Maine BIPoC Elders

Who We Are

BIPoC (Black, Indigenous People of Color) Elders is an informal community of older adults who gather to share thoughts about how we want to connect, celebrate us, and add value to BIPoC life in Maine. Since 2022, BIPoC Elders has gathered monthly with Co-Convenors Leslie Hill and Kathy Vezina to share stories of “aging while people of color in Maine,” enjoy the company of fellow older BIPoC adults, and build our own and other’s knowledge of BIPoC peoples’ contributions to the state’s culture, economy, education, politics, business, and religious life. All with the encouragement and support of the Maine Council on Aging (MCOA).

We innovate. We created a project to make Black Elders visible, challenging the narrative that Maine is a “white state.” Since 2025 we have displayed this Photovoice Project, Making the Invisible Visible to community groups, in classrooms, libraries, in the Maine State Capitol, and at a national conference in Atlanta.

We recognize that BIPoC Elders have worth, individually and collectively, and our group aims to highlight the value of older adults of color, especially by:

• Illuminating the traditions and impact of Elderhood in BIPoC communities,
• Fostering community and extending connections among marginalized communities, and
• Strengthening connections between generations through story-sharing: our experiences and their outlook on the challenges and opportunities before them.

We bring radical imagination to efforts to elevate the stories and strides of people of color who have in the past and continue now to add value to and shape the lives of all Mainers.

Check us out. Listen in or join a conversation. We welcome you!

Leslie Hill, BIPoC Elders Co-Convenor and Retired Bates Professor of Politics and Interdisciplinary Studies
Kathy Vezina, BIPoC Elders Co-Convenor and MCOA Director of Equity & Healthy Aging

What We’re Doing

Fostering Community – Strengthening Intergenerational Connections – Encouraging Change

In 2025, MCOA undertook an exciting new endeavor – Making the Invisible Visible: A Maine Black Elders Photovoice Project. The project features stories of older Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPoC) through photography and video, highlighting their contributions to Maine’s economic, political, cultural and educational life.  By raising the voices and images of resilience, we are fostering community, strengthening intergenerational connections, and encouraging change.  Leslie Hill, Professor Emerita, Bates College, led the work on this project.

Photovoice relies on the power of images and stories to lift up and make visible the experiences of people who often are not seen or heard. This photovoice project, Making the Invisible Visible: A PhotoVoice Project by Black Elders in Maine was designed to counter the invisibility that often results from cultural messaging “– isms” about the value of people who sit at the bottom of race and ageist hierarchies.

Individual participants photographed something meaningful to them in their homes or communities, then returned to the project group to describe in their own words what they photographed and why. The images and stories collected and curated by this group of six BIPoC older adults share what it means to “age while black in Maine.” They demonstrate a variety of rich experiences, extraordinary resilience, and vibrant community-building.

The impact of this photovoice project is ongoing. Not only did it resist erasure and disrupt ageism, but it also created a process for participants to deepen relationships with each other, among the BIPoC Elders group, and with Elders and non-elders across racial and cultural communities. Our photo-storytelling about “aging while black” in Maine, strengthens connections with younger generations, and in doing so, offers models of ingenuity, adaptability, and strength. With local and national audiences Making the Invisible Visible has sparked learning and conversation, nurtured community empowerment, and – we hope – inspired policy change.

Resources

If you wish to learn more about the issues raised in the Maine Black Elders Photovoice Project (exploring the intersection of racism, ageism, and gender bias), how to implement your own photovoice project, or read about the impact of the Maine Black Elders’ Photovoice Project, we recommend that you explore the following resources.

• Exploring the Intersection of Racism, Ageism and Gender Bias
• Photovoice Project Tool Kit
• Photovoice Project Evaluation Report – December 2025

Exploring Black History in Maine
In conversation with the Freeport Historical Society, The Third Place invited BIPoC Elders to a special meeting to discuss some of the ongoing and emerging research on Freeport’s Black residents. The gathering offered an overview of the Freeport Historical Society, a presentation of ongoing and emerging research on Freeport’s Black history and generated a robust discussion actively engaging BIPoC Elders to share thoughts and insights for planning and decision-making around how these stories are told and how information is shared.

Countering Ageist Narratives Between Generations
The City of Portland’s Office of Economic Opportunity invited BIPOC elders to participate in the Memory Project, an intergenerational storytelling experience that connects community elders with Portland high school students. Through one-on-one guided dialogues and storytelling focused on human and civil rights movements, participants build cross-cultural understanding while actively countering ageist narratives between generations. Through these conversations and group reflections, both generations have the opportunity to reflect on their experiences and explore how issues of civil and human rights continue to shape our lives today.

Other Activities
2026
Read – The Maine Black Elders read and discussed Raymond Jetson’s book Aging While Black: A Radical Reimagining of Aging and Race in America, an urgent and heartfelt call to rethink how aging is understood and experienced in America for Black Elders.

Presented – USM Stone Coast Writers’ Residency in Freeport, ME

Exhibit – Photovoice Project at the Maine State House, hosted by Senator Jill Duson (D-Cumberland)

Presented – On Aging National Conference of the American Society on Aging in Atlanta, GA

Co-hosted with Collectively Brave – Cross-Generational storytelling: The Wisdom Between Us: A Seat for Every Generation in Portland, ME

Presented – Storytelling session at Taking Root Together: Digging Deep into Wellness and Connection hosted by Juneteenth Downeast, Acadia Wilderness Lodge, West Tremont, ME

Convened – Network of Older Adults for a Photovoice Project presentation and story-sharing event at Equality Community Center in Portland, ME

2025
Event – Inaugural Photovoice Project Display

Presented – “Voices of Black Elders: Is Maine Listening” about the Photovoice Project at the Maine Philanthropy Center Conference