“She wants to get rid of me…”
This is a statement against a system and an ideology that has spent generations telling people of specific skin colors that they do not belong.
The people in these photographs are not statistics. They are not criminals. They are not threats. They are human beings.
These pictures show Black and Brown bodies in all phases of community.
They are families celebrating together. They are elders participating in ritual. They are immigrants propping up an ungrateful country. They are neighbors protecting one another. They are communities mourning. They are people proud of their roots. They are artists creating galleries of resistance and existence.
These images stand in direct opposition to the racist narratives pushed by the media, the politicians, and the institutions of power, who for too long, have tried to strip Black and Brown people of their humanity, while also making violence against them easier to justify.
The shell casings scattered throughout this installation are evidence of that violence. They sit beside candles of remembrance. The same ground where bullets come to rest, is also the ground where communities gather to honor their fallen.
The fired rounds also rest upon an altar draped in the American flag. It’s a symbol of a nation that promises freedom but delivers vitriol and death. For many immigrants, America represents hope and a chance at a better life. Too often, however, they are met with fear and bullets. Too often, they are murdered by cowards in uniforms.
This work in progress is grief and anger.
We all bleed the same.
FUCK ICE. FUCK THIS PRESIDENT. AND FUCK YOU IF YOU STAND WITH THEM.
-Armando Geneyro
w/ contributions from Victor Domingo (@ogmr23) and Chaz Mykl (@chazmykl)
Thank you to RiNo Arts and One River North.