Rele zansèt yo (Call the ancestors)

Rele Lwa pou mwen (Call the invisible, the spirits for me)

Project Text
I am pleased to announce I was chosen for the August selection of the Red Bull Arts Microgrant for New Orleans, Louisiana.   Applications are rolling and still open. Go to @redbullarts to learn more If you’re interested in applying.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Over the past six months, the most visible Black Lives Matter protests have been those of people taking to the streets and occupying public spaces - a call to struggle against anti-Blackness, anti-trans, to defund policing, and to demand the arrest and conviction of police who have murdered and assaulted unarmed Black people.  Still, other forms of protest have also taken place and it is these that I have begun to document.
 
One example is the creation of public altars at sites of protests, on bridges, around homes, and on the streets;  coming from a place of healing and self-care is a political act that guides us to be focused and to move as one.   In New Orleans, we created altars in honor of those murdered by police and white supremacists vigilantes! We also honor all those who risk their lives and livelihoods on the streets of America.  This is a time of deep hurt and deep rage and we must balance our hearts and spirits to live out this struggle.

Another form of protest centers around the intentional desire to elevate ourselves as Black people. This manifests through the increasing number of Black people, particularly women using the parks and public greens to exercise in small groups, running, walking, and cycling.   It is almost as if Black people have consciously and collectively decided to create a healthier lifestyle for themselves as a way of protecting themselves from the trauma of past, present, and future struggles against anti-Blackness, anti-queer and trans lives and other intersections of injustices that permeate our social and political realities.