Tag Archives: Black Women Matter

Female Power Project, perSISTERS designs, What I'm Making

HOLD SPACE — perSISTERS design for the creatrices of Black Lives Matter

A digital original print design showing three women who started Black Lives Matter. "#BLACKLIVESMATTER" in the background; the largest type says "HOLD SPACE", and the smaller type says "In 2013, three radical Black organizers — Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi — created a Black-centered political will and movement building project called #BlackLivesMatter." which is a quote from blacklivesmatter.com/herstory. The smallest type is the photo credit: "Photo credits, top to bottom: Alicia Garza, Citizen University, 2016; Patrisse Cullors (May 2015) and Opal Tometi (August 2015), The Laura Flanders Show" and the project credit and artist's website and the creative commons license.

Did you know that Black Lives Matter was started by three women? It was a hashtag at first, a technology for rhetoric, a verbal key that makes a place for an idea to aggregate. And what a large and multitudinous, profound and simple idea it is! The message I distilled for this artwork is “Hold Space.” These words come from the text on the Black Lives Matter website. You should all go there and read all the words there. They are clear, beautiful, powerful. Perfect.

“Hold Space” I think points to the openness that #BlackLivesMatter allows. It is a coalescing medium, a place that is not occupied the way Rosa Parks performed her rhetoric, whose message I stated as  “Take Up Space” in another perSISTERS print. I think it is interesting to contrast “Hold Space” with “Common Ground,” another phrase that seeks some kind of reconciliation between differences. “Common Ground” implies a defined space between determined territories, and I submit that this phrase claims space for the privileged, whereas “Hold Space” implies, among other things, a holding back of privilege. Clearly, this message is about history from within history — which is not clear — and time will allow us to name it.

You can find this design for sale on my Etsy site, here is the listing. For this piece I am donating my creativity, time, and materials, so what you pay goes to Black Lives Matter DC and the US Postal Service (and to Etsy for fees).

The following words come from blacklivesmatter.com/herstory:

“In 2013, three radical Black organizers — Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi — created a Black-centered political will and movement building project called #BlackLivesMatter. It was in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman.

The project is now a member-led global network of more than 40 chapters. Our members organize and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.

Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.

As organizers who work with everyday people, BLM members see and understand significant gaps in movement spaces and leadership. Black liberation movements in this country have created room, space, and leadership mostly for Black heterosexual, cisgender men — leaving women, queer and transgender people, and others either out of the movement or in the background to move the work forward with little or no recognition. As a network, we have always recognized the need to center the leadership of women and queer and trans people. To maximize our movement muscle, and to be intentional about not replicating harmful practices that excluded so many in past movements for liberation, we made a commitment to placing those at the margins closer to the center.

As #BlackLivesMatter developed throughout 2013 and 2014, we utilized it as a platform and organizing tool. Other groups, organizations, and individuals used it to amplify anti-Black racism across the country, in all the ways it showed up. Tamir Rice, Tanisha Anderson, Mya Hall, Walter Scott, Sandra Bland — these names are inherently important. The space that #BlackLivesMatter held and continues to hold helped propel the conversation around the state-sanctioned violence they experienced. We particularly highlighted the egregious ways in which Black women, specifically Black trans women, are violated. #BlackLivesMatter was developed in support of all Black lives.

In 2014, Mike Brown was murdered by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. It was a guttural response to be with our people, our family — in support of the brave and courageous community of Ferguson and St. Louis as they were being brutalized by law enforcement, criticized by media, tear gassed, and pepper sprayed night after night. Darnell Moore and Patrisse Cullors organized a national ride during Labor Day weekend that year. We called it the Black Life Matters Ride. In 15 days, we developed a plan of action to head to the occupied territory to support our brothers and sisters. Over 600 people gathered. We made two commitments: to support the team on the ground in St. Louis, and to go back home and do the work there. We understood Ferguson was not an aberration, but in fact, a clear point of reference for what was happening to Black communities everywhere.

When it was time for us to leave, inspired by our friends in Ferguson, organizers from 18 different cities went back home and developed Black Lives Matter chapters in their communities and towns — broadening the political will and movement building reach catalyzed by the #BlackLivesMatter project and the work on the ground in Ferguson.

It became clear that we needed to continue organizing and building Black power across the country. People were hungry to galvanize their communities to end state-sanctioned violence against Black people, the way Ferguson organizers and allies were doing. Soon we created the Black Lives Matter Global Network infrastructure. It is adaptive and decentralized, with a set of guiding principles. Our goal is to support the development of new Black leaders, as well as create a network where Black people feel empowered to determine our destinies in our communities.

The Black Lives Matter Global Network would not be recognized worldwide if it weren’t for the folks in St. Louis and Ferguson who put their bodies on the line day in and day out, and who continue to show up for Black lives.”

The print says “#BLACKLIVESMATTER” in the background; the largest type says “HOLD SPACE”, and the smaller type says “In 2013, three radical Black organizers — Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi — created a Black-centered political will and movement building project called #BlackLivesMatter.” which is a quote from blacklivesmatter.com/herstory. The smallest type is the photo credit: “Photo credits, top to bottom: Alicia Garza, Citizen University, 2016; Patrisse Cullors (May 2015) and Opal Tometi (August 2015), The Laura Flanders Show” and the project credit and artist’s website and the creative commons license.

Female Power Project, perSISTERS designs, Uncategorized, What I'm Making

QUESTION — Kamala Harris redux

FemalePowerProject Kamala Harris
QUESTION — #FemalePowerProject perSISTERS print honoring Senator Kamala Harris

Kamala Devi Harris (born October 20, 1964) is the junior Senator from California. Before that she served as Attorney General of California. Harris was born in Oakland, California. She is the daughter of an Indian mother—a cancer researcher who emigrated in 1960—and a Jamaican-American father who is an economics professor. (Wikipedia)

This is the second perSISTERS print I’ve made for Kamala Harris. The first design, INSIST, was made in response to her being interrupted numerous times during Senate Intel hearings in June 2017. Nevertheless, she insisted on her right to question and get an answer.

On September 5, 2018, Senator Harris asked some powerful questions during the second confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. The nominee had difficulty answering her. The question about laws governing female bodies vs male bodies gets to the heart of the abortion rights issue, avoiding the excuse of the “Ginsburg Standard,” which Kavanaugh said he was following when he refused to answer questions about Roe v. Wade, even though he has, in fact, a written record objecting to that decision, and so would not be divulging new information about how he might rule as a Supreme Court judge. A nominee should not divulge how he or she may rule on a particular case because the judiciary should remain independent of any promises. However, the nominee may, and SHOULD, divulge his or her thinking about the principles underlying a particular precedent, and whether the nominee agrees with the soundness of those principles, or constitutional interpretations.

According to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), this portrayal of Justice Ginsburg’s hearings and the Ginsburg Standard is not accurate. Here I will quote at length from the NWLC:

Claims are being made that Ruth Bader Ginsburg refused to answer questions about her views on abortion and the right to privacy and liberty during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1993, and that Judge Kavanaugh should follow her example. In fact, Kavanaugh made these claims when he was nominated to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This portrayal of Justice Ginsburg’s hearings is not accurate. The truth is that Justice Ginsburg did the exact opposite. Then-Judge Ginsburg did answer Senators’ questions on abortion and the right to privacy—in fact, she spoke at length about her views.

Here is Justice Ginsburg’s response to then-Senator Hank Brown’s question about the constitutional underpinnings of the right to abortion:
“[Y]ou asked me about my thinking about equal protection versus individual autonomy, and my answer to you is it is both. This is something central to a woman’s life, to her dignity. It is a decision that she must make for herself. And when government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.” (Nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Hearings Before the Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, 103rd Cong. 207 (1993)).

And here is her answer to a question by Senator Leahy about whether there is a constitutional right to privacy:
“There is a constitutional right to privacy which consists I think of at least two distinguishable parts. One is the privacy expressed most vividly in the Fourth Amendment, that is the government shall not break into my home or my office, without a warrant, based on probable cause, the government shall leave me alone. The other is the notion of personal autonomy, the government shall not make my decisions for me, I shall make, as an individual, uninhibited, uncontrolled by my government, the decisions that affect my life’s course.” (Ginsburg Nomination Hearings, 185).

Additionally, then-Judge Ginsburg had a very extensive record of opinions and articles when she appeared before the Judiciary Committee, giving Senators an ample basis on which to determine her views on important legal issues – which is not the case with Judge Kavanaugh. As the 1993 Judiciary Committee report on the Ginsburg nomination said:
“[E]ach member of the committee had ample means, prior to Judge Ginsburg’s hearing, to discover much pertinent information—indeed, the most pertinent information—about Judge Ginsburg’s judicial approach and method. In more than 300 signed appellate opinions, and more than three score articles, Judge Ginsburg told the Senate and the American people an enormous amount about herself even before the hearings opened.” (Ginsburg Nomination Rept., 40).

Indeed, the Judiciary Committee’s report on the Ginsburg nomination concluded that “the committee knows far more about Judge Ginsburg’s views on reproductive rights than it has known about any previous nominee’s. Judge Ginsburg’s record and testimony suggest both a broad commitment to reproductive freedoms and a deep appreciation of the equality and autonomy values underlying them.” (Nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Sen. Exec. Rept. No. 103-6, at 39 (1993)).

Attempts to claim a “Ginsburg standard” that would allow Judge Kavanaugh to refuse to explain his views on the rights to privacy, liberty, and abortion are disingenuous excuses.

Rather, Judge Kavanaugh should follow Justice Ginsburg’s example and be forthcoming in his confirmation hearings. He must answer whether or not he believes the Constitution protects the individual right of all people to make personal decisions about their bodies and relationships, including the right to use contraception and to have an abortion.

A NOTE ON THE DESIGN

I was so happy to be able to use a capital Q in a perSISTERS design. This is definitely my favorite character. The capital Q is often an eccentric letter in a typeface, an eccentricity that is most often hidden because this letter is so rarely used in the English language. Because this flamboyant letter is kept “in the closet” I took it upon my self, in 1997, to create an artists book about this letter. I have three posts about this work, here, here, and here. The Q in this perSISTER design is from the typeface BeLucian Ultra. The book weight version is used for the name “Lucian” in the book, as in queen, the abecedarium of a typophiliac by Leda Black, Palabra Press, 1997 and a Blurb edition, 2015.

SOURCES

https://nwlc.org/resources/the-ginsburg-standard-requires-judge-kavanaugh-to-give-full-and-complete-answers-to-questions-about-liberty-privacy-and-abortion/

https://www.facebook.com/USSenateDemocrats/videos/sen-harris-explains-the-ginsburg-standard-to-judge-kavanaugh/253038132016219/

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/13/628711698/the-reality-of-the-ginsburg-rule

The image of Ms. Harris is based on a screen shot from the video clip “Kamala Harris Interrupted at Intel Senate Hearing” from CNN. (http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2017/06/07/watch_two_republican_men_try_to_shush_kamala_harris_in_a_senate_hearing.html)

Female Power Project, perSISTERS designs, What I'm Making

TAKE CREDIT honoring Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth Cotten, Feminist Art, Folk Music
TAKE CREDIT — #FemalePowerProject perSISTERS design honoring Elizabeth Cotten

It’s really not hard to find amazing women to make art about. The Takoma Park Folk Festival is coming up and they were kind enough to count digital design and typography as a craft, so that the Female Power Project can have a booth at their juried craft show this Sunday. My work slips through categories, since I don’t do limited edition prints for the Female Power Project, and they aren’t strictly handmade. The message is my medium. Anyway, I thought I might do a folk musician for the event, and I immediately thought of Cotten, even though I’m not much of a folky. I even think I saw her at a folk festival in Oregon in the 1980’s, though she didn’t make much of an impression on me (probably because of the drunk jerks carrying on at the edge of the crowd where I was standing). But she really was immensely impressive, as I discovered in my research. I urge you to check out some of the YouTube videos I’ve linked to at the bottom of this post. As usual, I have relied a lot on Wikipedia for the highlights. Here are some details.

Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten (née Nevills) (January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) was an American blues and folk musician, singer, and songwriter. A self-taught left-handed guitarist, Cotten developed her own original style. She played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down. This position required her to play the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb. Her signature alternating bass style has become known as “Cotten picking”.

Cotten was born near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to a musical family. At age seven, she began to play her older brother’s banjo. “From that day on,” she said, “nobody had no peace in that house.” By the age of eight, she was playing songs. At the age of 11, after scraping together some money as a domestic helper, she bought her own guitar. By her early teens she was writing her own songs, one of which, “Freight Train”, became her most recognized.

In 1910, at the age of 17, she married and soon after she complied when her church told her to stop playing her music. Cotten did not begin performing publicly and recording until she was in her 60s. The story of her return to playing is remarkable.

While doing seasonal work in a department store, Cotten helped a child wandering through the aisles find her mother. The child was Peggy Seeger, and the mother was the composer Ruth Crawford Seeger. Soon after this, Cotten began working as a maid for Ruth Crawford Seeger and Charles Seeger and caring for their children, Mike, Peggy, Barbara, and Penny. While working with the Seegers (a voraciously musical family that included Pete Seeger, a son of Charles from a previous marriage)—surrounded by music and instruments—she picked up the guitar again. Peggy heard her playing and asked Elizabeth to teach her the song. It was “Freight Train.”

In a documentary, Mike Seeger described how astonished they were by this “folklorist’s dream. She was a true musician.” The quote on the upper left of this print is from Mike Seeger: “She was certainly a confident person. Before every show she would say to the audience [that] nobody taught her anything. She did it all herself. And she gave herself all the credit.” This is from the first YouTube link below.

In the later half of the 1950s, Mike Seeger began making reel-to-reel recordings of Cotten’s songs in her house. These recordings later became the album Folksongs and Instrumentals with Guitar, which was released by Folkways Records. Since the release of that album, her songs, especially her signature song, “Freight Train”—which she wrote when she was 11—have been covered by Peter, Paul, and Mary, Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Joe Dassin, Joan Baez, Devendra Banhart, Laura Gibson, Laura Veirs, His Name Is Alive, Doc Watson, Taj Mahal, Geoff Farina, and Country Teasers. Shortly after that first album, she began playing concerts with Mike Seeger.

In the early 1960s, Cotten went on to play concerts with some of the big names in the burgeoning folk revival. Some of these included Mississippi John Hurt, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters at venues such as the Newport Folk Festival and the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife.

The newfound interest in her work inspired her to write more songs to perform, and in 1967 she released a record created with her grandchildren, which took its name from one of her songs, “Shake Sugaree”.

Using profits from her touring, record releases and awards given to her for her contributions to the folk arts, Cotten was able to move with her daughter and grandchildren from Washington, D.C., and buy a house in Syracuse, New York. She was also able to continue touring and releasing records well into her 80s. In 1984, she won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording, for the album Elizabeth Cotten Live, released by Arhoolie Records. When accepting the award in Los Angeles, her comment was, “Thank you. I only wish I had my guitar so I could play a song for you all.”

Cotten died in June 1987 in Syracuse, New York, at the age of 94.

from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cotten
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k439N7Ns0wg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvXNT9Cu_X4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voPJENW6i4c