The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:
Brown In the City Blog
The reImagining Speaks: Model #44 Majella Mark
The reImagining Speaks is a video series that gives voice to the women lending their images to the reImagining. This series allows you to hear for yourself why this project is so important to me and these 100 women. Listen closely:
Majella Mark is a 25 year old, MBA student working in the publishing industry in New York City. She has spent time conducting charity work for numerous organization such as the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society and the Thornhill Community Supportive Services. She hopes to earn her PhD in culture impacting media within developing non Western nations and help the media appreciate cultural differences in a subjective manner. She spends a good bit of her time volunteering and engaging in artistic expression through drawing and painting. Majella hopes to put her dent in the world in a unique way.
Installing the Manipulated Light & Power Series
The Manipulated Light & Power Series is my latest series dealing with race and gender identity. I like to call it the prequel to the larger, still in production, the reImagining. While the reImagining deals with the fight against stereotyping, Manipulated Light & Power series speaks on the mental repercussion of the moment you first realize this stereotyping is happening to you. The exhibition is a series of five images depicting the progression of this realization, and the vicious cycle as it constantly occurs in the everyday life of Black women. Making literal the metaphor in Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man, I used light as the protagonist in the images. I wanted the light to work to both hide and define the models identity in the same manner paralleling the ability of stereotypes to do the same. The actual physical installation to be creates for these images will heighten that disparity. By manipulating the images with a pulsating light source I want to make the viewer recognize the ease of identity manipulation. Putting that light source on an intensifying cycle will work to show that the moments of stereotyping are harsh, constant, and never ending.
As you can see, I have already started working on the prototype. I like the way the images are working together and flowing together. But, there is work to be done. My next steps include flushing out the design of the plexiglas cube. How constructed do I want the frame to be? How do I get lights to actually work and then pulsate in the cycle I want? Should there be sound? If I design it, can I find someone to fabricate it? Those are just a few of the questions I am working on. Feel free to stay tuned as I realize the last steps of this exhibition.
Just for fun - I am leaving you with an idea of the feeling I would like the install to feel. Yeah slow exposure!
I Want to Be Evil....well really I just wanted to start blogging again......
Well hello again! I am back and ready to blog! I had to take a moment out to get through a few projects, but I have been itching to get back to Brown in the City. I wanted to have a bit of fun for my return to blogging. I could not think of a more appropriate return than a heartfelt thanks to the late great Eartha Kitt and her amazing rendition of the song I Want to be Evil. The first time I heard this song, I had to remind myself to keep breathing! First of all, Eartha Kitt was a brilliant songstress, the things she could get her voice to do are unparalleled! But, what really got to me was her ability to capture both the frustration with, and the rebellion against, an identity that was put upon her. She was not going to be constrained by the identity that the world was trying to shoehorn her into, oh no, she was rebelling and taking the world down with her! Eartha was somehow able to crawl into that song and tell the stories of all the women who were itching to cast off the identities that clouded their true selves. I have to say I love the above video in all it’s campiness, but seek out the recordings where she sings the more soul version that cuts right to through me every time I hear it. It allows me to remember that I can be anyone I want to be, that I can choose my own identity. She tells the tale of a woman chaffing against an identity put upon her by others. Imagine what it is like to be trapped so tightly in your skin that you long to rebel against the image everyone sees. To want to take that image and destroy it so thoroughly that you come out the other side as your polar opposite. Yes, Eartha was swimming in hyperbole, but she was making a point. She would rather be what society deems the worst of the worst, than continue living in the constraints put upon her by that society. Thus I tip my hat to Madame Kitt. When your life’s work is to be constantly challenging society’s preconceived notions of race and gender it is utterly refreshing to have Eartha’s talent as your soundtrack for the struggle.
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 13
What's her story? Support the reImagining kickstarter campaign today!
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 12
What's her story? Support the reImagining kickstarter campaign today!
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 11
What's her story? Support the reImagining kickstarter campaign today!
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 10
What's her story? Support the reImagining kickstarter campaign today!
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 9
What's her story? Support the reImagining kickstarter campaign today!
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 8
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 7
AND SO IT HAS BEGUN! WE HAVE UNTIL 12:01AM APRIL 1ST TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN !
SPREAD THE WORD!
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 6
AND NOW WE HAVE VIDEO!
WE ARE ALMOST THERE! FEBRUARY 1ST CAN NOT COME SOON ENOUGH!
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 5
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 4
Okay guys! Well the count down begins - with a sneak preview! I had the best time this weekend creating the reImagining kickstarter campaign images. The entire photo shoot was such a pleasure. Big laughs and great energy! I have to give a huge thanks to the super patient model - Majella Mark! She was freezing in my 111 year old house and never complained! And guys - the make up, oh the make up! This amazing make up job was brought to you by the make up extraordinaire Risha Rox! If - oh excuse me - WHEN the kickstarter campaign in successful, you will be seeing much more of her work. I have to give so much love to Aulister Mark, he is going to have to work miracles with the campaign video. I am sticking to my side of the camera - where I am not stiff as a board! And the man in the room - Anthony Levi! Keeping it pack baby! Thanks so much for bringing that eye for detail and your calming spirit! Well, below is a preview of the images for the campaign. The first is the official kickstarter web page image formatted for their site and the second is the one I will be using for everything else. This is just the beginning.......
Stay tuned - We Launch our kickstarter campaign February 1st!
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 3
Last we spoke, I asked if women of color were down at Occupy Wall Street. I railed about our need for representation. I put out the information that would get us out there. Then I calmed down and remembered - I have a camera, a cell phone with a voice recorder, and website. The Brown in the City Blog was taking to the street. I wanted to prove that we had something to say and the right to be heard. Without further rambling from me - the women of color I met at Occupy Wall Street.
Click here to hear Elyce Jacome
Click here to hear Akua Gyamerah
Click here to hear Kamyon Conner
Click here to hear Jaqulyne Coleman
Click here to hear Liliveth Castanedo
Click here to hear Tara Gonsalves
Click here to hear Cassie Hinnen
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 2
My heart swells when I look over the crowds at Occupy Wall Street, then it skips a beat when I search for the faces of black women in the milieu of protesters. We are there, we are present, but are we being heard? When the mainstream media finally decided to pick up on the story, all of my favorite black female pundits (Melissa Harris Perry, Karen Finney, Tamron Hall, Keli Goff, Joy-Anne Reid, Karen Hunter, Goldie Taylor) were early supporters of the movement. But, I started to get a bit worried when most of the representatives they put in front of the camera where white men. Then, an auspicious interview the morning of the failed "let's clean up the park/clean out the protesters" attempt by Brookfield and Bloomberg. There stood a young black woman going toe to toe with a city/corporate representative telling the obvious truth that it was a badly veiled attempt to deny citizens their 1st amendment rights. And, she was glorious. Polite, but firm. Back straight, eyes to the camera shining with the light of being on the right side of history. For a moment I felt kinda bad for the city/corporate representative who looked like he just wanted to slink off camera after being out smarted by “a bunch of hippies in their drum circles". I did not catch that young sister's name, I was too busy pumping my fists in the air over the victory of the protestors, but the image of her representing the movement has forever been seared into my mind's eye. Yes, her interview was the only one of the at least 30-40 interviews with OWS representatives that I have seen, that featured a black woman. But, OWS has many voices and many hopes. Interwoven into those voices must be the demands of black women. With the obvious wage inequality for women and minorities, imagine the wage inequality for black women. With the levels of discrimination in the work place, imagine the discrimination black women face everyday at the work place. Imagine how the mothers, the sisters, the aunts, the grandmothers, the wives of the black men must feel when their sons, their brothers, their nephews, their grandsons, and their husbands leave the house for another day of stop and frisk. As the social safety net is continuously threatened, elderly women of color are in the most vulnerable position of falling through the holes with little personal wealth after years of institutionalized racism has left their saving well behind their contemporaries. And of course the demand closest to my heart, correcting the false cultural identities forced on black women. We must be there to add these demands, and many more that affect our daily lives, to the growing chorus coming from Liberty Park. So sisters, I implore you to go out and march at whatever protest is closest to you. Support the protestors in your city with your presence and your voice. Below is more information connected to the movement - add your voice to the chorus and let’s create a new paradigm that will allow a real reImagining of the lives of women of color.
twitter: @occpywallstnyc, @nycsep17, @occupywallst, #occupywallstreet, #occupytogether
facebook: occupywallstreet
kickstart(er)ing the reImagining - Part 1
“It is axiomatic that if we do not define ourselves for ourselves, we will be defined by others - for their use and to our detriment” - Audre Lorde
“General Announcement: It is not my job to make you comfortable with my presence. I exist. Yes, I am here. You can see me. I do not need to shuck and jive and amuse you to be in The Room. I have more than earned my seat at the table, and yes, I will be adding my voice to the conversation. What conversation, you ask. Well, the National Conversation on Race, of course! When did we start that conversation, you ask? Despite popular media consensus, it did not start January 20th, 2009. It has been going on for the past 400 years. Those people forced on a boat and shipped here, well they were the first to raise their voices. This conversation has been going on for a while, it’s not my fault you have been ignoring it. Does your anger and panic stem from your choosing only to acknowledge it after I have taken my rightful place at The Table? Well, let’s take this moment to welcome you to the conversation. I am very curious to see what you have to offer that is not race baiting or crocodile tears. So, let’s talk……” -first blog entry on the Brown in the City Blog
So how do you talk about race when your voice is not apart of the conversation? How do you fight an identity that was placed on you? That is the essence of the reImagining. The only thing worse than being misrepresented in your culture, is being disappeared from it. Imagine having to vacillate between the two. If you can, you know what it is to be a black woman in America. Not Oprah, not Michelle, not Halle. But the everyday black woman being followed by the store detective. The everyday black woman straining to see herself on basic cable or in the magazines that get front shelf real estate. The everyday black woman wondering where she fits in this society.
The reImagining is a 300 image photographic installation created to allow women of African descent to not only challenge the stereotypes they fight everyday, but to also reclaim their own identities and to weave them into the cultural conversation. The full write up of the project can be found here.
I have been working to bring this project to fruition since January of 2010. I have met 71 of the most inspiring women who are ready to tell the world their stories, and I am itching to tell them. The only roadblock, the Great Recession. Traditional art funding has constricted at the same pace as my personal wallet. After laboring under grant proposals and fundraising letters to no avail, I was introduced by one of these brilliant women (I’m looking at you Noelle) to the idea of a kickstarter campaign. Take the cause to the people. So….here we go! I am in the planning and research stages for a campaign to be held in February and March of 2012. Walk with me as I put this campaign together and get the project funded. Please feel free to give me any advice you think could help me or just send your good energy. Either way I would love to hear from you! I look forward sharing the journey with you!
Peaces!
Ijeoma D. Iheanacho
Well if CNN refuses to do it's job.....Portraits from a Protest
Living in NYC allows me to experience many things, but this weekend, for exactly one hour of my life, I brushed up against humanity. Yeah it sounds flowery, but being amongst the protestors at Occupy Wall Street reminded me of my core belief in the human narrative. I was able to squeeze a trip in this Sunday between church and meetings and walked away with a camera full of pictures and a heart full of hope:
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Oh yeah: CNN finally decided to show up!
Insane in the Membrane
I always know when I am starting to slip into the madness again. The voice in my head takes on a British accent. When it speaks to me in Italian I am just mildly perturbed, Spanish - just kinda off. But when that skull crashing union jack takes over, it's time for the looney bin. I know this sounds too rational for confinement, but keep in mind that just a few sentences ago I did say, “voice inside my head”. All my favorite Beat poets spent some time in a padded cell, so I feel no shame in needing a straight jacket or two. But, I wish I could claim it was the byproduct of too much time in the darkroom or staring to far into the lens. To be perfectly honest, it's reality that's driving me crazy. The reality of Amy Goodman whispering to me the secret doings of ALEC on my podcasts in the morning. The reality of wondering if the kids down the street are now counted among the staggering 31 million American children living in poverty. The reality that mother nature is tiring of our abuse and has started fighting back with wilder storms and deeper droughts. The reality of Dick Cheney on a book tour instead of under the basement of the Hauge doing 30 to life. The reality that we are losing a whole generation of American graduates due to our inability to overthrow our corporatism mindset. These little things just keep tickling in the back of my mind no matter how much I serf the People magazine website or rabidly watch TMZ. I can not get that cockney accent from reminding me that as a nation we are tripping down a path of no return. Pushed and prodded from the right by Republican politicians with a burning hatred in their eyes, and continuously let down on the left when we HOPE for the support of our weak willed Democrats. It’s enough to make anyone paying attention wonder if they are the first, or the last, to give into the insanity.
It Was A Beautiful Day for a Protest
It's been a while since I blogged, but today I was literally moved to tears watching people come together to fight for the future of this country. Before I get to story of how I was almost bawling watching the young, the old, even the handicapped, march for their rights, I want to say thanks to the wonderful people at Art for Change for letting me know the May Day rally was happening. Seriously, I miss everything!
But back to the story.....The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the protesters were raising their voices in unity. Organizations represented workers' rights, immigrants' rights, women's rights, 3rd party political parties, and on and on and on, were out shouting to wake up the sleeping giant of the American middle class. Now what made little ole me cry? I have been waiting to see this moment for too long. The people are rising and fighting for their futures. Get out on the streets and join them! Below are some of the pics from the day and you can see the full portfolio here! THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!
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