Cops plus climate change equals...?
What do climate change refugees and the CHOP have in common?
An essay in Dissent magazine says police violence will be the common element. As the writer put it, “[I]t’s a simple question of whom and what the political system chooses to protect” during a crisis.
Protester demands on the boarded-up SPD east precinct building, June 2020
Remember the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest area (CHOP)? Activists protesting police violence and George Floyd’s murder occupied the streets around the east precinct, demanding that the Seattle Police Department be defunded. One reason for the demand: police pose a deadly threat to Black lives, not a source of aid.
Police face Black Lives Matter supporters on May 30, 2020. Credit: Kelly Kline/Flickr
Considering this violent history, writer Olufemi O. Taiwo predicts “climate apartheid” will increase. Police will leave refugees to risk death during future climate disasters, while officers protect the powerful.
National Guard troops, Seattle police and protesters on June 3, 2020. Credit: Bruce Englehardt/Wikimedia Commons
At first I thought this argument was kind of a stretch, but then I realized my collage “TODAY, America. Today,” tells a similar narrative. I pointed out people of color usually suffer the most in a catastrophe — citizens as well as migrants.
I wish I could be more optimistic: please, please, please let me and this essay be wrong. But knowing our response to Hurricane Katrina (and before that, the Great Mississippi Flood), that essay writer in Dissent sounds more like Cassandra than Chicken Little.
New work: Final warning
You’d think change-makers would listen to those who’ve lost their homes, even whole islands, to irreversible damage from climate change. They’re the experts — they’ve seen the warning signs with their own eyes, right? Well…
I have my doubts, which I channeled into this new collage: “TODAY, America. Today.” Most of those grieving their lost homes and way of life right now are people of color, and to be honest, I think America won’t take action until the refugees look more like Greta Thunberg. Our country doesn’t have a great track record of sheltering Black people in dire need. Take the way-back machine to the year 1927 and you’ll see.
Survivors of the Great Mississippi River Flood in 1927 take refuge on top of railroad cars. Credit: NMAAHC
The Great Mississippi River Flood destroyed the homes of about 637,000 people from Illinois to Louisiana. More than a half-million of those flood refugees were Black. And even though the federal government had “a record budget surplus” at the time, it contributed no direct-aid funding to flood victims.
In this century, African Americans and other people of color have suffered the most damage to their neighborhoods from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey. The survivors also received far less financial recovery aid than people in mostly-white communities.
So who has to believe these warnings from climate change refugees before history repeats itself? Hey, I’ve got an idea: purchase this piece for your (least) favorite climate change denier and see if the message moves them to action. The collage will be available in my shop this weekend.
Getting a city to buy your artwork
“Your Honor, the jury has reached a verdict: we need to spend money on art, for the good of Seattle’s residents, its employees and its artists. The following are the artworks we recommend the city adding to its art collection...”
Artist Colleen Monette’s reaction to learning her collage will enter Seattle’s municipal art collection.
Okay, it didn’t actually go down like that. But it did take a while for me and four other art professionals to review the applications — 816 of them, with one to four artworks submitted per application. It’s usually between 100 to 200 applications. But a check from the city for your art looks really good while COVID-19 keeps people at home and spending less.
A mural on a boarded-up business reminds viewers that the coronavirus quarantine will end soon.
Here’s what I learned, as a panelist, that might strengthen your application next year.
Submit at least one ‘challenging’ work: Yes, even for an office setting. I remember an artwork with clear references to European colonialism, and it still made the final cut. The hope is that the work prompts uncomfortable but important conversations and action, from visitors and employees alike.
Avoid overthinking your art submission: Never mind picking “office-friendly” art. Submit at least one piece you love, even if you’re sure it’s too weird/ dark/ whatever. One application contained a single artwork that would probably fit into any office. We didn’t pick it.
Give it another shot: Apply again next year, especially if the panelists change every year. That means new people who might choose artworks totally unlike what the city already owns. Also, city art budgets expand and contract. It’s very possible the jurors adored your work, but ran out of money this year.
One last thing: signing up for an arts organization’s mailing list is worth it. You’re less likely to miss out on — or miss the deadline for — an opportunity that’s crying out for your work. Congratulations to Colleen Monette and the other selected artists!