We Hold These Names to be Self-Evident

by Aberjhani

Title

We Hold These Names to be Self-Evident

Artist

Aberjhani

Medium

Mixed Media - Mixed Media Fine Art Paining

Description

The epidemic of unarmed African Americans getting shot or killed in other ways by policemen is not something America is proud of and many police departments around the country have started implementing reforms to correct the issue. However, for the people listed on this artwork, “We Hold These Names to be Self-Evident,” the changes are obviously coming too late.

“We Hold These Names to be Self-Evident” is a mixed media fine art painting composed of colored text, digital photography, portraiture, and spiritual surrealism. The central images of violent assaults and listed names are underscored by golden wings symbolizing release from physical-world concerns. Just as I was completing this art-piece by adding what I thought would be the last name to go on it, word came that unarmed 47-year-old Andre Maurice Hill of Columbus, Ohio, had been shot dead by police while in a friend’s garage and holding a cell phone. It was the second such questionable shooting in the city in December following that of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. a couple weeks earlier. After receiving multiple confirmations of details surrounding Hill’s murder, I squeezed in his name at the top of the list. The names overall have been compiled from public sources like the Washington Post Police Shootings Database, but many of the birthdates were culled from research published as part of a memorial created by Dr. Renée Ater.

Since the year 2017, at least 867 African Americans have been killed as a result of faulty violent police responses to calls for different situations. A few have made headlines while most have not. What I refer to as ‘faulty responses’ have included: forced overdoses of the drug ketamine (most notably in the case of Elijah McClain), physical application of chokeholds (George Floyd) , violent beatings (Sandra Bland), and gunshots (Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery).

I do believe humanity one day will evolve beyond the kind of racial biases which have resulted in so much overwhelming pain and grief. But 2020 has not been that year. Police from different demographic backgrounds themselves have lost at least 44 men and women to gun violence while responding to calls for assistance. Some fatalities among their ranks are almost inevitable given the nature of the job just as any number of deaths among military personnel can be expected while training prior to battle. The case of fatalities among African-Americans at the hands of police has drawn international attention because in so many cases it was not inevitable. Yet it has been repeatedly documented that African-Americans (most frequently males) are 3 times more likely to be shot to death by policemen than members of any other demographic group.

Aberjhani
https://www.author-poet-aberjhani.info/
Kwanzaa Suite 2020
Black History Month
Black Lives Matter
MLK Day of Service 2021
Harlem Renaissance Centennial 2020-2030

Uploaded

December 26th, 2020

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