Emmett Till slept here
For Black History Month, you know what would be really cool? I’d love to see more cities preserving significant sites related to the Movement for Black Lives. Maybe city leaders across the country could follow Chicago’s recent example.
Chicago’s city council has granted landmark status to the apartment building where Emmett Till once lived, up until he was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Breonna Taylor’s life deserves to be remembered too. The tragedy of Emmett’s murder launched the 1960s civil rights era; Black Lives Matter activists continue to demand justice for people like Breonna. You might remember a Kentucky grand jury refused to bring murder charges against the Louisville police officers who shot her as she slept.
Here’s the thing that really gets me: that grand jury announced its decision exactly 65 years after Emmett Till’s murderers were acquitted in Mississippi.
Breonna’s memorial has since been moved to the Roots 101 African American Museum in downtown Louisville. If you’re in a position to support them, please consider donating to help the museum preserve Breonna’s memorial. If Mississippi can memorialize 51 sites connected to Emmett’s death, and Chicago can commit to protecting one building from being torn down, it should be comparatively easy to establish one permanent museum exhibit in Kentucky.
Getting free on Juneteenth
I’ve seen a few interesting art developments connected to the idea of freedom, this Juneteenth. And though I hadn’t realized it until now, I’ve also been making small works about freedom and its absence.
These collages all have something to do with walls, most of the pieces featuring an enslaved person. Coincidentally, another enslaved person — Aunt Jemima — is finally free. After 131 years, Quaker Oats is retiring the syrup logo and the brand. This is especially great news to one of my favorite artists, Betye Saar, who’s best known for recasting Aunt Jemima as a revolutionary warrior.
Once you’ve liberated yourself, though… then what? Maybe you spend some time recovering from your trauma. Today Black artists are staging a “black out” of the CHOP [Capitol Hill Occupied Protest]. They’re offering a day of art and healing activities specifically for other Black people.
More importantly, these actions are meant to refocus attention on the Black Lives Matter movement. The art drawing people’s attention is still valid and restorative on its own. But this weekend is a reminder the art is also a means to the end: freeing people from constant assault on our existence.
Because Black *women's* lives matter as much as men's lives
I figured, George Floyd has been memorialized all over the world — even in war zones. So on what would’ve been Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday, I went looking for her murals. Guess how many I found.
I found three.
The second one was done in Louisville, Kentucky. The last mural in Venice, California depicts her within a string of six other portraits, including George Floyd and Trayvon Martin. So every portrait of Breonna Taylor lumps her in a group of other dead Black people, or the portrait can easily be removed. The one mural in Taylor’s hometown of Louisville is in chalk. In contrast, most George Floyd tributes are painted on a concrete or brick wall.
The mural count is not a competition I want anyone to win. But I’m not alone in noticing how men are still prioritized over women in death and at protests. Author Brittany Packnett writes about the discrepancy in Time magazine. Black women deserve murals, preferably honoring their long, well-lived lives — not just their deaths. Breonna Taylor is more than an afterthought. She deserves more than temporary art.