Artist: Adrien Piper, The Probable Trust Registry
Hello, Friend,
"2018. I had just spent four-plus hours with Adrian Piper's work. I bore witness to the beyond painful truths she laid bare in her work and that I know too well:
The subtle (and not so subtle) racism at dinner parties (My Calling Card #1 + #2)
Destructive assumptions about the Black body (What It's Like, What it Is #3 and here)
The violence done to Black bodies in the name of I don't know what (Black Box/White Box)
The challenges of race passing and colorism in the Black community (Decide Who You Are #1: Skinned Alive)
I sat with the impermanence of it all (Everything Will Be Taken Away), signed the Probable Trust Registery, committing myself to be too expensive to buy, along with other commitments. I hummed to a security guard (The Humming Room), and through it all, tears brimmed and my chest was tight. It was hard to breathe.
And then I came across this last piece...
![Adrian Moves to Berlin (2007 [Performance]/ 2017 [Video Wall Projection]; 01:02:33)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c3cfd1d8ab722198eec48b8/1591799699610-4Y0G8IU0R5V44HAZ0QPH/Adrian+Moves+to+Berlin+%282007+%5BPerformance%5D%2F+2017+%5BVideo+Wall+Projection%5D%3B+01%3A02%3A33%29)
Adrian Moves to Berlin. And the tears came. In the middle of the Museum of Modern Art, I let it go, a watershed of tears. I watched 38ish minutes of the 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 33 seconds video of Adrian dancing joyfully on the streets of Berlin. I didn't care who saw me - I was transfixed by her resilience and choice to claim freedom and joy when it seemed so remote. When I began to walk away, still wiping tears, I noticed a Black security guard intently watching me. Our eyes met, locked, and we stood looking at each other for a long while, smiling at each other with recognition.
George Floyd is being laid to rest today. It's been over a week of wall to wall protests, vigils, demands for the basic humanity of Black folks to be fully recognized. And yes - that's essential, and I'm beyond grateful to see the energy building, not diminishing. We need this moment, however painful it is.
AND... our claiming of JOY is equally essential, because for damn sure it's not going to be handed to us on a silver platter. Adrian's work - all of it - has been a source of comfort for me over the past weeks as I've worked to make sense of this moment, moving out of numbness and into action. My joy - and yours - is a non-negotiable.
Yours in joy and power,
Angela Powell, Founder
Imago, LLC
A resource to support you:
The Obama Foundation is asking us to meet anguish with action.
The Foundation has created a resource page that is regularly being updated with ways to show up in this moment. You can find it here.
The Foundation is also hosting Town Halls. Check out the first two, Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence, and Mental Health and Wellness in a Racism Pandemic.