Kehinde Wiley Speaks

    On the Protests

    What does this moment in America mean to you, in particular with the protests following George Floyd’s death?

    It’s a wake-up call to the white population in America. It’s what so many Black Americans have known and been trying to communicate for centuries. It comes as no shock or surprise to us that Black bodies are under assault on a daily basis. What comes as a shock is that so few have listened. By virtue of technologywe’re able to have visualized in real time the destruction of Black bodies in public spaces. It’s loud and it’s in your face and it’s undeniable. America at large has had this ability to justify these killings. Now people are wondering whether this will actually bring change. We’ll see. I’m not impressed yet. I’m seeing a lot of self-aggrandizing and self-congratulations on the part of our white allies. I want to see that translate into change with prison reform and education reform, and not this abstract thing.

    On the Confederate statues

    What should we do with all the Confederate statues that came down?

    We need a hall of horrors. You don’t have to melt it all down but create a space where we see our terrible past. It’s less about should it be in existence but should it be deified. Take it off the stage and put it back where it belongs.

     

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/arts/design/kehinde-wiley-monument.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Art%20%20Design

    Comments

    Marketing 101: focus. People are simple. You ask them to look at 2 things, they leave forgetting one or both.

    Not only that, but some people glorify the South, and of course it's a region and thriving home for millions, not just an atrocity museum. Note: Wisconsin is not in the South, nor are Minneapolis and Portland, while Louisville never seceded and fought for the North.

    Remember what happened to #TakeAKnee when it got mixed with sports and flags and the anthem and the troops? A resounding useless mess.

    So maybe stick with knees on necks and bullets in backs if we want to address police abuse and what goes for daily racism in 2020, not the type from 160 years ago that's largely ancient and dealt with.

     


    Wiley is simply offering his opinion.

    Edit to add:

    Trump is headed out to offer support for a white kid who killed two people and a bunch of white guys on a wilding, shooting paintball guns and carrying high powered weapons.


    No fucking kidding - i wouldve never guessed.
    So how the fuck does that address my comment? Lessee, it doesn't.
    So why the fuck did you even write it? Fingers got itchy? Have PP-itis? Just can't quit that Civil War thing however irrelevant it is to people in 2020 dying in the streets & trying to lose the election in November?
    Your/his "wakeup call" is designed to just get people to roll their eyes or actively work against you.
    I just went through a bunch of dumbass Facebook comments - people who I'd think would know better are saying all our racism problems are caused by *disrespecting the police*. Think these idiots will be persuaded by some jaunt through the Civil War? Who are you working for?


    Both men are aiming their message a at target market. Wiley tells you that he is unsure if whites understand the moment we are experiencing. He has talks about melting down statues.

    Trump is targeting scared white people.

    They are speaking to two different audiences.

    White voters will cast their votes. Wiley shouldn't have to hide his opinion.

    There is no belief that if blacks just hold their tongues, a certain subset of white people will vote for Biden

    That subset will believe that electing Trump will get us out of the mess created by the current President.


    He doesn't have to "hide his opinion" - he has to strategize if he wants his opinion to count. Or do you think it's, "hey, I believe in this grab bag of politics, let's fuck"?


    Why does he, as an artist, have to strategize?


    Here is Trump

    At the start of and throughout his news conference Monday evening, President Trump attacked Joe Biden for condemning violence but not specifically left-wing perpetrators of it.

    By the end of the news conference, Trump not only pointedly declined to condemn right-wing violence at the same demonstrations, he voluntarily defended it.

    The president offered his first public comments about Kyle Rittenhouse, a supporter who was charged with murder in Kenosha, Wis., as well as other Trump supporters who converged on Portland, Ore., and apparently fired paintball guns and pepper spray at protesters.

    Trump found little fault with any of them. He noted that at least the paintballs weren’t bullets and called it a “peaceful protest.”

    Well, I understand that had large numbers of people that were supporters, but that was a peaceful protest,” he said. “And paint is not — and paint as a defensive mechanism, paint is not bullets. … These people, they protested peacefully. They went in very peacefully."

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/31/trumps-illuminating-defense-kyle-rittenhouse/?hpid=hp_no-name_fix-trump-756pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

     

    If people read his justification for violence and still pull the lever for him, it is not Wiley's fault.


    It doesn't fucking matter whose "fault" it is - if Trump's re-elected we'll have 4-12 years to discuss whose dick is longer because our opinion about anything more meaningful won't count. Are you able to miss the point even more? Yeah, these guys have black skin and aren't Herman Cain, so you're best buds, but for the rest of us it ain't that simple.


    I am not missing the point. I am putting the blame where it belongs, on the voters who pull the lever for Trump. What is their pathology? Nothing Wiley said justifies voting for Trump.


    Who the fuck cares about "Blame"? If Trump wins or steals it, we're all a bunch of loser idiots. Again, you act as if pointing fingers makes a difference. Winning makes a difference - all else is just shit.


    Wiley is not responsible for how people vote.


    So why should I give a shit?

    I thought he was an influencer with a persuasive voice.

    Now you tell me he's just another jerkoff internet commentator.

    We got enough of those around here. Hell, I'm one.


    I posted Wiley's words

    You came in talking about marketing and votes


    "marketing" obliquely referred to getting your ideas across. As Lennon said, "when you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao/you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow".

    Things that undercut a message. Whatever - guess we're supposed to do the Oprah and just nod. Why didn't Wiley talk about his artwork? or maybe he did...


    Wiley responded to questions, nothing more.

    Regarding Oprah

    (CNN)Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine is putting up billboards around Louisville, Kentucky, calling for the officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor to be arrested and charged.

    Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was shot multiple times in March by police forcing their way into her apartment while executing a no-knock warrant.

    O Magazine is putting up 26 billboards around the city -- one for each year of Taylor's life to amplify her story and the fight for justice in her name.

      The billboard features the portrait of Taylor that will be on the cover of the September issue of O. It's the first time Winfrey has not been featured on the cover of her namesake magazine in its 20-year history.

      https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/07/us/oprah-breonna-taylor-billboards-trnd/index.html

       

       


      Charged. With. What?

      If cops usually get qualified immunity, how is a no-knock warrant a judge signed off on going to bring charges, since someone inside the flat fired a shot first?


      One of the three officers has been fired. In his termination letter, the police chief said the officer had “displayed extreme indifference to the value of human life” by “wantonly and blindly” firing 10 shots from the street into Ms. Taylor’s residence.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/breonna-taylor-shooting-ballistics.html


      Ok. Now what law will they charge him with breaking. Think manslaughter will stick, much less homicide? Firing someone is not nearly the same as charging someone with *a crime you think you can convict on*.


      Firing someone is not nearly the same as charging someone with *a crime you think you can convict on*.

      Such deep insight 

      Charges are up to the AG

      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/breonna-taylor-shooting-fbi-ballistics-report-face-the-nation/


      Charges are 1st up to reality. Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, like it or not. AG or not.


      I note at the top ot the article the caption says Attorney General Daniel Cameron of Kentucky... “I don’t want to get into the specifics,” Mr. Cameron said on Sunday. “It is an ongoing investigation, and I don’t want to compromise it in any way.

      Legal wheels take time and don't jump for mob requests for justice, go figure, they are still doing an investigation so they don't fuck up any case, meanwhile protesters will just have to keep trying demanding lynching.

      Also Aug. 30 NYTimes lengthy investigative piece noted The fumbled raid that resulted in the young woman’s death was paradoxically set in motion by an attempt at police reform.

      There actually have been attempts at progress but rushing to rectify injustice often doesn't work out, what a surprise.


      BTW, it is looking like the recent shooting involving a wingnut was White-on White crime, as was the Rittenhouse shooting.


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