Remembrance as Resistance

Hello everyone,

This post covers a heavy topic, so I thought it would be best to begin with a brief (re)introduction. (And if you're not up for a heavy read, feel free to stop here.)

My name is Hana Getachew. I'm an interior designer and founder of Bolé Road Textiles. I started Bolé Road as a way to be more connected to Ethiopia. I'm also an immigrant. My family and I were granted asylum in the 1980s, and I became a naturalized American citizen when I was sixteen.

In recent years, I've been saddened by the increasing number of people who have died in encounters with ICE and CBP or while in their custody.

In April, I began writing down the names of people who had died in detention centers and the countries they were from. (This information is available on ICE's website.) The first person who died in January 2025, was Ethiopian. I wondered who he was, whether his family had been able to mourn him, and whether his body had made it home.

Between January 2025 and April 2026, there were 56 people on my list, from 25 countries.

But these numbers don't begin to capture the full extent of the harm. They don't account for children separated from their parents and held in detention centers, or the many others whose lives have been profoundly affected.

To process this grief, I purchased On Loss and Absence: Textiles of Mourning and Survival. I was particularly struck by a section curated by Sharbreon Plummer entitled Remembrance as Resistance. It featured work by American artists and quilters Dorothy Burge and Carolyn Mazloomi, who use their art as a form of activism, evoking our shared humanity.

Inspired by their work, I wanted to create a piece of remembrance to honor those who had passed, who, like me, were immigrants, refugees, and Americans.

I composed the flags of the 25 countries into a series of three wall hangings.  Among them are Mexico, where a large portion of those who died were from,  Canada, and of course the United States, which is represented in the red and white warp threads from which the flags are suspended.

My longtime partners at Sabahar wove the wall hangings with care. They arrived just a week ago, and I was moved when I first saw them. I asked my friend and textile artist Krystle Collins to embroider the delicate details of the flags. She dropped them off yesterday morning, and once again, I was moved by the care and intricacy of the work.

I think of this piece as an offering of remembrance.  The piece will be on view at my studio, I invite you to schedule a time to stop by to view it here.

Thank you for being here and for reading.

With gratitude,

Hana