Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
In recent days, free copies of Black Lives Matter shirts and hoodies have been created and made available in Second Life -- direct teleport link here to get them.
Since then, some SLers have used this apparel to take powerful and artful photos to show their solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Above, Nico Sorbet’s “Can’t Breathe” explicitly connects George Floyd’s death to Eric Garner’s - another unarmed Black man killed for a suspected petty crime. Petty larceny is not a capital crime yet some seem to accept police acting as judge, jury, and executioner for offenses that are less than a speeding ticket.
Several more after the break:
In “A Voice, Please Read”, SLer Sparklybootie has given us a visually powerful image. Doing this is black and white with high contrast, she almost seems to come out of the background. It is such a striking picture, that I cannot help but be drawn to it again and again. She asks you to read her commentary. You should. She describes her own evolution, her consciousness-raising, in the second wave feminist terminology. She makes the case beautifully and with kindness for people who are stuck on all lives mattering.
Don’t rush in to say all lives matter. Of course, they do. Most people are not murdered with impunity. “Black Lives Matter” does not say “Only Black Lives Matter.” It says “Black Lives Matter, Too.” Instead of deflecting, ask yourself why that phrase sets you off. Is it hard to recognize the fear that police power inflicts on Black people? Imagine how much harder it is to live with it.
This untitled photo by Nabang captures the grief that many feel. How can we watch that video and be unmoved? One of my favorite text is John’s Donne’s “Meditation XVII.”
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Donne included Black people in that meditation, for that essay also includes his belief that all who died would be translated into a new language in a new book where we are all open to one another.
We are all diminished by George Floyd’s death and if we live in the United States, we are all implicated. After all, nearly all of us live in places with a police force. How many of us have looked at our local police department’s Use of Force Policy? There is no more effective step we can take to prevent more shootings. If you’re doubtful, look over the Use of Force Project and the research by Franklin Zimring. There are many reforms that will make a difference. Campaign Zero has an even more comprehensive set of recommendations.
Look at the date on Tracei Renate Moore’s photo. July 10, 2016. It was the week Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were shot by police. I thought of how little has been done to reform police policies in the four years since he posted it. The urgency of Black Lives Matter has not diminished. It is a powerful image, an image with emotional weight. It is also the last image he uploaded to his Flickr account. He also closed his blog. I wonder if it broke his heart.
Have you taken a virtual world photo to express your feelings about this past week or the long history of policy impunity? Want to share it in Comments?
See all of Cajsa's Choices here. Follow Cajsa on Flickr, on Twitter or on her blog.
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