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THE JUNETEENTH FLAG
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155th
anniversary
of
JUNETEENTH
Freedom Day
Jubilee Day
Liberation Day
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Lift Ev’ry Voice & Sing / Star Spangled Banner
– Black National Anthem –
rene marie
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In 2008
Rene Marie
was asked to sing the
National Anthem
at
Denver’s State of the City address.
The outcome was Rene singing
“Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing“,
“the black national anthem”
to the tune of
The Star Spangled Banner.
This caused a firestorm of controversy.
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I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
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IWISHIKNEW Catherine L. Johnson 2011
Within Our Gates (1920) – Oscar Micheaux
silent film
Within Our Gates
was produced and directed by Oscar Micheaux in 1919.
He is considered to be the first African-American director of feature films
and
this is the first such film still in existence.
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Within Our Gates
is a 1920 American silent film
by
that portrays the contemporary racial situation
in the United States during the early twentieth century,
of Blacks to cities of the North and Midwest,
and the emergence of the “New Negro“.
It was part of a genre called race films.
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“Abandoned by her fiancé,
an educated Black woman
with a shocking past
dedicates herself
to helping a near bankrupt school
for impoverished negro youths.”
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Cast (IMDB):
Evelyn Preer as Sylvia Landry;
Flo Clements as Alma Prichard;
James D. Ruffin as Conrad Drebert;
Jack Chenault as Larry Prichard;
William Smith as Detective Philip Gentry;
Charles D. Lucas as Dr. V. Vivian;
Bernice Ladd as Mrs. Geraldine Stratton;
Mrs. Evelyn as Mrs. Elena Warwick;
William Stark as Jasper Landry;
Mattie Edwards as Jasper’s Wife;
Ralph Johnson as Philip Gridlestone;
E.G. Tatum as Efram, Gridlestone’s Servant;
Grant Edwards as Emil Landry;
Grant Gorman as Armand Gridlestone;
Leigh Whipper ;
Jimmie Cook as (uncredited);
S.T. Jacks as Reverend Wilson Jacobs (uncredited).
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IMAGINE:
What would occur each time
an individual
requesting for sincere forgiveness
from someone they have hurt and abused by words and/or actions
owning up and being accountable to causing visible/invisible searing injury
and
making actual amends
WAS
acknowledged and celebrated as
THE definition of VALIANT courage
and
the pinnacle of a HEROIC character?
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DEER / DEAR #1 Catherine L. Johnson 2016
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I am a deer.
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BLACKMOVESYELLOW
#7/ #8/ #9 / #10/ #11/ #12 /#13
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Please click for further information:
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Please click for
BLACKMOVESYELLOW
#1/ #2/ #3 / #4/ #5/ #6
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Black is associated with power;
elegance; formality and mystery.
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Black denotes strength and authority;
it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color.
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In heraldry, black is the symbol of grief.
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Black was one of the first colors used by artists
in neolithic cave paintings.
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Yellow is a symbolic color that brings joy and delight.
The third chakra, located at the solar plexis,
is said to be yellow.
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The
“solar plexis”
is associated with the power of the sun (solar-sun).
Yellow, then, is associated with positive thinking.
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The solar plexis is where we/I gather
y/our/ my courage
and
y/our/ my will power.
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PLEASE CLICK ON EACH IMAGE TO ENLARGE
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BLACKMOVESYELLOW #7 Catherine L. Johnson 2016
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BLACKMOVESYELLOW #8 Catherine L. Johnson 2016
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BLACKMOVESYELLOW #9 Catherine L. Johnson 2016
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BLACKMOVESYELLOW #10 Catherine L. Johnson 2016
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BLACKMOVESYELLOW #11 Catherine L. Johnson 2016
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BLACKMOVESYELLOW #12 Catherine L. Johnson 2016
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BLACKMOVESYELLOW #13 Catherine L. Johnson 2016
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CALL + RESPONSE.
BREATHING.
LISTENING.
DANCING.
LOVING.
HONING Y/ OUR/ MY SENSES.
LIVING LIFE A/LIVE.
BLESSINGS FLOW…
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The yellow color I selected for
BLACKMOVESYELLOW
series shifts suddenly, and slowly,
the color vacillates from gold to citron
depending on the source/ intensity of the ambient light
and the position of the viewer to the work.
My art needs an actual encounter.
It IS a performance that needs to be witnessed/ experienced.
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I mixed several variations of yellow like a sound engineer working with a sonic.
Refining.
Refining.
Discerning.
Refining.
Discerning.
Touchstone.
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My art is silent sonics.
You listen to it with attentive, receptive open palms.
The space is the silence between the notes.
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Each painting is a composition of disparate parts:
filmic + sonic + poetic.
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The line quality resonates with rené marie’s
flowing/ deepening sonic grace of her voice.
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Please click on the link below.
rené marie and her band improvised on my writings when she was @ the Dakota.
Astounding.
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Then there is Charles Lloyd’s sonics:
a testament of the presence of the sacred.
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I listened to Charles’
WILD MAN DANCE
as I worked in the studio over and over and over and over and over and over and
over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…
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Charles’ art is always a revelation,
a harkening of ALL that is only visible
to the heart, by/ for the beloved
and calls out what is luminous in y/our my soul.
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His sonics are one continuous river of reverence.
Blessing the wild.
Blessings of the serene.
Blessed are the explorers who listen to the Oracle of Delphi and hold a divining rod.
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American Anthems
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AMERICA = SOCIAL CONSTRUCT/CONTRACT
PRACTICING
HOME OF THE BRAVE + LAND OF THE FREE
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JASPAR OBI STANDING ON HIS HEAD
PERFORMANCE PIECE:
“PRACTICING BALANCE, MORAL COURAGE + HOPE”
4 JULY 2016
IN MY LOFT.
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THOUGHTS ON WHY BULLYING IS NOT HUMANE
+ WHY BULLYING IS NOT PRACTICING DEMOCRACY.
EXAMPLE: TRUMP IS A BULLY.
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A BULLY?
DO YOU BULLY?
DO YOU KNOW A BULLY?
HAVE YOU BEEN BULLIED?
WHY DO PEOPLE WATCH BULLYING + NOT STEP UP + CALL OUT THE BULLY?
DO YOU STEP UP + INTERVENE + CONFRONT THE BULLY?
PEOPLE WHO WATCH/WITNESS BULLYING +
DO NOTHING ARE COMPLICIT WITH THE BULLY +
SUSTAIN THE DYNAMIC +
BECOME CO-CONSPIRATORS OF THE BULLY.
ARE YOU INTIMIDATED BY A BULLY?
WHAT DOES A BULLY ACCOMPLISH?
WHAT DOES A BULLY PREY ON?
WHY ARE PEOPLE/ YOU TOLERANT OF BULLYING?
IS BULLYING A CHARACTER OF A LEADER, A REPRESENTATIVE OF HUMANITY?
WHY DO YOU TOLERATE BULLYING?
ARE YOU A PASSIVE BYSTANDER ALLOWING THE BULLY TO PREY ON THEIR VICTIM?
IS BULLYING A CHARACTERISTIC OF LEADERSHIP IN A DEMOCRACY, A COLLABORATOR?
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW GIRLS/WOMEN + HOW MEN/BOYS BULLY THEIR OWN GENDER?
DO YOU PREFER THE COMPANY OF BULLIES?
DO BULLIES MAKE YOU FEEL SAFE?
ARE BULLIES YOUR VEHICLE TO EXPRESS YOUR OWN ANGER/RESENTMENTS?
DOES YOUR TOLERANCE/ACCEPTANCE OF A BULLY’S BEHAVIOR MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER?
DO YOU HAVE MORAL COURAGE?
HOW OFTEN DO YOU STEP UP?
HOW FREQUENTLY DO YOU STAND UP TO WHAT IS RIGHT?
HOW DO YOU FEEL AFTER STEPPING UP + CONFRONTING A BULLY ON THEIR BEHAVIOR?
CAN YOU STOP BULLYING?
BULLYING IS EMOTIONAL ABUSE.
PERIOD.
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Posted in Uncategorized, tagged A sparrow is and a moment can…; Catherine L. Johnson;, Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings and not one of them is forgotten by God? Luke 12:6; Catherine L. Johnson;, Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Matthew 10:29; Catherine L. Johnson;, EBOLA - A PSYCHOPATHIC VIRUS; Catherine L. Johnson, Ebola's virulent contagion spits at humanity's hard-wired empathy.; Catherine L. Johnson;, HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW Mahalia Jackson; Catherine L. Johnson;, Pamela Espeland JAZZ POLICE rene marie; Catherine L. Johnson;, rené marie Sings the TRUTH @ the Dakota Jazz Club; Catherine L. Johnson;, rene marie-the remarkable improviser of songs of life; Catherine L. Johnson;, SPARROW FLY MY HEART FREE Catherine L. Johnson 2010 + DEAFENING DESPAIR + CALL and RESPONSE + "The sparrow is a symbol of the beloved." ; Catherine L. Johnson;, the living voice of the beloved; Catherine L. Johnson; on November 12, 2014|
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SPARROW FLY MY HEART FREE Catherine L. Johnson 2010
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Every wo/man must decide whether s/he will walk
in the
light of creative altruism
or
in the
darkness of destructive selfishness.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.
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My art has served social justice issues and humanitarian
visions of hope for as long as I have been an artist.
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My interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary art is
a communication vehicle;
an oracle; a medium that can name the unnameable;
a channel that calls out the full spectrum of the deepest emotions
of the human experience
with dignity; grace; humility;
beauty and acceptance.
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SPARROW 2010
A COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL PAINTINGS
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NOTE:
the text below is revised from the original texts
from which the remarkable
rene marie + her band improvised from.X
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“The sparrow is a symbol of the beloved.”
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The returning sparrow is the herald of spring,
a symbol of the mother goddess, rebirth, and the Resurrection.
The sparrow denotes the gentle nature of an intellectual person.
To see a sparrow in one’s dream represents inner dignity.
Never underestimate the small
or
those who do not appear powerful.
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The SPARROW Collection came to life in 2010
in response to the fragility,
the sirens, the uncertainty and the cherished revelations of life:
the suddenness of choking despair in tragedy to the
suddenness of passion, joy and lull when simply hearing
the living voice of the beloved.
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The SPARROW Collection was dedicated to the people of Haiti.
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I cannot shield myself from life- its ashen despairs
nor its sweet lullabies, its hell nor its heavens for it is life.
Fear and/or the desire to love in all colors and sound.
I believe the odyssey is to be touched,
marked by listening to and continually moving
toward and within love-
wounds are healed by love’s energy,
truth and touch.
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Trust.
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Earthquakes that shattered Haiti and Japan to its core,
Hurricane Katrina that drowned and devoured the Gulf Coast
leaving deafening despair and betrayal in its wake,
the inhumane cruelty of Ebola that melts the insides
of the afflicted like a furiously burning inferno,
snuffing their life out
– all occurs in a sudden and protracted moment.
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During Ebola’s afflicted victim’s
most vulnerable beseeching time
-their death knell,
this psychopathic virus keeps the victim isolated
from the comforting touch
of those who cherish them.
People who love
YEARNS
to reach out
– as humanity is hard-wired to do,
to cradle their afflicted beloveds in their arms
as they suffer,
vomiting blood
– and, know they cannot.
Ebola’s virulent contagion
SPITS at humanity’s hard-wired empathy.
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Compassionate actions occurs in a sudden moment
in response to harrowing events
– calling out the angels in our nature.
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BLESSED are those who are called
and choose
to be
HURRICANE LAMPS
and
ACTIONS OF HOPE
in darkness
invoking God’s LIGHT and BLESSINGS
for ALL humanity.
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Compassion sang in as a song and an action.
The recognition of a deep soul connection occurs in a moment
– it is the epiphany of love in the morning star of light
and
the sight of the evening star within the darkest night.
I believe loving another is the vesper,
the revolutionary action of
turning hell to earth to heaven.
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Compassion and love are not words;
they are expressions of existence, action and occurrence.
It is all there waiting in anticipation to be opened, set free.
The heart is a muscle, a sweet land, a strange land of revelations.
Stepping up into the rhythm and cry of life is the dance, the hymn,
the weave, the blues, the laughter, the wail,
the morning, the night, the water and the music of the odyssey.
I believe the continuous gentle shower of compassion and tenderness,
listening with awe and kindness astounds fear so love can be released,
rise and breathe wide and deep.
Where there has been neglect and scars the heart has thorns,
WHISPER
a gentle garden.
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Love can be an implosion, an internal earthquake…
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Touch.
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I listen, listen, listen to the divine
within as its prayersound murmurs,
and then I dive into its pearl…
and, with a tender grasp
and
embrace, suddenly, the prayersound emerges
as singing its song as a drawing.
Then I research to explore the image as a tuning fork
and
attend to its resonance as a symbol, metaphor, etc.
Then I decide
to go
forward in the exploratory improvisation
or
extinguish the trajectory of the vision’s flame.
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A sparrow is and a moment can…
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Heal/thy FAITH
Heal/thy LOVE thee
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Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings,
and not one of them is forgotten by God?
Luke 12:6
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Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
And one shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Matthew 10:29
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rené marie Sings the TRUTH
@ the Dakota Jazz Club
Pamela Espeland
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5 September 2010
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…The second song was an act of generosity and thanks.
Artist Catherine L. Johnson was in the house,
and she had brought marie a gift:
a print from her Sparrow series and a written description
of what the sparrow means to her.
(shown above)
marie sang the first verse to the gospel hymn
“His Eye Is on the Sparrow,”
then read Johnson’s words (which were lovely),
then paused, seemed to gather herself,
and
segued into Mentor Williams’ “Drift Away,”
a song that has been covered by everybody and his sister
(“Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul/
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away…”).
It was seamless and perfect,
and marie transformed a soft-rock chestnut into
a song of revelation and thanks.
This may have been the moment
we all knew we had stumbled
onto something remarkable,
one of those performances
that would stay with us
for a long time.
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His Eye Is On The Sparrow
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Our humanity is hard-wired in empathy,
and
empathetic action is humanity’s hope.
CALL and RESPONSE.
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Catherine L. Johnson
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Insha’Allah
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A brief summary of my art that was created as a responses/contributions:
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SPARROW FLY MY HEART FREE Catherine L. Johnson 2010
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CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 
