibit

at Press & Grind until March 31,

2024.

Ida B. Wells was an investigative journalist

and early civil rights leader. Wells was

posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize

for reporting on the pervasive violence

against African Americans during the era

of lynching. She placed her own safety

at great peril to raise awareness of the

horrors of life for blacks under Jim Crow.

She was also one of the founders of the

NAACP. Reportedly, Ida Wells stood

just under 5’ tall.

Ida’s litebox is made from a computer

laptop box. The portrait beautifully

captures her unwavering mindset. The

constellation of planets beneath her por-

trait represents her supernatural fidelity

and her crown represents her personal

dignity and devotion to her cause

and her people. The litebox is on

exhibit at Press & Grind until

March 31, 2024.

It’s impossible to overestimate Mom’s

illumination. My Mom was born at the

tail end of the Great Depression. As a

child, she ice skated on frozen ponds. As

as a teenager she Jived and Jitterbugged

in school auditoriums. She met my Dad

in church where his family sat a few pews

behind hers. She loved my Dad his whole

life and beyond. Mom was a crackerjack

with a sewing machine. I suspect that she

hemmed just about every pair of pants

I ever wore. Mom was no-nonsense and

with four kids she didn’t have much

time to dilly or dally. She tended to

her Gardenias and Butterfly bushes with

great devotion. She made-do with what

we had. She made every birthday special

and every Christmas sparkle. I carry her

glow inside of me. Every day. Every

where.

Mom was proud of her roots. So, map

pieces of Southern Michigan rim the

outside of her box. This is her Senior

Yearbook Photo from South Lyon High

School graduating class of1953.

This litebox is on exhibit at Press &

Grind until March 31, 2024.

Frida Kahlo survived polio at age 9 and

a serious streetcar accident at age 18.

She channeled her passion and pain

into nearly 200 paintings. The style

she developed mixed reality with surreal-

istic elements. Because of Kahlo’s

uncompromising depiction of the female

form and challenge of traditional gender

roles - Kahlo is regarded as an icon

for the feminist movement and the

LGBTQ+ community.

Frida’s litebox is made from a laptop

computer box. Her crown is a collage

including an image of a Mexican

peso that was likely in circulation during

her lifetime. This work attempts to

capture Frida’s unapologetic approach

to her life and art. The litebox is on

on exhibit at Press & Grind until

March 31, 2024.

Florence Nightingale said she experienced

a “calling” from a young age to help those

in great need. Florence received great

opposition from her high-society family

when she announced her desire to

become a nurse. At the time, nursing

was considered to be a lowly profession.

Despite their objection, Florence travelled

to Germany, then Paris to train as a nurse.

She served as a nurse in the Crimean War

where she radically improved the care and

conditions for the wounded. Nightingale

gave nursing a favorable reputation and

became an icon known as “The Lady with

the Lamp” for making rounds of wounded

soldiers at night, carrying a lamp to light

her way.

A copy of a handwritten note lies beneath

her portrait. Florence wrote letters fre-

quently arranging for supplies and advoca-

ting for the needs of her patients. Florence

wrote seminal books on Nursing.

The litebox is on exhibit at Press &

Grind until March 31, 2024.

.

Perhaps the most recognizable of these

icons, Rosa Parks, is best known for

refusing to vacate her seat on a city bus in

favor of a white passenger. Her act of civil

disobedience and the subsequent Mont-

gomery bus boycott became important

symbols of the Civil Rights Movement.

As a result of her act, Parks was fired from

her job as a seamstress and continued to

receive death threats for years afterwards.

Parks moved to Detroit where she con-

tinued to collaborate with leaders like

Martin Luther King, Jr. and work for the

NAACP.

Rosa’s litebox is made from a laptop

computer box. A roadmap of her home-

town of Montgomery (circa the time

of the bus boycott) lines the base of the

box. The quote exemplifies how each of

us, as Rosa did, can ignite something

special with a mere spark of courage.

The litebox is on exhibit at Press &

Grind until March 31, 2024.

Amelia Earhart, also a well-known icon,

is famous for being the first female to fly

across the Atlantic solo. Her parent's’ tur-

bulent marriage is said to have contributed

to Earhart’s feminist mindset. She swore

that one day she would be a completely

independent woman never having to rely

on a man for financial support. She

worked her way to that independence as a

nurse’s aide then later a social worker,

earning enough for flying lessons and a

yellow two-seat biplane that she named

“Canary.” Although Earhart did not

consider herself a feminist, she sought

equality in every aspect of her life, thereby

inspiring generations of women to do the

same.

Amelia’s litebox is made from a laptop

computer box. Copies of her final radio

transmission (July 2, 1937) line the box.

Her famous quote, representing her no-

nonsense mindset and tenacity, crowns the

box. The litebox on exhibit at Press &

Grind until March 31, 2024.

Lorraine Hansberry was the first

African-American female author to have a

play performed on Broadway. Her play,

“A Raisin in the Sun,” tells the story of a

black family’s experience of racism and

housing discrimination in south Chicago.

Hansberry was also a civil rights activist

who, along with James Baldwin, met with

Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy

urging him to make “a moral commit-

ment” to civil rights.

Hansberry inspired the Nina Simone song

“To Be Young, Gifted and Black”

whose title line came from a speech

she delivered in 1964. Hansberry

died of pancreatic cancer

at the age of 34.

Hansberry’s sun crown symbolizes

the name of her famous play. The

perimeter of the box is wrapped in

pieces of a street map of south Chicago

circa the time that Lorraine and her family

lived in that area.

The litebox is on exhibit at Press &

Grind until March 31, 2024.

Early in the 1800’s, long before it was

safe or socially acceptable to express any

variations of traditional gender norms or

sexual orientation, Anne lister was

courageously and unapologetically herself.

Lister wore what she wanted (usually dark

garments and a dapper top hat) and loved

who she wanted (women). She wrote

about her life as a landowner, traveler,

business woman, mountaineer, and lover

of women in secret code. Years later,

those private diaries were decoded

and turned into the BBC series “Gentle-

man Jack.” Top hats tipped to anyone who

like Lister, can withstand public scrutiny

and continue to march to the beat of her

own heart.

Anne’s exterior box is rimmed with

photo copies of her excerpts from her

diaries in coded handwriting.

This litebox is on exhibit at Press &

Grind until March 31, 2024.