A MAP OF SERVITUDE + “THERE WAS NO SANCTUARY. THERE WAS NO PLACE REALLY SAFE.” + HOW MUCH WILL YOU DENY TO KEEP IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DARKNESS

cannot drive out darkness;

 only

LIGHT

can do that. 

 

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A MAP OF SERVITUDE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NO

COVER

HARBOR

HAVEN

RETREAT

REFUGE

SAFETY

SECURITY

SANCTUARY

SHELTER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“THERE WAS NO SANCTUARY.

THERE WAS NO PLACE REALLY SAFE.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.bplonline.org/resources/digital_project/sixteenthstbaptistbomb.asp

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/15/birmingham-church-bombing-50th-anniversary_n_3927128.html

 

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/25/170279226/long-forgotten-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing-survivor-speaks-out

 

http://www.stateofformation.org/2013/02/james-baldwin-and-the-16th-street-baptist-church-bombing/

 

http://news.yahoo.com/alabama-church-marks-50th-anniversary-bombing-151142086.html

 

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/09/birmingham_church_marks_50th_a.html

 

 

Denise McNair, Carole Robertson,

 Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley 

NO

COVER

HARBOR

HAVEN

RETREAT

REFUGE

SAFETY

SECURITY

SANCTUARY

SHELTER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE CRIME OF  CHOOSING

TO BE A BYSTANDER + COMPLICIT.

HOW WOULD YOUR STORY CHANGE IF YOU STOOD UP?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARE YOU AFRAID, INTIMIDATED, FEARFUL OF REPRISAL?

CAN PEOPLE COVER UP THEIR ACTION

AND

MANEUVER/MANIPULATE  OTHERS TO LOOK INNOCENT?

AND, THEIR FEIGNED/PERFORMANCE OF INNOCENCE

MAKES THEM THE “VICTIM”,

AND YOU THE VICTIMIZER?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+

 

THE SPECTRUM OF TRUTH TELLING:

SILENCING SECRECY PRIVACY CONFIDENTIALITY

COMPLICITY + CONDONING

 ADDRESSING  CONFRONTING

PUBLIC INFORMATION  EXHIBITIONISM

SILENCING

WHAT IS AN OPEN DIALOGUE?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+

 

PERSONAL AND SOCIETAL CONSCIENCE

WHAT INCITES YOU TO ACT?

WHAT STOPS YOU?

HOW DEEP + THICK DO YOUR HANDS

NEED TO BE BLOODIED

FOR A FLICKER OF CONSCIENCE TO QUICKEN

YOUR DEADENED SENSES

AND

YOU RISE TO DO THE RIGHT THING?

WHAT IS THE DEPTH OF YOUR CAPACITY

TO SHUT DOWN YOUR SENSES:

TO GOUGE YOUR EYES OUT + BLIND YOURSELF;

TO STAB YOUR EAR DRUMS +DEAFEN YOUR LISTENING;

TO SUPPRESS THE METASTASIZING HORROR

IN YOUR GUT;

TO INJECT ANESTHETIC INTO YOUR HEART

SO IT NO LONGER BEATS THE BEAT

OF

HUMANITY ?

HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED TO DISASSOCIATE

IN THE FACE OF LIES,

VIOLENCE,

MANIPULATION?

HOW EASY IS IT FOR YOU TO SUBMIT

TO SOMEONE ELSE’S WILL;

TO GIVE OVER YOUR DIGNITY;

RELINQUISH SELF RESPECT;

EMPATHY FOR OTHERS?

HOW MUCH WILL YOU DENY

TO KEEP IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE?

HAVE YOU EVER ROCKED THE BOAT?

DO YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO TELL THE TRUTH?

 

 

 

DO YOU NEED SOMEONE

TO HURT YOU

TO KNOW

YOU ARE ALIVE?

DO YOU LIVE IN FAMILY/COMMUNITY WHERE SECRETS MUST BE HELD?

WOULD AN OPEN DIALOGUE IGNITE BURIED IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES?

ARE SECRET HOLDERS REWARDED?

ARE THE “WHISTLEBLOWERS” DISCREDITED

AND

LABELED AS “MALCONTENTS”?

WHO ACTUALLY IS IN POWER?

WHAT VALUES ARE ENDANGERED

WHEN LIES ARE REPEATED SO OFTEN

THEY ARE ACCEPTED AS TRUTH?

 

 

 

 

 

 IS  THERE A FEAR TO CHALLENGE

THE ACCEPTED “TRUTHINESS”?

WHY?

LOOK AT BIRMINGHAM NOW AND THEN:

CIVIL RIGHTS + SOCIAL JUSTICE

HOW MUCH HAS REALLY CHANGED?

HIDDEN TRUTH OF POWER BROUGHT TO JUSTICE YEARS LATER.

YET, THE INJUSTICES BREATHE BELOW THE SURFACE.

JUSTICE ARRIVES WHEN TRUTH IS GREATER VALUE THAN THE LIES.

A PERSON/COMMUNITY/SOCIETY/NATION HAS TO BE EVOLVED.

A MATRIX/CULTURE THAT REIGNS IN LIGHT

-IS NOT REINED IN WITH DARKNESS.

 WHAT IS HUMANITY’S COST

FOR THE SOUL

OF A SOCIETY

TO

BE SO DEPLETED + EXHAUSTED BY LIES,

IT BECOMES

A

BLINDED

SHEEP,

FOLLOWING

FALSE BELLS?

NOISE IS NOISE.

VIOLENCE IS VIOLENCE.

ALWAYS.

 

 

DO NOT ASK PEOPLE

TO NOT HEAR VIOLENCE

WHEN THEY

HEAR VIOLENCE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHY WOULD ANYONE

ASK ANOTHER

TO MUTE

THEIR

OWN

HUMANITY?

NO GREY ZONE.

IT IS YES OR NO-

UNLESS THE FEAR IS SO DEEPLY ROOTED,

ENTRENCHED AND PREVALENT

THAT TO  EVEN SHAPE OR ASK

THE QUESTION

IS

AN

IMPOSSIBILITY.

ARTISTS ARE GATEKEEPER OF TRUTH.

“The day we see the truth

 and cease to speak

 is the day we begin to die”

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

WHERE DOES YOUR RAGE LIVE?

WHO DO YOU GIVE IT TO?

WHO DO YOU PASS THE LEGACY ON TO?

THE HUMANITY PORTFOLIO

The last painting was completed on 28 August 2013

on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Freedom + Jobs.

 

 

 

I offer you:

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/fifteen-paintings-28-august-2013-the-humanity-portfolio-28-august-2013-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-march-on-washington-for-freedom-jobs-rev-dr-martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-s/

 

 

 

 

I did not know how many paintings would emerge.

 

 

 

 

I followed the sound of the silver horn within me,

the clarion sound that tumbled the walls of Jericho,

the Berlin Wall, the walls of apartheid,

the walls of domestic violence,

the walls of being voiceless and invisible,

the walls of poverty, the walls of being silenced;

the walls of humanity’s pain suppressed and consented to;

the walls of violence- psychic/emotional/physical deemed as normal;

the walls that makes one think they can dominate another

and

steal

y/our body + soul:

the walls

of

inhumanity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The March

toward

HUMANITY

continues…

BLACK+BLUEYOUMAKETHENYOULIE                CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 2013  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOW

THINK + FALL + SOAR

INTO THE BLUE

FOR Y/OUR SOUL!

STAND UP!

Let freedom ring from the mountains

and

through the oceans

and

through the day + night

 for

ALL

 

 

 

 

 

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FIFTEEN PAINTINGS – 28 AUGUST 2013 + THE HUMANITY PORTFOLIO + 28 AUGUST 2013 – THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR FREEDOM + JOBS + REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.’S ” I HAVE A DREAM” SPEECH

THE HUMANITY PORTFOLIO

2013

 

 

 

 

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2013/08/24/now-13-paintings-23-august-2013-updated-until-the-50th-anniversary-of-martin-luther-kings-march-on-washington-28-august-the-humanity-portfolio-2013-catherine-l-johnson/

+

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/the-humanity-portfolio-2013-catherine-l-johnson-humanity-blood-is-red-is-blood-red/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 CATHERINE L. JOHNSON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 EXODUSIMFREEATLASTIAINTGOINGBACKIMFREE                         CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 EXODUSIMFREEATLASTIAINTGOINGBACKIMFREE       detail             CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 2013

 

 

 

PLEASE CLICK TWICE ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

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EXODUSIMFREEATLASTIAINTGOINGBACKIMFREE

PAINTING #15  + LAST  PIECE IN THE HUMANITY PORTFOLIO

MEASURES 16″ H x 32 ” W

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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I Have A Dream”

28 August 1963

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs

REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING’S HISTORICAL

“I HAVE A DREAM”  SPEECH

CAME FROM HIS HEART

-NOT FROM NOTES. 

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Toward the end of its delivery, internationally renown gospel singer Mahalia Jackson

 shouted to King from the crowd,

 “Tell them about the dream, Martin.”

 King stopped delivering his prepared speech

and

started

“preaching”,

punctuating his points with

“I have a dream.”

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-notable-uses-martin-luther-king-march-washington-speech-20130828,0,3938195.story

+

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-march-washington-50th-anniversary-music-songs-bob-dylan-20130829,0,2161787.story

+

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/23/march-on-washington-evers-martin/2693637/

 

+

 

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/trayvon-benjamin-martin-oh-say-can-you-see-the-complexity-of-socialculturalfamilialindividual-biases-d-are-you-following-him-gz-yea-d-ok-we-dont-need-you-to-do-that-gz-o/

 

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.

 

 

CRITICAL DISCOURSE

What are the VALUES of the dominant culture?

Who does the dominant culture uphold?

 A dominant culture can be entangled truths, compromised truths,

lies that when arbitrary and agreed upon a group of people can gain momentum,

a centrifugal force, that binds the people together tighter and tighter.

Once bound, it takes great courage of a single individual to step out and UP

to question the veracity, explore the veracity and break free.

 

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!”

THE HUMANITY PORTFOLIO

2013

I created fifteen paintings

to commemorate the

MARCH on WASHINGTON FOR FREEDOM + JOBS.

I did NOT know how many works would emerge.

I followed the sound of the silver horn within me,

the clarion sound that tumbled the walls of Jericho,

the Berlin Wall, the walls of apartheid,

the walls of domestic violence,

the walls of being voiceless and invisible, the walls of poverty,

the walls that makes one think they can dominate another

and

steal

their body + soul:

the walls of inhumanity.

THE MARCH TOWARD HUMANITY CONTINUES.

THE MARCH IS A GOSPEL SONG,

A SPIRITUAL,

A CALL + RESPONSE OF:

HUMANITY IS LOVE/LOVE IS HUMANITY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CATHERINE L. JOHNSON

ARTIST 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

( PLEASE SEE THE “ABOUT” PAGE IN THIS WORDPRESS.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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