Preachers Bump Kendrick, too
Solo Exhibition Reflection and Zine Series Coming Soon!
I'm back, and I'm excited to give you all some updates on my recent exhibition opening and an exciting announcement about a new project at the end!
Sorry, I've been m.i.a. I had a big opening of my solo exhibition Echoes of Nzinga and right before that I was traveling and a little sick so I had to give myself some time to recover, which meant time away from writing and deadlines.
First update: my solo exhibition was amazing. I felt so much love in the room. The show was not at all what I expected it to be because I basically made the majority of the work within two weeks of the show happening. I had procrastinated making some of the work that I had in my mind because it didn't really serve what I thought was important to share with people. All that was on my mind at the end of January/ beginning of February was my grief—grief for what's going on in the United States, grief for Palestine, and personal grief with my family with the passing of my father. This show opened right before my father’s birthday, so I was overcome with grief and couldn't think about anything else besides my grief… So I was like, ‘Let me make what I want for this show.’….And all I wanted to do was make fish.
Yes, fish.
I know that might sound crazy but fish are symbolic of a lot of things, and so I decided that half the show would be fish, and it actually turned out absolutely great.
In my exhibition, I wanted to show different kinds of power that we have when facing oppression. There are different kinds of power people have used to achieve their goals. Specifically, I wanted to offer an intergenerational past, present, and future approach to oppressed people overcoming challenges by using these various forms of power.
Here are some works I included in the show.
Here’s a painting of my niece. She is the ‘future’ piece in this exhibition, and she exemplifies the power of imagination.
I have two antique aprons in the show. They remind me of what I would think housewives in the recent past might wear. So I was like ‘what what power makes sense for these objects?’ and I embroidered the quote “When we gather we build power.” This is symbolic of the power of gathering and the power of collectivity, which is what some would say is a feminist ideal.
I had another painting in the show, and it's titled “Still Here” and it's about the power of rest, relaxation, and enjoyment.
Another work was “Plant The Seeds,” which is about the importance of being hopeful and open to opportunity in the future.
The rest of the works in the show are of fish. The fish are symbolic of my dad because he was big on fishing. We used to go fishing together often. He was known to share catfish with family and friends on a regular basis. For the exhibition, I literally incorporated his fishing rods in the show, so two of the artworks are hanging from his fishing rod hooks.
The fish I included in the show are catfish, and catfish are really cool because they can be found everywhere in the world except for Antarctica. so I thought that would be a nice universal symbol of we're all part of an ecosystem. And for me, as a sociologist, I see social movements as ecosystems too. I recently read a book where the author likened social movements to rivers. Millions have passed through it before us and millions after, and we're all part of this larger ecosystem— a universe of things. I have this really big floor-to-ceiling piece in the show this concept. It has a bunch of fish hand-embroidered on a river/waterfall, and it embodies this concept of social movements as rivers. I scattered stars randomly throughout it to show the river as also a universe within itself. This ecosystem is a universe of beauty and interconnection, and it gives a magic feel.
All in all, the show was magical. I got to share my new skills and new work with family and friends. My mom is traveling in to see the show this weekend. The show is a nice way to honor my father and also blend my skills from painting to sewing, so I'm pretty happy with it. I met a lot of cool artists that same night, and I can't wait to dive deeper into some of the connections I've made, make some new friends, and learn some new things. I'm very grateful for those who came out to the show, and I'm glad I was part of their experience for the night.
Lessons from this Month
It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. Here are some lessons from this month of things I’ve learned or found fascinating.
Nature be knowing. This is an article I came across about some beavers who solved an infrastructure problem on their own. I thought it was really cute.
Preachers be bumping Kendrick, too. I was sitting in a coffee shop waiting for a friend to meet me, and these two gregarious men walk up and get to chatting with me about what I do and they tell me they are both ministers at a big church in town. We get to chatting about how do we solve this grief that's happening in our country right now, how we all need to get on the same page, and how their work is super important. At the end of the convo, one of them says to me that he loves my sweatshirt. (I'm wearing a Planned Parenthood sweatshirt that says abortion is health care; bans off our bodies. And I wore this because I was intentionally in a ‘fuck it’ kind of mood). We end our convo and get back to our coffees, and a Kendrick Lamar song comes on the speakers of the coffee shop. One of the preachers is singing every word and bopping his head. I was pleasantly surprised, and several of my biases were questioned.
Feeling dread from sifting through unfathomable headlines? Instead of doom scrolling, you can volunteer for a local issue-specific group. Gather with folks intentionally and work towards one goal to make this world a better place.
Rest is key during this wild time. Please take care of yourself.
Getting out rage is also important. Lean into hobbies. Cry to a playlist. Commiserate with a friend. Get the feels out!
Now for an exciting announcement
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I can offer to help people right now. As someone concerned about the mental health of those fighting for social justice, I want to offer community knowledge and wisdom to help us with our current era of unfathomable events and uncertainty.
For four years I worked on my dissertation for my PhD, which is a study of activist burnout experiences and persistence strategies during the Covid-19 and Trump Era. In 2020-2022, I asked activists from across various social movements what keeps them going in these uncertain times. Recently, I’ve decided to release their stories and lessons as a zine series on my Substack!
The series is called Burning Bright in the Dark. And I’ll be releasing a chapter each week, here on my Substack.
Stayed tuned. Tell your activist friends. And comment to let me know what you think along the way.
I’m excited to share my labor of love with you, in a low-stakes, accessible way (away from the barriers and censorship of academia).
With Love,
Meg