Martin Walked
Friends -
I actually started this gourd earlier in the month,
but became necessarily side-tracked in order
to complete a commissioned oil painting by last
weekend. Thus, 'Martin Walked' was not finalized
until today. While I was cutting out the sections
around the peace symbol, the left extension broke
away. I started to discard the gourd, then thought
the better for it. Maybe a fragile, broken, peace
sign is more symbolic with respect to the particular
theme in this case.
For my own heart I needed to complete the piece
because it began as my response to the Tucson shootings
on 8 January. Six were tragically shot to death
by a madman with his legal semi-automatic handgun.
Assemblywoman Gabrielle Gifford's future and ability
to function productively remains uncertain. This
devastation followed months of ever-increasing
political vitriol and loathing which included rifle-sitings
laid on Democratic districts, popular hatred toward
public employees, lots of threats toward gays,
immigrants and disregard for human rights in general.
It also happened in January which is the time when
many prepare for demonstrations, reflections of
peace and civil rights and we do this together
at memorial celebrations of Martin Luther King.
The only way to make sense of all of this is to
remember what it was like in the 1950's, and realize
that things are getting better. I recently saw
a T-shirt that had the following printed on the
front:
so that Martin could walk
Martin Walked
so that Barack could run
Barack Ran
so that all our children can fly
- Kiari Day
Keep on walking. It is our only choice.
margie lopez read
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