fighting with kindness

as an artist, much of our credibility and value is based off the number of places our work has been exhibited, which galleries, museums, and institutions. although my sight is always set on iconic, museum worthy imagery- what i found was that there was too much of a disconnect from the work and the community in which the art was created from. not to mention from a financial standpoint, all the application fees that come with submitting work that might very well get rejected anyhow due to the subjective nature of jurors and the selection of “winning” images felt like wasted money.

it would be great to say that i could do it all. but as a mother of three and in this season of my journey, money is as sparse as time. where will my time and money be used most effectively? through life’s trials and errors, God’s grace led me to a place of many practical questions: would i rather be at an exhibit opening or be at home making dinner for my kids? do i want to pursue this relationship/endeavor or do i want to put my kids to bed? this was not a matter of parenting- but an ownership of my time and the realization of power i had over it. i think because we cannot see it with our eyes, time is something we often take too lightly. in the same respect, something as flammable as money, is upheld with far too much importance.

unlike time or money, gestures of kindness are immeasurable. it is not a cheap cliché that any act of kindness is ever too big or small. beyond that, these are the very actions that open doors for communication, compassion & healing. feelings of living within a hopeless society and a very broken world are understandable but never an excuse. our very weapons against injustice and hate is the awareness in our minds in communion with action. in and of itself kindness may look meek and gentle, but the delivery in which our kind actions be carried out must be with fervor.

one way i’ve found peace in stepping away from the gallery world in pursuit of kindness, while also fulfilling every artists’ nature to share work is to gift framed prints of my neighbors that have been photographed by me. within this exchange is fruit we bear — joy, love, understanding, hope, a restored faith.

the lie is, we are fighting a war.
the truth is, the war has already been won.

ameer the world is yours. 21st and jefferson streets

mr. rodney before his daughter leaving for her 8th grade dance.

prom

i love the month of may for prom/graduation season.
it is the pinnacle celebration of life & milestones for high school students and their parents alike.

ty’shaun arriving to meet his date.

raianna & ty’shaun before prom. 21st & jefferson street.

mr. ben & ty’shaun

zora before leaving for prom

miguel at his ‘moving up’ ceremony from kindergarten to 1st grade.

humanity is real only when we let it be

thank you mr. martin. i hope you’re well, safe and healthy.
broad & olney, 2017

north philly gentrification

on wednesday june 19th PHA will be having their THIRD mass auction in the past three years of 187 mostly viable homes in the north philly neighborhoods. you can view the entire list here.

187.

125 of which are in walking distance from the new $45 million new construction PHA building located at 2013 ridge ave. formally known as section 8, the new “housing choice voucher program”, is not even open for new applicants and won’t be for another FIFTEEN years.

“gentrification is death and PHA is the grimreaper”

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to the ceo mr. kelvin jeremiah & PHA:

as you may have noticed by now, there have been a small group of protestors camped outside the PHA building for 42 consecutive days now, led by jennifer, a lifelong north philly resident. their ONLY request is that they be granted an oversight committee in which the people would have some kind of voice in the future of the neighborhoods that have been their home for generations.

we see the PHA website and the very positive housing mission that you all seem to think you are delivering- what you are completely missing the mark on is the way you are doing so. what your propaganda videos and misleading words are not showing are the hundreds of people that are being swindled out of their homes for pennies on the dollar, and the unknowing tenants being evicted with no other housing options. the people are being displaced. the culture & history of a land demolished without CONSENT of anyone but your own. the tax paying residents that have managed to survive the plundering of land and homes, will now be left to pay much higher, unwanted property taxes and a complete demoralization of a culture that has made the neighborhood their own.

there is no accountability taking place because you are choosing to turn the other cheek.

i wonder if you, mr. kelvin, were being harassed and pushed out of the home you grew up in, your mother and your grandmother, if you would remain still and go along so willingly. what you are doing and how you are doing it, is in step with the colonizing forefathers of this country and the indigenous people of this land. you can run, you can hide, but nothing will protect you from the truth. may it be in this lifetime or the next.

to councilman darrell clarke: you are in the same company. when asked about the housing situation by jennifer in the PHA parking lot just the other day, you responded that you “had no idea” that any of this was going on. the people are listening. and you are lying. you are lying to the community that raised you.

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to anyone that has passed the PHA building on 20th and ridge, you may have seen the group of protestors i am talking about. as i’ve mentioned before, they’ve been out there for 42 days through the rain and heat. they are always in need of food, water and ice.

the new PHA building on 20th and ridge ave, looms over small businesses in north philly

ms. ruth, life long north philly resident and activist, outside the newly constructed PHA building

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before, 2014

after, 2019

1500 block bailey street, 2014

1500 block bailey street, 2019

back to basics

decided to abandon the atrocious monstrosity that is social media. i’ve always been torn between accepting the current state of culture whilst not compromising my own beliefs and the integrity of my work. without going into the why’s and the what’s, which are endless, the bottom line is it never produced for me joy and also, luckily not a necessity for my line of work.

but alas, the longing to share remains. to share the work that i shoot, the words in my head & God’s love for us. & i don’t mean that exclusively to me. when we are sharing with one another in life, our time and resources- not over algorithm agendas but in actual real life, we are at our best.

so here i am. blogging is something i’ve always enjoyed. it was such a natural extension to journaling & diary writing ever since i could write. i hear crickets here, and i like that.

i’ve started the journey to publishing my first book: the north philly story. to anyone that has so trustingly been photographed by my camera will know this as old news. 100% of book sales/profits will go directly to fund our very much needed after school programs in north philly. this is not an act of goodwill but should be the right of way to the communities from which the art was created from.

i hope this to be a better avenue to keep a running catalog of current work, my inner monologue and the journey to a successfully published book. it is of the greatest privilege i get to photograph the family-like community that i am constantly welcomed by. in return my only hope is that their stories and images are regarded and shared in the most honest way possible.

@ bebop’s 50th birthday party, 61st and market street