“Black Futures” & Black History Month: A Collaborative Journey
WEEK 1 – February 1st – 5th – HIGHLIGHTS
We began the week with a contract. You’d assume that as a Black womxn, I had made this commitment at birth but I think it’s important to read the words of this contract “I WILL PROTECT BLACK PEOPLE” and truly commit them to your heart. Make them a part of your daily contracted work; actions, words, thoughts. I am using this piece by Yetunde Olagbaju to publicly acknowledge my lifelong commitment to protect Black people. To never be silent unless to listen to those same Black voices.
Have you made this contract with yourself?
“FEZA” (Swahili for Treasure)
Original mixed media painting by @always_be_painting on canvas board inspired by “BlackFutures” @museummammy & @jennydeluxe
My first piece of a collaborative journey through #BlackHistoryMonth
“Drawing extended my being in time; it made things slow. It quieted language. It produced a sense that thinking could and did happen outside of language; I saw it as a line extending from the body through the hand, as if something were being poured or pulled out of oneself, but here, finally, because it is impossible to achieve this in writing, in time with thought rather than chasing thought through syntax, as something already over, a moment we can now only describe. Drawing was going into time; it was pulling the process of thought apart, and what was most profound was that it left a record behind, a map: the drawing itself.”
Renee Gladman, Pg 88 of @blackfutures.us
“Like Snails Chasing Butterflies”
They say “slow down, girl. take it all in”. They say that “snails 🐌 see the benefit, the beauty in every inch”. They tell me to love my body, my skin, my experience as a womxn. They say to “chase my dreams” and make those who came before me proud. They say to “embrace the struggles that brought us here”.
Yet, as I balance naked upon my unicycle, legs pushing fast to keep myself afloat on the ever changing currents, the waves I ride… it’s hard to stay focused on the butterflies 🦋 I chase. I keep trying to slow down but then I sink. I keep trying to remember who I am but it’s not always clear.
Original Painting by @always_be_painting inspired by the reading of “Black Futures”
Please continue to join me on this journey through the month of February and beyond. As we explore together the layered beauty that is the Black voice. Past, present and future; Blackness is infinite…
DC Based Artist & Educator
Corcoran College of Art + Design Alumni
Always painting, usually writing, making a living out of making art; I make my art work.
