52 Card Project 2021: Week 15: Despair
Apr. 17th, 2021 10:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pegkerrThe intention of this project is to make an image of what I have been thinking about/focusing on each week. So...
The title of the previous card was "Hope." The title of this card is "Despair."
The city of Minneapolis, as I have mentioned before, is in a state of high tension due to the ongoing Derek Chauvin trial (the police officer who killed George Floyd).
On Sunday, April 11, Daunte Wright, a 20-year old father, was stopped by the police in Brooklyn Center, a twin cities suburb. Ostensible reason for the stop was an air freshener was hanging from the rear view mirror, and expired license tabs (Daunte had just acquired the car the previous week). Police determined that he had a warrant and tried to take him into custody, and a 25-year veteran police officer shot him in the chest (claiming afterward that she instead meant to fire a taser). Daunte tried to flee but died not far away. His body lay in the street for six hours.
The card depicts a faux cemetery set up in South Minneapolis, a couple of blocks from where George Floyd died. Every name on every tombstone is the name of a Black person who died as a result of police violence. I presume Daunte Wright's name has now been added.
I hate this card.
I hated making it.
I knew that this was what the week was about, but I delayed making it.
I hate that it feels performative.
I hate that I feel so helpless.
I hate that I am using these images of these victims of police violence. It feels like I'm stealing them--one more indignity after the outrageousness of their deaths.
I hate my own privilege.
I hate that even saying this makes it feel like I'm the worst sort of oblivious white ally: making it all about me.
Despair
Click here to read about the 52 card project and see the year's gallery.
The title of the previous card was "Hope." The title of this card is "Despair."
The city of Minneapolis, as I have mentioned before, is in a state of high tension due to the ongoing Derek Chauvin trial (the police officer who killed George Floyd).
On Sunday, April 11, Daunte Wright, a 20-year old father, was stopped by the police in Brooklyn Center, a twin cities suburb. Ostensible reason for the stop was an air freshener was hanging from the rear view mirror, and expired license tabs (Daunte had just acquired the car the previous week). Police determined that he had a warrant and tried to take him into custody, and a 25-year veteran police officer shot him in the chest (claiming afterward that she instead meant to fire a taser). Daunte tried to flee but died not far away. His body lay in the street for six hours.
The card depicts a faux cemetery set up in South Minneapolis, a couple of blocks from where George Floyd died. Every name on every tombstone is the name of a Black person who died as a result of police violence. I presume Daunte Wright's name has now been added.
I hate this card.
I hated making it.
I knew that this was what the week was about, but I delayed making it.
I hate that it feels performative.
I hate that I feel so helpless.
I hate that I am using these images of these victims of police violence. It feels like I'm stealing them--one more indignity after the outrageousness of their deaths.
I hate my own privilege.
I hate that even saying this makes it feel like I'm the worst sort of oblivious white ally: making it all about me.
Click here to read about the 52 card project and see the year's gallery.