Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Art becomes activism at 'We Must Breathe'
by Caroline Siede
2014-12-24

This article shared 4578 times since Wed Dec 24, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


On Dec. 18, playwrights, spoken-word artists and actors gathered to talk about race at Victory Gardens Theater's "We Must Breathe" event. The one-night-only performance aimed to add an artistic component to the national #BlackLivesMatter movement that has erupted in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner ( and non-indictments of those deaths ). In addition to playing to a sold-out house, the performance was live-streamed to viewers around the world.

While Garner's final words, "I can't breathe," have become a rallying cry for outraged protestors, We Must Breathe aimed to create a space for healing through artistic expression. The 11 original pieces ranged from traditional two-person scenes to poetry to call-and-response songs. The event palpably charged the young but diverse crowd; they regularly snapped, clapped and cheered along with performers.

Several pieces dealt directly with the deaths of Garner and Brown as well as the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. Calamity West's "No Knock, Or Thanksgiving In Saint Louis, 2014" featured two young white women somewhat awkwardly discussing race during a tense family holiday, while Kristiana Colon's "3-Piece Meets Shay" followed the chance meeting of a Ferguson looter-turned-protestor and a shopkeeper.

Marcus Gardley's "Schizophrenia Americana" required actor Robert Cornelius to portray six characters of various races, genders and ages. Gardley painted a complex picture of good intentions and internalized biases, never letting any one character—even a white police officer—become the villain of his piece.

Artists also spoke to larger issues of racial inequality. Nambi Kelley's visceral "Dead Of Night: The Execution of" described how police too often see a Black victim as a threat. Artist/activist Nikki Patin tied the oppression of Black people to the oppression of rape survivors. And before beginning his piece, prominent Chicago activist and poet Malcolm London called attention to We Charge Genocide's demand for reparations for survivors of police torture during the brutal reign of Police Commander Jon Burge.

But the stand out moment of the night came early when spoken word artist Javon Smith, who performs under the name Black Zygote, ended his piece by asserting that trans, queer, female, gay and poor Black lives matter because all Black lives do. The audience burst into thunderous applause that lasted well after Smith had taken his seat.

Following the performance, Congo Square Theatre Company's Samuel Roberson led a somewhat stilted post-show discussion. "Are we preaching to the choir?" one person asked via Twitter—a question Roberson posed back to the audience. He asked who in the room had attended a Chicago protest. Only about a fourth of the audience raised its hands. "If we're preaching to the choir, we're not preaching to a very active choir," he noted.

Those words seemed to galvanize the crowd. Following a final song and toy drive, attendees took to the streets. Led by members of the Ferguson youth activist group Lost Voices, the audience members-turned-protestors moved to the intersection of Fullerton Avenue, Lincoln Avenue and Halsted Street, where they blocked traffic for about 20 minutes in a peaceful demonstration and "die-in." Protestors then linked arms and walked back to Victory Gardens' Biograph Theater. A night of healing inside a theater ended with a protest outside of one. During the group's final chant, the words "We have nothing to lose but our chains" rang out over Lincoln Park.


This article shared 4578 times since Wed Dec 24, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released
2024-03-27
The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

Thailand parliament passes landmark marriage bill
2024-03-27
On March 27, Thailand's parliament approved a marriage-equality bill by an overwhelmingly large margin—a landmark step that moves one of Asia's most liberal countries closer to legalizing same-sex unions, media ...


Gay News

Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-24
On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...


Gay News

Family of 2004 murder victim holds event in Lake View; reward announced
2024-03-24
The year 2004, for the family and friends of Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, will forever be marked by tragedy. On March 24 of that year, Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment at 3444 N. Elaine Pl.; he was the ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal
2024-03-22
In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist
2024-03-21
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies
2024-03-15
Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece
2024-03-14
Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit
2024-03-11
On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...


Gay News

"X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards
2024-03-11
After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...


Gay News

WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor
2024-03-08
Hanania Ben-Shimon—the gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recently—published a post in which he pleaded that his ...


Gay News

Court blocks Texas attorney general's demand for PFLAG data
2024-03-01
From a press release: AUSTIN, Texas—Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexel on March 1 blocked the latest effort by the Texas Attorney General's Office to persecute Texas families with transgender youth, temporarily haltin ...


Gay News

WORLD Canadian politics, Australian murders, Finnish study, 'Anatomy'
2024-03-01
Canadian conservatives are divided over an anti-trans policy that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed down in her province, The Guardian reported. The policy includes a ban on hormonal treatment, puberty ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.