Exploring Solidarity: Artist Statement
I started with a self exploration of how I defined solidarity. Then I considered how that definition has since evolved. I’ve chosen to use haiku’s and couplets as well as some free form poetry as a medium because they made the most sense to me for this exercise. Often times important writings are tough to read and quite dense. I’ve chosen to make this almost conversational—because a huge part of solidarity is learning to speak to one another. I hope these poems clearly show how my understanding of solidarity has evolved, as well as where it stands today.
I started with a self exploration of how I defined solidarity. Then I considered how that definition has since evolved. I’ve chosen to use haiku’s and couplets as well as some free form poetry as a medium because they made the most sense to me for this exercise. Often times important writings are tough to read and quite dense. I’ve chosen to make this almost conversational—because a huge part of solidarity is learning to speak to one another. I hope these poems clearly show how my understanding of solidarity has evolved, as well as where it stands today.
Solidarity at first glance
Is just a big word you think you should understand.
Is just a word you know you should be able to define.
Is just a concept advocates expect you know.
Is just a concept.
A concept.
Solidarity at second glance is more.
More that just a big word you think you should understand.
More than just a word you know you should be able to define.
More than just a concept advocates expect you know.
More than just a concept.
More than a concept.
Solidarity at third glance is all.
All support one.
All believe one.
All be different.
All be.
Solidarity is not achieved by glances.
Solidarity is never achieved.
Solidarity is lived.
Is risk.
Is sacrifice.
Is love.
Is forever.
Means v. Mean
I fight alongside you,
Means solidarity.
I understand the cage they keep you in,
Means solidarity.
I believe your struggle,
Means solidarity.
I empower you,
Means solidarity.
Mean solidarity
Empowers my own.
Mean solidarity
Empowers my own.
Mean solidarity is not solidarity.
I fight alongside you,
Means solidarity.
I understand the cage they keep you in,
Means solidarity.
I believe your struggle,
Means solidarity.
I empower you,
Means solidarity.
Mean solidarity
Empowers my own.
Mean solidarity
Empowers my own.
Mean solidarity is not solidarity.
Solidarity is not achieved.
It is lived.
Solidarity means knowing yourself.
And knowing others.
Solidarity means putting difference at the center of progress.
Some people think sameness is key,
But solidarity is when you're nothing like me .
Dance with me,
by my side.
with nowhere to hide.
It is lived.
Solidarity means knowing yourself.
And knowing others.
Solidarity means putting difference at the center of progress.
Some people think sameness is key,
But solidarity is when you're nothing like me .
Dance with me,
by my side.
with nowhere to hide.
Solidarity to myself.
Means that I can unlearn.
Solidarity to myself is a commitment to me.
A commitment being happy.
We must be in solidarity with our own struggles if we are ever to be free.
Means that I can unlearn.
Solidarity to myself is a commitment to me.
A commitment being happy.
We must be in solidarity with our own struggles if we are ever to be free.
To Conclude…
Solidarity is a journey,
for more just outcomes
and a better,
happier world.
Solidarity is a journey,
for more just outcomes
and a better,
happier world.
Book Report on A Separation by Katie Kitamura
Kitamura spends almost half of her book analyzing death and its effect on people. I found the concept of "injustice" in regards to grief very interesting. On page 177, the woman describe how she felt the “essential injustice of [Christopher’s] death.” This quote, helped illustrate the difference between separation and death as concepts and reality. At first glance it seems like the injustice is just the fact that Christopher was robbed and murdered. However, after finishing the book, I think the true injustice of death was not being able to see someone again. It’s different when you are separated, you have the option to visit that person and in some way that feels more ‘just.’ Maybe the woman feels a sense of regret for wanting to separate or get a divorce; the phrase “till death do us part” gave her what she was asking for, but made it permanent. I wonder if that’s what Kitamura was getting at, that in some ways, separation is akin to death.
Kitamura spends almost half of her book analyzing death and its effect on people. I found the concept of "injustice" in regards to grief very interesting. On page 177, the woman describe how she felt the “essential injustice of [Christopher’s] death.” This quote, helped illustrate the difference between separation and death as concepts and reality. At first glance it seems like the injustice is just the fact that Christopher was robbed and murdered. However, after finishing the book, I think the true injustice of death was not being able to see someone again. It’s different when you are separated, you have the option to visit that person and in some way that feels more ‘just.’ Maybe the woman feels a sense of regret for wanting to separate or get a divorce; the phrase “till death do us part” gave her what she was asking for, but made it permanent. I wonder if that’s what Kitamura was getting at, that in some ways, separation is akin to death.
Book Report on The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad’s, The Heart of Darkness, is layered in thinly, saturated sheets of ambiguous darkness. The “darkness” evolves throughout the story Marlow, the narrator, recounts. Why does it change? What are these subtle changes in atmosphere symbolic of? What are the literal and figurative examples of the “darkness,” and who or what do they represent? Joseph Conrad uses darkness as a metaphor and a vehicle to portray the horrors of what is the Congo. This book beautifully explores the way that darkness can creep up on you, and how there can always be more than one way to react. Joseph Conrad asks us to reflect on our morality and how our human nature may corrupt or be corrupted.
Book Report on The Dubliners by James Joyce
Many of Joyce’s short stories highlight the lack of autonomy in the lives of Dubliners. No character "makes it," and that is what makes people care about the problem. It’s easy to dismiss the criminals when someone great and amazing is handed to you, but Joyce didn’t do that. He denied the reader of any heroic behavior to make his message as clear as it is. There are no heroes given to people in real life, because life is not a fairy tale. Joyce shows the realness and the perfectly flawed way of life. Change and hope only exists when the common people rise up and demand change. Joyce reveals that more often than not, nobody will be there to help you. And when you have no on and no autonomy, you must stand up and fend for yourself.
Many of Joyce’s short stories highlight the lack of autonomy in the lives of Dubliners. No character "makes it," and that is what makes people care about the problem. It’s easy to dismiss the criminals when someone great and amazing is handed to you, but Joyce didn’t do that. He denied the reader of any heroic behavior to make his message as clear as it is. There are no heroes given to people in real life, because life is not a fairy tale. Joyce shows the realness and the perfectly flawed way of life. Change and hope only exists when the common people rise up and demand change. Joyce reveals that more often than not, nobody will be there to help you. And when you have no on and no autonomy, you must stand up and fend for yourself.
Doritos Passion Project - Out of this world