Pondering the themes that introduced via questions as part of my Source Artist process….Freedom was one that led to some interesting explorations. The definition of freedom that resonnates with me is "to be free from external cause". From this perspective how many of us really know freedom? I have been exploring the idea of degrees of freedom and the relationship between freedom and responsibility.
As part of the "what-is-peace?" project i started out knowing that the journey would be a challenge, i think gut wrenching was the way i described it. Of course, there is also joy in the process as the process IS my joy.
What i wrote in the "what-is-peace?" page in our pbwiki site is this:
What is peace?
Yvette_Dubel writes:
It is my hope for the world. My question has led me to see that peace is only possible in the world when we have it within ourselves. In my journey this started with making peace with my past because not doing so is what seems to create conflict or Resistance and this is the clearly marked path to War. An observation i want to communicate in "what-is-peace?" is the process, that can get uncomfortable and sticky – if not just downright gut wrenching, on the path to peace. The reward is found in moving through the awkwardness, not by denying it, but honoring its message…a request for Space and Attention.
Later on that page i introduce the performance piece i'm developing to be performed by storyteller/actress/dancer Lorraine Stone:
Demonstrating why historical preservation that includes multiple perspectives and experiences is vital to understanding the path followed to reach the present…and consideration of how it can honestly and progressively inform the future.
This piece will introduce the ICT system to create an online cultural repository within the envisioned 3D environment (as well as a more static form-based on the Phase1 site, for those with low speed connections). The result is intended to create a kind of online cultural museum and research center that is both a public service and a collaborative work of art. Why ICT? Beyond the regional issues of historical preservation i've noticed that information that should be a matter of public record is channeled to restrict/limit access in subtle ways. Is this intentional? For example, try finding a list of the South Carolina state representatives of African decent during Reconstruction.
Idea for exploration in the development of this project is the difference between heritage and culture.
Black history, as well as that of other minority groups like the Catawba tribe, has not been included in the Historical Museum or recognized by the Historical Society in Fairfield County prior to the initiative of a one volunteer historian, my Aunt Yvette, who has provided me with the historical research needed for this part of the project. In support of her Historical Preservation Initiative working to right this, this Event will seek to assist with Funding support that is needed to replace support compromised by what some see as this contraversial inclusion.
This is one of the post i added while i was on vacation researching and working (started the mixed media painting "Survival" while i was there) on this project.
Upate: 6/22/07
While visiting the Brattonsville Plantation (York County, S.C.) we learned some interesting facts, that though known by some locals and historians, was not included in written history accounts. One example of how valuable oral histories are in preserving honest personal histories of the region.
During the tour as we walked out of the woodshop the slaves used my Aunt Yvette shared with us a story handed down by my Grandma Lottie who was told by Caleb Craig, a former neighbor born into slavery who was also the son of the plantation owner. He was a slave in Fairfield County, S.C. and although he is included in the collected slave narratives, the story about to be shared was not included.
Aunt Yvette shared this after i had inquired about what this trough structure outside the door would have been used for. Although she couldn's say for that specific one (later found out from "Kitty" that it was used for soaking wood) she went on to explain the role of similar troughs in feeding slaves. Mr. Craig was a "house slave" and one of his jobs was to feed his mother and siblings (along with other slaves) by dumping scraps in the same way that pigs are "slopped". The horror of this brought tears to my eyes.
When i asked our tour guide "Kitty" she stumbled backwards as tears came to her eyes and she continued to explain how such containers had been found outside of kitchen windows. Scraps dumped, the bell rang to summon slaves from the fields and they were fed like animals. We all had a long pause as this reality sank in.
What did being treated this way do to a person's soul? And what effect did it have on the perpetrators and beneficiaries of such demeaning cruelty? Perhaps the answers explain the determination of some to romantize this period today by focusing on the superfical aspects of the antebellum south and the history of intitutionalized racism and descrimination.
We walked along to another building and "Kitty" told us of a descendent of a slave (a woman visiting from California) that had lived at the Brattonsville place who had taken the tour during or following a reunion. She had inquired about the whether the "dungeon" was still there. She went on to tell "Kitty" about how in her family stories about this place used to punish slaves, had been handed down in her family. "Kitty" gestured toward the bars of a basement structure. We peered down inside, my children snapping pictures, as she went on to expalain how she had asked a local historian about the "dungeon". He confirmed that such a place did exist for that purpose but no one explained why this was excluded from the "offical historical accounts". Many books have been written about the Brattons and their plantation, but we are aware of none that include these bitter realites of slavery there. The account you're now reading may be the only written one in existence as of yet.
This is a quote that i use in my paper and that i have been sharing recently:
In “Creating a Culture or Responsibility” Yasuhiko Genku Kimura writes,
“Today we live amid a pandemic of irresponsibility—irresponsibility within governments, business, education, the media, the arts, academe, and other sectors. In this culture of rampant irresponsibility, responsibility as such has become almost a forgotten ethical value and moral virtue. However, it is the responsible action that alone carries with it the requisite integrity that brings about real change. Therefore, unless we can transform the present culture of irresponsibility into a culture of responsibility, social movement of any kind, including peace movements, will bear only bitter fruit, if any.”
