Conversation Guides Call for Artist
When Community enCompass began considering who would provide the vision for a new mural at Sacred Suds Community Center, the answer came quick: the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP!), of course.
“The kids needed to get back together--start talking to each other about what’s going on,” said YEP Director, Charlotte Johnson, who is frequently found facilitating conversations with YEPs about how they're personally impacted by the issues of today; everything from COVID-19 and remote schooling to unemployment, homelessness, mass incarceration, the local judicial system, voting, and Black Lives Matter.
With Johnson’s leadership, the teens put together a video seeking “an artist to portray the struggles in our community--that can see the pain and bring it to light.” They requested all applicants respond with an introductory video explaining their interest in the collaboration.
The video “Call for Artists” spread, and soon Kendra Bringedahl, a 4th grade teacher at Timberland Charter Academy, was scrolling Facebook to locate a Grand Rapids artist she’d recently come across through a group page: Edwin Anderson.
“I instantly thought of Edwin because of murals he’d shared on the group page,” said Bringedahl, “As a dedicated educator in Muskegon, I feel an obligation to share as many opportunities for learning and growth with our youth. Providing role models who can empower and uplift children is one of the most effective and engaging ways to do this.”
Bringedahl sent the project information to Anderson, who applied, eager to build conversations with youth about their experiences today, particularly in the realm of racial justice. After considering applications, the YEPs agreed that Anderson had the tools to weave the threads of their thoughts and experiences into a large-scale art piece.
Conversation Guides Creation
In the weeks leading up to putting paint on a wall, the YEPs continued exploring justice issues together. Anderson listened, asked questions, and led exercises to connect key phrases and feelings to images and artistic styles.
“They’re young people just trying to find their way, but they know more than they think they know,” Anderson said of the YEPs. “They have great conversations; they can explain how they feel; they understand important subject matters.”
“we ain’t asking for a lot. Just something everyone else has.
Just give me liberty.”
-Charlotte Johnson
Of YEP Director, Miss Charlotte Johnson, he said, "I’ve learned quite a lot. I’ve learned more about the heritage and the history of Black Americans, and about Muskegon and the history here. She’s so illustrative and passionate. She has really great, positive energy that anyone who’s around her can’t help reciprocating. And she has patience. PA-tience. A lot of the young adults are antsy at times, but she knows that the youth are our future and that investing time in them is important. That’s why I love her. The skills that she has as an influencer and storyteller — that’s what I’m looking to achieve."
Planned and unplanned artistic back-and-forth evolved within the group. The YEPs interviewed one another, as well as other artists and community leaders. They responded to Anderson’s design ideas with their own sketches for the mural. From the developing themes, they composed raps and speeches. Then, four weeks after conversations began, Anderson revealed his proposed illustration.
“What emotions do you feel when you look at this piece?” Johnson asked YEP, E’nireion McBride.
“Some emotions that I can’t describe. The Black fist up is our way of speaking. We don’t need no words, no actions. It shows our power. We’ve been trying to speak for so long, but nobody is here to listen or help us try to find our way. And what’s the reason for standing for a flag when everybody wants you to fall?” replied McBride.
“We ain’t asking for a lot, just something everyone else has. Just give me liberty,” said Johnson.
Mural Unveiled
The YEP Mural was officially unveiled on Friday, September 4, and represents the past and present struggle of Black Americans for equity.
“It’s a beautiful thing. It depicts our lives, our history and our struggle. And now it’s not just Black people talking about it,” said Brenda Billings-Carter, a YEP parent who attended the unveiling.
The mural commemorates those who’ve planted themselves between their community and systems of violence--Tommie Smith’s fist raised high, Colin Kaepernick’s knee to the earth. It commemorates the lives taken--Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others. It cries out with the compounding ache and confusion of a people told to be silent after another injustice, another murder--a hand over a woman’s mouth.
It declares: We will have justice. We will have liberty. We will have peace.
“You listened and you listened,” said Johnson to Anderson, “You captured their feelings, their thoughts, their expressions to create a mural that we’re proud to display here in Muskegon.”
CONVERSATION STARTS WITH QUESTIONS
In the midst of uncertainty, distress, injustice -- we remember the youth where we live.
We remember to pause and ask them the question posed by civil rights activist Ruby Sales:
“Where does it hurt?”
And of the poet Anna Akhmatova, written as her loved ones were imprisoned and killed in Leningrad in the years of Stalin:
“Can you describe this?”
Given the tools and opportunity, the kids surely can.
Thank you, YEPs, for sharing your wisdom and your gifts. Thank you, Edwin, for depicting this moment in history through their eyes, and in the universal language of art. Thanks also to all of you who have supported the Youth Empowerment Project this season.
Author: Chelsea Tanis