THE HUMANITY PORTFOLIO
2013
https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/the-humanity-portfolio-2013-catherine-l-johnson-humanity-blood-is-red-is-blood-red/
CATHERINE L. JOHNSON
BLACK+BLUEYOUMAKETHENYOULIE CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 2013
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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I Have A Dream”
28 August 1963
+
+
Any dominant culture in a society
has shaped optics
that sees the world
exclusively
according to
THEIR values + THEIR needs
-which are then translated into external structures:
systems, institutions, consciousness,
semiotics and laws
that upholds a specific
crystallized
worldview.
And, then there is the “other”,
the outside, the foreign, the feared,
that does not resonate
with the dominant culture’s optics.
The “other” is deemed invisible; less than, aberrant; threatening, etc.
A dynamic is established to keep the “other” blind, begging and blamed.
The “other” can be in multiples in a society,
yet,
their presence is cancelled.
WHITEWASHED.
The shaped optics are rigid
and
are held with a tight, death grip
-blindly, gripping
because of the terror of dissolution
of the withstanding power matrix
-the signifier identity of a dominant culture.
No dialogue.
No empathy.
No courage.
No invitation to the table,
welcoming and praising
of how God’s gifts
are shaped in a wide + deep spectrum
of diverse blooms.
A dominant culture sees their optics and practices as right,
and
cannot empathize with the “other”.
There is no incentive/motivation/purpose
to understand,
participate
and
acknowledge
the reality of the “other”.
Losing control is a visceral FEAR of a dominant culture
and
judgement of the “other”
is a practice of differentiating the “other”
that protects the exclusivity/privilege
upheld by the the dominant culture.
The dominant culture defines normal.
The dominant culture does not have to be the majority of a population.
The shaped optics are a contortion/distortion
that becomes imprinted
in the heart and spine of the individual
and
the society as whole.
The practice of the other “wishing” they had the bluest eye;
did not limp; did not live in a chair;
did not wear the color of skin they were born in
sows the cruel seeds of inhumanity.
The dominant culture steals freedom of one’s birthright:
breath.
Yahweh.
Inhale.
Exhale.
8.
And, then there is an exquisite r/evolution
where the humanity of humanity
seizes
and
the breath of life expands.
Calling out the truth.
Calling out the truth.
Calling out the truth.
I SEE YOU.
I feel the voices, the choir of voices,
whose I AM HUMAN
stories/ expressions/ cries for justice
have been denied and made invisible.
I know the story from my own birth and life narrative.
My anthems as a child:
WE SHALL OVERCOME + TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM.
My beloved Dr. Mark B. Coventry
gave me the template of Abraham Lincoln
as a blueprint of character to prevail no matter the tempest.
Of course, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
compounded my life template
as well as artists who are women
and
those whose divine gifts were larger
than their physical description.
“…judged by the content of their character!”
CATHERINE L. JOHNSON
ARTIST
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CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 