DRAWING THE LINE: Artists & Writers in Solidarity with Ferguson

Protesters autograph a sketch of Michael Brown during a protest on August 18, 2014, in Atlanta, Georgia. Image via voanews.com.

Artists and writers give unconditional support to protesters in Ferguson, MO

Editorial statement published August 19, 2014 on redwedgemagazine.com:

On Saturday, August 9th in Ferguson, Missouri (just outside St. Louis), Michael Brown, an unarmed eight-teen year old African American man, was shot and killed by the police. His body was left on the street for more than four hours as riot police were called to the scene.

In the following days thousands of people have protested the latest summary execution of an unarmed Black man. They have been met with police brutality and repression, resulting in dozens of arrests, including the arrests of two reporters and a police assault on one St. Louis city alderman.

The apologists for racism attempted to use the justified and understandable outrage of those who burned a local convenience store to obscure the real criminals in Ferguson: police and politicians who treat the town’s Black citizens like colonial subjects; occupied by military force.

The apologists for racism have aimed to obscure the ongoing wounds being inflicted on working-class and poor African Americans by pretending this is all a misunderstanding; a hangover from days long gone. It is not. These are not merely old wounds. These are new wounds. The wounding has never stopped.

We are artists and writers who, without equivocation of any kind, condemn the police murder of Michael Brown and unconditionally support all the protesters of Ferguson and the St. Louis metro area.

We believe that:

1. The reported murders of African Americans, Latinxs* and other people of color, as seen in the cases of Trayvon Martin and Israel Hernandez in Florida and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, are just the most shocking and visible signs of a campaign of systematic harassment and violence.

2. This is connected to wider ongoing official racism directed against African Americans, Latinxs and other people of color. This can be seen, for example, in the campaign of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel to shut down public schools in Black and Latinx* neighborhoods.

3. It is connected to the institutional racism that permeates every aspect of society. African Americans experience higher unemployment, higher interest rates, higher incarceration rates, worse health care outcomes, etc. than whites. This is NOT due to personal or moral failures on the part of African Americans. It is the product of the racism of white Americans, politicians, and ruling elites.

4. The people of Ferguson have a right to resist police murder and repression by “any means necessary.”

5. Liberal calls for “peace and unity” in the St. Louis metro area are a mirage. There can be no peace without justice. The status quo is not peace. The status quo is a war on Black men and women.

Artists, musicians and writers have a responsibility to stand squarely with the protesters and rebels of Ferguson, Missouri. Art is an empathetic enterprise. We cannot, in good conscience, make art or write about art and ignore what is happening. We promise to stand, however we can, with the people of Ferguson. We encourage all others to do the same.

No justice, no peace.**

Najjar Abdul-Musawwir artist, professor of art, Southern Illinois University***, Carbondale, Illinois

Samuel Ace poet, Tucson, Arizona
Kelly Ahrens artist, Illinois

Mike Alewitz muralist, associate professor, Central Connecticut State University

Jessica Allee graduate student, art history, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois

Criage Althage transwoman artst and library specialist, Chicago, Illinois

Mike Anderson web developer and designer, Herndon, Virginia

Husni Ashiku artist and filmmaker, Chicago, Illinois

Aliki Barnstone poet, professor of English and Creative Writing, University of Missouri

Crystal Stella Becerril writer, editor, Red Wedge magazine, Chicago, Illinois

BESKONISTe’ art group, Dallas, Texas

Alexander Billet music journalist and editor at Red Wedge magazine, Chicago, Illinois

Robin Blackburn writer, musician, dancer, human, San Marcos, Texas

Lakeetha Blakeney actor, singer, writer, rebel, St. Louis, Missouri

Ken Boe artist and poet, Bisbee, Arizona

Benjamin Bormann poet and producer, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Jesaka Brooks-Ausler printmaker, Carbondale, Illinois

Madeline Burrows actor, Boston, Massachusetts

Edmond Caldwell writer, Boston, Massachusetts

J. Matthew Camp labor activist, writer, Chicago, Illinois

Terre Chartrand playwright, digital media artist, theatre, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

David Cochran historian and professor, John A. Logan College, Illinois

Matthew Conley poet, arts administrator, Tucson, Arizona

Neil Davidson author and lecturer, University of Glasgow, Scotland

Domingo Dávila artist, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Ricardo De Lima artist, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Ian Deleón performance artist, Boston, Massachusetts

Najee Dorsey CEO, founder of Black Art In America, visual artist, Columbus, Georgia

Timothy R. Dougherty writer, teacher, songwriter, Phoenixville, PA

Hal Duncan Glasgow, Scotland

Laura Durkay writer and filmmaker, New York City

Chad Eagleton writer, editor, photographer, Bloomington, Indiana

Andrew Friend documentary filmmaker, Chicago, Illinois

Monica Hand poet, Columbia, Missouri

John Halle director of Studies in Music Theory and Practice, Bard Conservatory, New York

Joe Hassert poet and instructor, College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

Serena Himmelfarb artist, Chicago, Illinois

Danny Hoey writer and professor, Florida

Ernest Hogan artist and writer, Chicago, Illinois

Ron Jacobs writer and library worker, Burlington, Vermont

Lamar Jorden artist, educator, Chicago, Illinois

Trish Kahle writer and historian, Chicago, Illinois

Jyotsna Kapur professor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois

Robin D.G. Kelley historian, professor of American History, UCLA, Los Angeles, California

Chintia Kirana artist, Illinois

Wago Kreider artist, professor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois

Nicolas Lampert artist, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

John Landry poet, San José, California

Morgan Larson performance artist and educator, Dallas, Texas

Sarah Lewison artist, professor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois

Matthew Limb art historian, writer, graduate student, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois

Mike Linaweaver poet, founder/editor, Strike magazine, Corpus Christi, Texas

Melanie Madden writer and editor, Tucson, Arizona

Brandon Meyers web-comic artist, Denver, Colorado

H.D. Motyl mediamaker, Carbondale, Illinois

Paul Mullan writer, Houston, Texas

Frances Madeson writer, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Nick Mamatas novelist, Berkeley, California

Nichole Nicholson performance artist, Puyallup, Washington

Boyd Nielson poet, Boston, Massachusetts

Robert Niemi professor of English and American Studies, St. Michael’s College, Vermont

Keegan O’Brien Boston, Massachusetts

Jerry Pendergast poet, Chicago, Illinois

Jason Pramas artist and assistant professor of Communications, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Bob Quellos architect, Chicago, Illinois

Octavio Quintanilla poet and professor, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas

Joseph G. Ramsey educator, scholar, & writer, Boston, MA

Rebel Diaz hip-hop artists, Bronx, New York and Chicago, Illinois

Angela Reinoehl art history instructor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois

Boots Riley hip-hop artist and political organizer, Oakland, California

Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez theater artist, Chicago, Illinois

Dave Roediger professor, University of Kansas

Craig Ross artist, cartoonist, printmaker, maintenance worker, Herrin, Illinois

Katy Rubin director and facilitator, Theatre of the Oppressed, New York City

Van T. Rudd visual artist and social justice activist, Australia

Alexandra Rumsey artist, Louisville, Kentucky

Jacob Russell poet, novelist, & visual artist, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

J.D. Samson artist, Brooklyn, New York

Brit Schulte writer, editor at Red Wedge magazine, Chicago, Illinois

Eric Lyle Schultz artist, graduate student, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

Matt Schultz artist and professor, Springfield, Illinois

Jase Short writer, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Nikeeta Slade writer, editor at Red Wedge magazine, Syracuse, New York

Damian “Slimm Goines” Smith hip-hop artist, Washington, DC

John Snowden filmmaker, Chicago, Illinois

Alan L. Stewart writer and activist, Bremerton, Washington

T.C. Tolbert poet, arts administrator, Tucson, Arizona

Joe Torrence artist, Omaha, Nebraska

Anna Maria Tucker artist, St. Louis, Missouri

Adam Turl artist, writer and editor at Red Wedge magazine, graduate student, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

Bentley Utgaard artist, Kentucky

Richard Wallace a.k.a. Epic of BBU, Chicago, Illinois

Benjamin Whitmer writer, Denver Colorado

Danielle Williamson filmmaker and media artist, Santa Cruz, California

*the “x” in Latinxs indicates that we are inclusive of trans individuals and individuals of all gender expressions.

**to sign on e-mail info@redwedgemagazine.com

***organizations or institutions listed for identification only.

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