image source material from bell hooks' salvation

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Wanted to put something up before black history month ended. I performed & recorded this last year almost directly after walking home at night from the Myrtle strip and having two white women walking in front of me visibly have a shift of energy after noticing my presence. An experience that I hadn’t noticed in quite some time since Rand was usually always at my side when moving around & having one other person, female, can change how you’re immediately received in terms of passing perceptions. I had my hood up & headphones on and my initial reaction was one that I’ve discussed with friends on numerous occasions, especially having lived in the south, of trying to convey that I’m not a threat, that I’m simply walking, to immediately combat any potential stereotypes or perceptions that might be placed on me & creating the potential for an uncomfortable, potentially even dangerous walk home. There’s a strange burden that I know other black folks have expressed of needing to do this..deescalate their presence. Assure others of their safety in our presence when people lead with assumptions. Of course, I understand people being mindful of the strangers around them & stories of dangerous interactions leading towards walkers being harmed is a real and valid fear. On this day though, I was overcome with this emotion thinking about bodies like Trayvon Martin, also just walking home, hood up & headphones in and his probable acute awareness towards intuitively attending towards others assumptions, to diminish his presence daily in order to make others feel safe & still being preyed on in scenarios like this. This drone piece is meant to be experienced while walking alone at night, with your hood up and headphones in. To feel the tension of observing. To understand the push pull between deciding for your safety while thinking about quelling the nerves of those around you, again, for you own safety. Complex situations result in complex expressions and continued conversation. February’s almost over but let’s keep conversations like this in mind for how we are and why we are and what we want the world to be for everyone to exist safely & without unnecessary burden. First image is originally from bell hooks’ salvation. Second alt image is a concept piece I did in my old living room with the help of Rand ✌🏽 listen up top

In salvation, bell hooks posits a term, "soul murder", which describes this push and pull that black bodies have to contend with in this white patriarchal system. Many times to advance, or even survive, black individuals must create false senses of self to accommodate & assimilate towards the expectations generated & perpetuated by this system. Doing so, creates a psychological conflict, many times an identity crisis, within individuals towards how they should "be".