photo credit: Meika Ejiasi / meikaejiasi.com
The photo was taken on the steps of Santa Rosa City Hall in June 2026.

In Sonoma County, Black residents make up fewer than three percent of the population. But a local visual protest is working to change how Black women are seen, celebrated, and supported in the community.

It started in 2020 when Malia Anderson, a Santa Rosa-based entrepreneur and wardrobe stylist, organized a photo shoot with 16 Black women on the steps of the Museum of Sonoma County. It was in response to the pandemic and the murder of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman who was shot and killed by police in her Kentucky home.

Anderson explains why she created this project.

“The number one comment I get about this photo to this day still is 'I didn't know there were so many black women in Sonoma County.' And there's only 16 in that photo. And I thought, 'Hmm, we have problems.' If 16 is what you see as a lot, then actively in our community, you are not taking your blinders off to see us. But also we need to show up en mass in order for you to recognize that we're here,” said Anderson.

And in June, she did it again—this time gathering 42 Black women on the steps of Santa Rosa City Hall, releasing the photo on Juneteenth. Anderson says the photo represents rebellion and joy. The vibrant, color-coordinated photo was on display at The H.I.V.E. a newly created community space in Santa Rosa. Kirstyne Lange, president of the Santa Rosa - Sonoma County branch of the NAACP, says the day of the photo shoot felt like a powerful, joyful homecoming.

“It was so exciting to see that collective body of black women. The smells were familiar. It felt like we had our own church service on the steps of City Hall,” said Lange.

H.I.V.E. stands for Home of Intentional Vision for Equity. The Santa Rosa facility opened in 2025 and Lange says it is funded by local grants and serves an important role.

“The goal was to create a community-centered space that was available—black-centered and available to all other communities that need a safe space to gather, to meet, to fellowship, and to heal. The spirit behind the H.I.V.E. are all the bees work to protect the queen. The queen is our community. And so if all of us busy bees come together in a space, we are protecting our community,” said Lange. “We're healing ourselves. We're working together to achieve that goal.”

Anderson is planning a second half of the photo shoot for August, with hopes of compiling the images and personal stories into an art book by the end of the year. For her, the project is about building a lasting legacy.

"We stand on the shoulders of the women who came before us in this community who started the NAACP and the women who started the Black Chamber of Commerce, and Petaluma Blacks and things like that. We are a part of that legacy, and we want to continue to grow it, and this photo, and this movement is a part of that,” said Anderson.