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POETRY & POWER

Art is a rehearsal of a desired reality - By Patrice Hutton

3/11/2016

1 Comment

 
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Last night I attended The Contemporary's event, Talking Shop: Art + Activism, which brought together Eddie Conway, a Baltimorean and Black Panther, and Cuban installation and performance artist Tania Brugera. The panel was moderated by JHU Writing Seminars alum Lionel Foster.

"Both of you fought massive systems — the state," Foster said, bringing the two into conversation. 

Brugera's work blurs the line between art and activism. "Art is a rehearsal of a desired reality," she told the audience. Recently Brugera leaned from the window of her Havana home, bullhorn in hand, to read from Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism. Take a look at the photo here to see how the city decided to respond (they took jackhammers to her street, as to literally overpower her voice).
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This morning, I found myself walking the fine line between educator and activist. I found myself in a new classroom, subbing one of Writers in Baltimore Schools's weekly writing groups, and I noticed this poster on the door. 
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Imagine studying Algebra I beneath such a poster. The classroom teacher is white, and the student population is predominately black. I wanted to ditch my lesson plan and have the students respond to the poster. But I was the substitute for creative writing, a class I'm grateful that the school has opted to offer. The classroom teacher could have returned to his room at any point.
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That said, I won't be letting go of this image anytime soon. When some of these young writers attend WBS's summer camp in August, I want to talk to them. I want to know what it feels like to have no choice but to learn beneath such blatant racism. I want to give these students a free and open space to write about their desired realities.

Patrice Hutton

1 Comment
Caiden link
9/21/2024 05:21:26 am

Nicee post

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