There is a powerful notion I read; “the concept of whiteness itself is a wall, violent and militarized, that exempts Europeans from the pain of yearning for their homelands.” This is powerful because it speaks some truth, but…
I went looking for the spirit of Europe
I did so in peril, I did so in vain.
I went looking for my people, my kin
I still have the scars and markings,
but I’m not allowed back in without
identifying with a nation state or nationalism.
I struggle with my own identity, space and place. While being born in the city of Detroit I still struggle with the idea of being native to this place. I climbed over the wall of whiteness to find that yearning and found very little left of the spirit of Europe not tarnished with notions of supremacy.
My work is primarily targeted at those who identify as white, the communities I grew up in and those of us, like myself and my family, who have and are returning to the city. There is a call for a deeper awareness and action in the face of well-documented harm.
Most recently, a Detroit Future City report detailed the difference in life expectancy between white Detroiters at 76 years and Black Detroiters only living, on average, 68 years. The most recent census reports a decline in the Black population of Detroit by 100,000 in the past 10 years. The opportunities here are not equitable. Population loss and retention efforts in Detroit and in Michigan have been widely discussed. There are numerous efforts to try and lure new residents to the state and city.
While changes are necessary for the city and the state to increase revenue, it is imperative that we retain and support our existent Black population. My work strives to address this by increasing awareness of the impact that “taking advantage of” Detroit’s turn-around can have on long standing, predominantly Black residents.
My current work strives to interrupt whiteness and, through deepening an awareness of local space. It strives to reconnect with the natural world without dogma or the desire to dominate it. To listen to the elemental and the lesser gods that inhabit the groves, nooks and crevasses among which we attempt to settle in. Through visual and sound meditations I strive to inspire a greater awareness of spaces in-between and those who inhabit them. “Place-making” – but for real. Intentions