Cancel Violence: Artists Speak Projecting Peace at NCAAA
It's Black History Month, and I love being black. I love my skin, my family, and my future. This is a time to celebrate myself, my blackness, and the blackness of others.
This is also a month to commemorate and recognize the countless achievements of black folks throughout African-American history & culture. I also use this month to learn as much as I can about the African Diaspora through the principle of Sankofa, “to look forward we must look back.” Sometimes, as I reflect on our history, I feel frustrated that many of America’s past evils are present today– making me question how much progress this country has made. I mean, look at our administration right now–—it’s not cute at all.
With this frustration, I also find hope because the very fabric of our community is our resistance, our strength, and our enduring ability to create from a lack of. We represent the culture of modern America, and even though we face challenges, they cannot take away our spirit, joy, or creativity.
One organization I would like to highlight this month is The National Center for Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) or what many call, “The Big Head Museum.” This museum has always been a mystery to me. Sitting on top of a hill in Roxbury, Massachusetts in one of the most historically black neighborhoods still standing in Boston– the museum has remained New England’s most revered institution celebrating the art heritage of the African-American and African diasporan cultures. Located on 300 Walnut Ave, NCAAA will be hosting a monumental event promoting social healing and gathering around the causes of violence through arts advocacy & performance. Cancel Violence: Artists Speak Projecting Peace is a part of Year Two of the UnMonumnet Transforming Boston project funded through the City of Boston in Arts & Culture. This free and open-to-the-public event will be in collaboration with Illuminus and FPoint productions comprising projected images from NCAAA’s current exhibition, Cancel Violence: Artist Speak.
Artists featured are Paul GoodNight, Rob Stull, Johnetta Tinker, Laurence Pierce, Rob “PROBLAK” Gibbs, and more. Their art explores the causes of violence and possible solutions we consider as a community. Growing up in Boston my whole life I have seen firsthand how violence specifically gun violence has been such a detriment in neighborhoods like mine in Dorchester. The fear and anxiety you develop as a young person and eventually as an adult does not leave you. I know unfortunately many of us around the country feel this pain too. This is where art comes in. Art gives us the chance to imagine a world without violence. A place of peace, a place of love, and a place where no one has to fear walking outside or being discriminated against because of where they live or their skin color. We already have to deal with poverty, police brutality, and spiritual and mental anguish that stems far beyond the issues that persist in our neighborhoods but originate in white supremacy and post-traumatic slavery.
As I said before many of the powers that be a.k.a. white supremacy, can never take away our spirit, our joy, and our creativity. This is why we need more unity, more collaboration, more hand-holding, more art, more music, just more expression in general. We need more Black educators who can feel supported and empowered to do their jobs. We need more Black mentorship for those of us who need guidance and protection. We need more black institutions thriving and building up our communities' wealth & prosperity. We need more Black youth keeping their head up high, knowing how handsome, how beautiful, and how brilliant they are. We need more Black love. We need more black representation. We need more blackness, period.
Fortunately, Boston is a city with many black leaders and artists who are actively doing everything in their power to uplift the needs we care so deeply about. Several museums and organizations are doing the work to engage with their audiences in sharing the various stories of black folks authentically. Please do in your will and power to protect these spaces. Visit them, support them through donations, share their resources with your comrades, and don’t let your experiences stay just with you– make sure to share the wealth of knowledge. The tactic of divide and conquer was never ours, to begin with. Let us not use the tools of the white man to build up our black community– this doesn’t make sense y’all I’m not sorry.
If you are in the Boston area visit NCAAA on Sunday, February 23rd for this event. If you can’t make it come by to see incredible works of Cancel Violence: Artist Speak from Fridays-Sundays, 1-5:00 pm, through April 27.
In greatness,
Mars
