July 2020 Issue — BREATHE

Poetry

Featured

By Hamish Todd

The town I grew up in
The town I got jobs
And found apartments
And took care of myself
Lays tonight in ruin
Victim to looters and hooligans
Looking to make the most
Of an ugly mood

Who Am I ?

By Timmy Woods

(a commentary on my position in today’s society)

Who am I?
To take this privileged perfection?
Created by the desires of the powerful
Handed to me by a melting pot
Passed off as "everybody"
Yet only for the chosen

White Privilege

By Jonathan Leslie

16 years old; just got my license,
Flashing lights behind me along with sirens.
Kid, you’re going 55 in a 25 that’s reckless driving,
Sorry, I gotta give you a ticket.
Didn’t ask me to get outta the car.
Call my lawyer neighbor up...
Don’t worry I’ll fix it.

Urban Threat

By Peter Asco

It was a hot and dry 91 degrees Southern California afternoon
when I heard the rattling of dry leaves below my balcony
As my eyes searched the hedges beyond the patio fence
I got a glimpse of a bushy tail moving across the shrubs,
and suddenly, there it was, in a small brush clearing
the misunderstood, much feared and despised urban threat

Amplifier

For artwork that occupies the intersection of art and power, check out Amplifier. You can download for free an assortment of artwork and posters and of course they welcome donations to support their purpose.

Amplifier says on their website that “Amplifier is a design lab that builds art to amplify the voices of grassroots movements. We work with our community of social change partners, in both the for-profit and non-profit worlds, to build symbols, language, and distribution strategies that can change the national narrative. We draw from a deep portfolio of artists to commission new art, then take the work and distribute it in unparalleled numbers through creative space hacks, reaching new audiences and driving real change”

An example of just one of many poster sized artwork you can download is the image pictured here by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. Again from the Amplifier website, “During her time as Amplifier’s artist in residence in 2017, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh delved deep into the stories and experiences of BIPOC in Seattle. For her campaign, aptly titled Seattle is Black, she interviewed dozens of people, photographed them, and turned their narratives into drawings and video documentation. “One thing that seemed consistent in their experiences was the frustration of navigating racist systems and people that present as liberal and progressive on the surface,” she says. This theme is prevalent throughout the series, which is part of Fazlalizadeh’s larger project, America Is Black. Through her collaboration with Amplifier and her independent projects, the artist strives to reclaim and recenter the voices of BIPOC to show the reality of what it means to be “American.”

Music

Paul Abramson of Crying 4 Kafka, a punk rock band from Los Angeles, wrote us to contribute 2 songs: “Tyrants & Tyranny” and “Twisted Rules That I Deplore.”

Paul said that “both are in the memory of George Floyd. “Tyrants & Tyranny” uses the recordings of police brutality from the 1968 Democratic Convention as the background sound in the verses, solo rant, and outro, and the firing of a bullet is a sound in the chorus. “Twisted Rules That I Deplore” uses short sampling of Martin Luther King.”

The song credits for both songs are as follows: Paul Abramson (lyrics and vocal), Alfredo Ortiz (drums) and Steve Stewart (guitar and bass). Both songs were produced and recorded by Paul du Gré at Paul & Mike’s Studio in Burbank, California.

Links to the songs, the lyrics and information about the band are provided here:

https://crying4kafka.com/band/

https://soundcloud.com/crying-4-kafka/tyrants-tyranny

https://soundcloud.com/crying-4-kafka/twisted-rules-that-i-deplore

Lyrics to Tyrants & Tyranny

Lyrics to Twisted Rules That I Deplore

Essay

Featured

Let's All Keep Learning

A statement about process, and the queries an inner dialogue about racism inspires. Like Socrates, I know nothing. I have no answers, merely more questions.

By Nicole Renée La Follette

A friend from South Africa wrote me recently about something I had shared on social media. It was a meme with the statement:

‘White supremacy won’t die until White people see it as a White issue they need to solve rather than a Black issue they need to empathize with.’

The friend asked genuinely, as part of their ‘process of learning about this racial issue,’ “How does one fix "white supremacy?

What is it that we must do in order for it to be fixed?”

Seattle Downtown Art

According to an article in the June 14, 2020 Seattle Times article, '‘Artists and community members gathered Sunday afternoon and earlier in the week in the Chinatown-International District to paint murals in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on plywood at businesses that had been boarded up because of the coronavirus.” For more information on the artists and their works, go to the Seattle Times article. We asked Sam Coleman, our photo stringer, to take some photos and you can see them HERE.

I'm Screaming Inside
(Click image to enlarge)

Drawing by Tania Abramson:

Screaming I’m screaming I’m screaming inside Can’t you see? Can’t you see me? Can’t you see me screaming? Can’t you see me screaming inside? Can’t you hear? Can’t you hear me? Can’t you hear me screaming? Can’t you hear me screaming inside? Don’t you know? Don’t you know me? Don’t you know I’m screaming? Don’t you know I’m screaming inside? Screaming

Readers Respond

“There’s some really interesting pieces in response to George Floyd. His own words were really powerful. I wouldn’t want anyone to gain fame in that way but he has unleashed a wave of righteous protest and let’s just hope things change, not just for Black Americans but for all those who are victims of unjust and unfair treatment.”

From the Chief Provocateur

I envision BREATHE as a collective artistic space where we can experience the power of each other’s art in all its various mediums. To heal ourselves. To heal others. To heal the world.

I keep reminding myself how I got started with BREATHE. I was angry, sad, but also fired-up and determined to take action after virtually witnessing the death of George Floyd at the knee of a policeman. At some point I just had to stop watching the video. I became aware of how I was deeply affected by his words. I chose to read his last 127 words captured on that video, in a virtual poetry space called PoetryBridge. I was astounded and heartened at the emotional effect it had on both myself and others. Several wanted to read poems they had written. Other spoke to the impact on them. The next day I started BREATHE.

I am now working with others to figure out how to organize this space. We are learning all the time from each other. What standards should we use to include something in this space? What if anything, does artistic expression have to do with social, economic and environmental justice? What does it have to do with racism and police brutality? How will we achieve a greater diversity of voices?

I know there is an intersection. Picasso’s Guernica occupied that intersection. Was it art? Apparently. It is currently exhibited in the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. Did it help us see more clearly the world we live in? For some, yes. Did it inspires others to create a better world? For some, yes.

I want BREATHE to occupy that intersection. So welcome to BREATHE – occupying the intersection of art and power. Power over or power with. Power to dominate or power to do something for the common good. We’ll figure it out as we go. I want to figure it out with your help. Keep sending us your words. Keep on breathing. Breathe art. Till we can’t.

Leopoldo Seguel