“Remember Me” 2013
FAC (Fine Arts Center) 2013
Medium/Materials:
Charcoal
Large Drawing Paper
Pencil
White chalk
Process: Large Drawing Paper and a projector to draw the faces in the head. I started with a pencil and added shading through charcoal and chalk.
Subject: Self Portrait- Accompanied by Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr, President Barack Obama, and Trayvon Martin.
I created this piece in high school at the Fine Arts Center, my senior year after Trayvon Martin was fatally shot in 2012. Shortly after the #BlackLivesMatter Movement began, I remember watching the news and feeling my naiveness seep out of me. Don't get me wrong; I wholeheartedly believe that all lives matter. But history has proven that sometimes "all" does not always mean "all"; it means "some,"; but that's human nature. I grew up in a family that taught me to love people, period. So for the longest time, 18-year-old me could not shake the feeling of betrayal by "America."
I want to bring your attention to the "The Rope" unraveling in my head, which could symbolize the former bondage (psychological/physical) that flows through my mind. The mental slavery and bondage can't be undone with legislation, street marches or riots, or moral round table talks. Although all these are crucial to social change and are necessary. As I got older, I realized that I could only be liberated by the One who is higher than my finite ideas. Man can not free me! Man can only help so much. I have to level up to the Source of my being.
In my head, there are images of people. I chose Emmett Till because his story still makes me cringe, yet I am amazed by his mother's courage. I would later learn at the African American Museum and the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that the Uncle of Emmett Till, who he was staying with that summer, didn't have much choice but to turn him in. I can't imagine having to choose between the life or death of a nephew because of a whistling. He was only fourteen when he died. Alongside him was Martin Luther King Jr, a familiar political figure that lived by peaceful protesting. No matter your opinion of him, there's no way you could have done what he did without the support of many others and God. He reminds me that the dream of social change will cost you.
Next is Rosa Parks, who wasn't the first to refuse to remove her tired body from a bus seat. There were FOUR other women just as fierce as she. They are Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Mary Louise Smith, and Susie McDonald; they symbolize Grit & Determination. Under her is President Obama; I remember falling asleep that night of his first inauguration with great excitement. Being thirteen, I didn't fully understand the gravity of the moment; I just knew that the President of the free world had daughters that looked like me for the first time in my life. Ponytails, cornrows, chestnut skin, and deep brown eyes. Under President Obama is Trayvon Martin; his story reminded me of Emmett Till's and the importance of the need for change.
In this drawing, I am wearing a hoodie as a reminder never to forget. Unbeknownst to me, this piece would echo today's world & feelings of unrest. That's the beauty of art; it transcends time.
(Written March/April 2020)
(There’s A Part 2—That gives a glimpse of how I wrestled in my self with God, being a Black ,& Christian )
TRUTH:
Psalms 56:8 NLT
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
Mix Media:
Ain’t No Reason | Brett Dennen
Joseph Solomon | All He Says I am Cover | Cody Carnes
I Just Want to Live | Keedon Bryant
