Growing up/dn

Oil on canvas 30x30

It wasn't my intention to show this painting this month, but with the extreme realities and polarization of the Trayvon Martin murder, I felt now would be an appropriate time to stand in solidarity with the movement and share a piece that confronts the continual assassination of our future.

I started the piece some time in 2004 or 2005. It's a sort of memorial or reflection on how we, as a people, have allowed so many of our heroes, important figures and youth to be taken away through unaccountable gun violence.  So many more have been killed than this painting is able to say.  In the past month alone, I could fill a new list of unarmed innocent civilians killed by gun violence.

Crucifixion by way of crossfire.
Four guns pointed at each other, forming a cross, is our initial step into the Growing up/dn painting.

Scratched into the red splatters of paint are the lyrics "how long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look"

In the white square of paint are the lyrics "I got'cha back" carved in with a pencil and "but you best to watch your front" painted in red on top.

Mourning Bullets
The hardest pills to swallow in this painting are the bullets.  On the left side, there's a string of bullets with the names of people who've died by way of the bullet.  Sometimes as an artist, you find yourself venturing off into dark, fear-filled places, hoping to shed light.  We do this with the hope that the future can navigate through these stank places safely.  Art can be a vehicle that acts as a reminder of mankind's harsh past/present, so that we don't repeat or regress backwards.  This was my intention with this work.  My hopes were that by putting these violent realities on the table, maybe we could see what we, as a construct of people, could do to understand and avoid a future where we kill our heroes.

Initially, the list was going to primarily contain people like Che, Malcolm and Martin... people who've lived a good arc of their lives before being killed; but as the piece grew, so did the revelations that today, our youth is being slaughtered (with no questions asked) at an alarming rate.  It seemed shortsighted of me to not represent this lost population.  With that said, writing the names of senselessly murdered children onto bullets is a dark task, if even for the sake of introspection... I hate it, but I hate the reality and hope to escape it more.

Finally, I wanted to send love and support to the Martin family.  Having gone through a similar situation of Police murder and cover up, I've seen how a wing of the media and police can go to great lengths to avoid accountability.  And then, perhaps their biggest sin, they shamelessly try to murder the character of their victims... they murder them a second time... after their heart has stopped.  Because of this character assassination, it's important for the community to support the families.  I understand that it wasn't a cop who shot Trayvon, but much of the media package slandering him seems very much like the police.  Maybe the cover up has nothing to do with the police ...maybe it just has to do with racism, but if that's the case, then what's to be said about the police utilizing some of the same racist tactics when in the same situation... when trying to avoid accountability?

Unfortunately, the shooting of unarmed Trayvon is not an isolated incident... It's an epidemic... Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., Rahmarley Graham, Kendrec McDade

I hope that we, as a united body of people, can take accountability and learn and grow through these unfortunate sacrifices of priceless pieces of our future.

On April 4^th, it will have been 44 years since Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot.  I don't think it was hate that killed any of these people as much as it was fear, but either way, only love, compassion, humility, and selflessness can move us on.  We have no time for hate or fear.

A documentary that I would strongly suggest watching...
"Slavery by Another Name"

The Uncarved Block
Episode 3 - featuring Los Rakas - approx. 10min

On this episode of The Uncarved Block, we crossed the bridge from Oakland to San Francisco to spend some time with Los Rakas, two Panamanian born rappers.  That was a great day.  It was years ago, but I still remember the warmth of the bay area sun like it was yesterday.  Raka Rich and Raka Dun were really good dudes and blessed us with a great live performance.  Please look them up and show some love.
Losrakas.com

klr