Day 77, June 1, 2020
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This is what I was going to post on Facebook this morning, but then I held off:
The president is hiding underground and the lights are off at the Whitehouse. #georgefloyd #blacklivesmatter
I held off, because what is happening right now is too big for a one sentence phrase. It is too big for whatever the character limitations are for Twitter. It is too big for hash tags. It is too sad and maddening for social media.
People will look back at this era with disdain and remorse. It is an era of disparity. An era where, in some places there is unspeakable affluence, while in others, life expectancy, access to health care, equity in education, the salary one earns, and almost every other factor is predicated on race. It is an era of mostly benevolent racism and white supremacy where the outcomes are the result of mostly benign neglect. But the outcomes are viciously malignant. We see it in the completion rates for classes, in the death rates from the pandemic, and we see it in the violent disregard for human life at the hands of the police.
I do not need to moderate my words, because so many others will do that for me. Of course there are kind and truly feeling police officers out there taking a knee in the streets with protesters. There are former students of mine out there protecting people, helping ensure safety. But this is not about them.
This is about the tinderbox of a nation that has had its fears and prejudices stoked by division and conspiracy. I do not know how we come back from this and I am embarrassed for my lack of vision. It is the result of an era of not caring. It is the result of a loss of humanity. It is the result of a disconnection between the lived reality of some people, and the fantasy construct of others. And the truth of it is, we are all complicit in this construct. We have allowed it to continue all these years largely unchallenged, and largely unabated.
What we are witnessing now is the manifestation of simmering discrimination left unchecked. We are seeing every racial slur hurled, every indiscriminate confederate flag waved, every followed person in the department store, every racially profiled police stop, every vigilante lynching, every police killing bursting forth in both peaceful protest, and violent visceral rage. How could it not? The anger is indiscriminate. It will hurt all of us.
The response, personally, is overwhelming sorrow, and shame. How can our nation hold any sense of identity in the wake of such damning evidence that the history of white supremacy is so steeped into the earth that the blood of the people who suffered and died here is stirred every time we turn the soil?
I fear for my own anger, my own lack of empathy. My own capacity for violence.
We all have that frightening capacity. To lose a sense of self, to express anger at injustice, to fight powerlessness with agency, imbue a rock with symbolism and suddenly embody Edward Said and throw that stone. But as we learned then, and I hope I can retain now, as educators we have a responsibility to imbue a sense of hope and possibility. Even a symbolically thrown stone at no-one is a damning thing. In the moment, it is a succumbing to the visceral pleasure, but in the aftermath, it is a political statement, it is about the resilience of the oppressed, it is about antisemitism, it is about ineffectual Columbia lectures and a life's work.
The reality, is violence is scary. It is not a compassionate thing. People will get hurt and more people will die. People will lose all sense of reason and the police will not be restrained, vehicles will become weapons, and rocks will be thrown, businesses will burn to the ground, and there will be such sorrow. We will all become victims. I do not wish to take part in such things. I want to play my role, to build things, to create avenues for possibility and hope. I need to repeat it like a mantra.
For all of you struggling with sorrow, I send you solace. For those of you simmering with anger, I place my palm on your hand and ask you to be safe.
Let us build something together that is better than what is here now.
Sending you all love even as that is hard to express in these times,
Leo
From Our Friends:
From David Ram:
Some people collect stamps, others collect cars. I collect typewriters.
From the Vermont Studio Center:
Visit the Virtual VSC website weekly for new installments of "6 Feet Apart"—and hear from artists and writers, see what they are up to, what they are making, and how they are navigating life in the new normal.
Next week enjoy interviews with artists Valery Jung Estabrook and Glenn Goldberg.
From Assets 4 Artists:
“Creative Resiliency in a Time of Crisis” w/ Ngoc-Tran Vu
Wednesday, June 17 | 2-4pm
This interactive workshop geared toward artists in crisis creates a shared space for collaboration and support while providing concrete resources for turning one’s creative practice toward management, adaptation, business resiliency, and self-advocacy. Ngoc-Tran Vu is a 1.5-generation Vietnamese American interdisciplinary and transnational artist whose socially engaged work draws from her experience as a community organizer, educator, and healer. Suitable for artists in all disciplines.
Open to artists in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Counties. Greenfield Community College students especially welcome!
“Creative Resiliency in a Time of Crisis” w/ Ngoc-Tran VuFrom the 5 College Center for East Asian Studies:
All FCCEAS webinars are recorded and available for asynchronous viewing.
Religion in China: Buddhism, with Dr. Jeffrey Richey, Berea College, Jun. 3, 7-8pm Eastern Time. Register here.
and
Spring 2020 "10 Years of the Trans Asia Photography Review" is now available.
The Trans-Asia Photography Review is an international refereed journal (ISSN: 2158-2025) devoted to the discussion of historic and contemporary photography from Asia. Online and free of charge, it is published by Hampshire College in collaboration with the Michigan Publishing, a division of the University of Michigan Library. Two issues are published annually, in the fall and spring. Readers can join our email list to be notified additionally about special events pertaining to photography in Asia.
From MassCreative:
 | Artists and creatives know how to use art to express conflicting emotions at once—anger, sadness, fear—in a way that can help us make sense of tragedy and injustice. Last week, Minneapolis artists Xena Goldman, Greta McLain, and Cadex Herrera painted a mural on the outside of the convenience store Cup Foods at 38th & Chicago. It’s where George Floyd died after a white police officer, who has since been charged with murder, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes until Floyd stopped breathing. Video of the violence sparked rebellion and protest across the country this past weekend. |
From the Korean American Community Foundation:
Participants of all age groups from across the country have Zoom-ed in to engage in conversations grappling with the short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on our community and exploring ways to make a positive difference.
- April 8: In the Frontline of COVID-19: Nonprofit Community
- April 17: In the Frontline of COVID-19: Saving Lives
- April 23: Our Time is Now: COVID-19 and Anti-Asian Racism
- April 24: What's Cooking? The Comforts of Korean Food & Community
- May 6: In the Frontline of COVID-19: Essential Stories
- May 14: In the Frontline of COVID-19: Roadmap to Recovery
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