This is a “plein air” painting which means I set up my easel right across the street of this Chase bank in my city and painted it like it had caught fire. The police questioned me on the spot. Three weeks later Homeland Security was knocking on the door to my home. The question they kept asking me was “Do you hate these banks?” I can honestly say yes.
And I just think this is the greatest artist statement I’ve ever read.
reminder that palestinians have once again been subjected to violence during the olive harvest, leaving many trees damaged and/or completely destroyed. b’tselem report here.
if you’re able, please join me in donating an olive tree sapling to attempt to repair some of the damage done over the last 70 years.
a few more organisations:
zaytoun (linked above) – donate 3 year old olive tree saplings via the palestinian fair trade association (pfta) to olive farmers in jenin, nablus, and salfeet. £8 provides 1 tree, £21 provides 5 trees.
muslim global relief – at the £20 level: “With £20 we can gift one olive tree to a family in Palestine, Gaza. Once an olive tree has reached maturity, it can become a life-long source of olives and olive oil. Families can sell or trade the surplus olives and olive oil to buy other foods and needful items. Last year, MGR gifted 50 olive trees to Gazan farmers and families who’d lost their olive orchards to conflict.”
land of canaan foundation – options to donate to trees for life (also sponsored by PFTA) for olive and almond trees, pollinator project (providing beehives to palestinian farmers,) CSA palestine, and regenerative agriculature initiatives.
“All I knew about Cuba was that people drove old American cars and that Ché Guevara was tied with Bob Marley as most popular poster in dorm rooms. Then my friend Erin invited me on a 2-week trip to Havana. The first thing I noticed in Havana was that the city was dark at night. There were no streetlights, porch lights or living-room lamps. It was pitch black except for the faint colorful glow spilling out of open doors everywhere, and it came from the TVs. The light captivated me. For the next two weeks I wandered around, slipping in and out of strangers’ living rooms. Each time I came across an open door and a working TV set, I would ask if I could take a picture. The answer was always yes. Nobody seemed to think it was an odd request and it was usually accompanied by a Cuban coffee or rum.”
Here’s a free PDF of “Are Prisons Obsolete” if you are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the prison abolitionist movement. This reading answers many of the questions you likely have regarding the call to abolish prisons and police.
One of the things I love about Angela Davis is that her writing style is so easily digestible, even when covering complex theory such as this. Do not be intimidated by the subject matter, it is fairly easy to grasp and I think everyone should read it.
