The Hall of Lament : NO words necessary + Call and Response + the Response was visceral: “POWERFUL!” and crying +

FOR ONLY PRIVATE VIEWING

THROUGH

WEDNESDAY, 30 MAY

The STAND YOUR GROUND FOR TRAYVON MARTIN installation

was a  response to a tragedy.

 A call out for social justice, moral courage and truth.

As the internationally renown Chinese artist

 Ai  Wei Wei

 affirms/proclaims in his art:

Art’s real context

 is  not simply the market

or

the institution,

but,

 what is happening now,

 around us,

 in the real world.

 

Thank you to all stepped up and participated.

This is Y/OUR action toward a blueprint of diversity, equity

and

 a resolution to break the vicious cycle of fear and hate:

a challenge to break open our biases

 and

 move toward the practice

of calling out the angels within our

 humanity

Thank you to the advocacy and faith of all who loaned their hoodies.

Special gratitude to:

Janet Dirks; Leo, owner of Shish; Mary Reyelts; Robert Nash; Rob Matteson,

Stephanie Shaw; Rob Carlson; and my sonic art collaborator, Dan Choma

The red hoodie represented Trayvon

whose body was tagged as

John Doe

for 2 days.

The printed statement below the “toe tag” was:

11 APRIL 2012

After the announcement of George Zimmerman being charged with 2nd degree murder, Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, thanked everyone.

She began by telling people how all she wanted was an arrest.

She then addressed the issue of race that had clouded her son’s death by speaking from her heart:

“I just want to speak

 from my heart

 to

 your heart.

 Because a heart has no color.

 It’s not black.

 It’s not white.

 It’s red.

 And

 I want to say

 thank you

 from

 my heart

to

 your heart.

 

 Thank you.”

Sonics:

a continuous loop of

Mahalia Jackson

 singing

His Eye is on the Sparrow

and

Aretha Franklin

singing

I’ll Fly Away.

A map of the states

that passed and uphold

the STAND YOUR GROUND  law:

Over 40 individuals

 stepped up

and

 loaned their hoodies

worldwide.

The ones indicated give to charity

will be given to the

 Harriet Tubman Center

– a shelter for families of domestic violence

and their undisclosed “safe houses”.

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APRIL 4, 1968 + 26 FEBRUARY 2012 + NEW NEURO-PATHWAYS + I BELIEVE + BEAUTIFUL FORTITUDE +

1968

Today.

6:01pm,

April 4,

 is the anniversary of

 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s

assassination in Memphis, TN.

X

X

X

On that day in 1968,

 he was in the city to lead

a peaceful march

of striking city sanitation workers

and

 headed from there to

Washington D.C.

to launch his

“Poor People’s Campaign.”

X

X

X

2012

Trayvon’s father Tracy Martin,

family attorney Benjamin Crump

and

mother Sybrina Fulton

at the ‘Million Hoodies’ protest in

Union Square, New York

X

X

X

“Thank God for the media,

because I’m not sure we ever

would have gotten the truth out.”

The speaker was Benjamin Crump,

attorney for the parents of slain

Trayvon Martin.

X
X
X

X
X
X

“I have a dream

that my four little children

will one day live in a nation

where they will not be judged

by the color of their skin,

but

by the

content of their character.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

X

X

“The ultimate measure of a man is not

where he stands in moments of

comfort and convenience,

but

where he stands at times

of

challenge

and

controversy.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

X

X

“Faith is taking the first step even when

you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

X
X
X

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness;

only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate;

only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

X
X
X

“Human progress

is neither

automatic nor inevitable…

Every step toward the goal of justice

requires

sacrifice, suffering, and struggle;

the tireless exertions

and

passionate concern

of

dedicated individuals.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

X
X
X

“A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X

X

What does

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”

mean?

What does it mean when it is spoken

 from multiple points of view

of an event,

of a beholden value and belief system,

a relationship,

a social contract,

an institution?

 

X

X

X

Does

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

mean:

This is the last straw, no further discourse?

I do not want to listen.

I do NOT want to be bothered,

I do NOT want to break open

and

be asked/need

to change?

I cannot afford to revolutionize

the practiced, habitual way

I have acted and/or reacted in the world?

 

X

X

X

Is it a code, a threat? Does it instill fear?

Is it a bully’s chastisement?

X

X

X

Is it a surrender?

I am opened and I ask for clearsight?

I am humbled.

I need a new path, I cannot do this alone?

X

X

X

Is it a rally call,

where you step up

because you must

and

a moment, an awakening,

 becomes a movement;

becomes a paradigm shift;

becomes a tectonic plate shift;

becomes a tsunami;

becomes a new Universe;

becomes a new world;

becomes a new nation;

becomes a new city;

becomes a new community;

becomes a new neighborhood;

becomes a new friend;

becomes a new blueprint;

becomes a new template;

becomes a new practice;

becomes a new pattern;

  becomes a new social choreography;

becomes a new prayer;

becomes a new vision;

becomes a new reality;

becomes a new you;

 and

 you possess the moral courage

 to ride out the ambiguity

and

the uncertainty of change

and

you choose to dedicate yourself

to the on-going improvisation

of

an authentic renewal and r/evolution?

X

X

X

And, you break open

and

 leap into the experience,

 the energy

and

 volume

 of:

faith,

grace

and

love.

 

X

X

X

I have been threatened for standing my ground

for my upcoming multi-media art installation!

X

“…YOU better get security around YOU!

YOU racist!

YOU race-baiting racist.

YOU call yourself an artist?

Enough is enough, YOU…”

 

X

X

X

It is my heart,

the sacred breath,

in me

that must be

the clarion

that blows the

walls

of

Jericho

 down.

 

X

X

X

My

upcoming

THE HALL OF LAMENT:

STAND YOUR GROUND

 FOR

TRAYVON MARTIN

installation

is

NOT

a

memorial.

X

X

X

It is a CALL OUT!

X

X

No one can now

H  E  L  P   H  E  L  P 

Trayvon’s

  unheeded wails.

 

X

X

X

He is dead.

X

X

X

He is in God’s hands.

 

X

X

X

We can say

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH 

and resolve

to create

a  NEW blueprint, a NEW template, a NEW model

to imprint

new neuro-pathways*

as

freeways

of

civility

and

the content

of

your

character

prevails

and

THAT

energy

fuels

the

future.

X
X
X

The brain is made up of cells called neurons.

These cells have nerve endings called synapses and dendrites.

Nerve endings release chemical and electrical stimuli

to communicate with each other.

This brain communication forms neuro-pathways

in the brain and is the basis for how the brain works. 

X

X

X

When you initially learn something the pathway

or connection is weak.

X

X

X

The more frequently you think

a particular thought

 the stronger the pathway becomes,

forming an automatic habit of thinking.

We call this brain training.

X

X

X

THIS IS POWERFUL!

THE BRAIN IS PLASTIC!

X

X

X

I HAD TO TEACH MYSELF HOW TO WALK

WHEN I WAS AN ADULT

AFTER MY HIP WAS REPLACED.

X

X

X

I HAD TO CRASH HABITS

AND

BE ENTIRELY WILLING TO LEARN

A NEW WAY OF WALKING.

X

X

X

MY BODY HAD WALKED THE SAME WAY

SINCE

I LEARNED HOW TO WALK AT 3 YEARS OLD

IN CRUTCHES WEIGHED  DOWN

WITH  A HEAVY

PLASTER CAST ON MY RIGHT LEG.

X

X

X

I PRACTICED

THAT  SAME HABITUAL WAY

OF WALKING

FOR DECADES.

X

X

X

MY HIP WAS REPLACED

( my 39th reconstructive surgery)

ON 26 MAY 1999.

X

X

X

MY BODY WENT INTO  TOTAL  SEISMIC REVOLT.

X

X

X

SEVERAL YEARS LATER,

WITH

DETERMINATION, BELIEF, FAITH

 AND

VISION

COMPOUNDED

WITH A SUPPORTIVE,

TRUTHFUL CIRCLE

OF

FRIENDS AND ADVISERS,

I MOVE IN A NEW WAY.

X

X

X

YET,

IT IS AN ON-GOING PROCESS

AND

IMPROVISATION

OF

MY

COMMITMENT

TO

CONTINUOUS

AWAKENINGS.

X

X

X

THE R/EVOLUTION

WAS

AGONIZING

AND

LIBERATING.

X

X

X

I BELIEVE

WE ARE NOT FALLING.

X

X

X

WE CAN CHOOSE

TO

RISE,

TO

RISE,

TO

RISE.

 

X

X

X

AMERICA MUST RISE TO INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM.

X

x

X

PRIVATE RHYTHM: BEAUTIFUL FORTITUDE  Catherine L. Johnson  2009 

 

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X

X

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