Fish and Chips Pt. 1

peace all, been a long time since blogging about things going on, but felt this one had to land on my blog. This year's been very interesting for me and my art. What looked like a great first half of the year came to a halt, beginning with being laid off from a contract because of complaints. What were the complaints? Wasn't told to me nor the agency, but one look at me and my beard and what I represent, and there is no need for more questions. Discrimination is rearing it's ugly head, or should I say becoming more obvious is this colorblind, multicultural society of different beliefs, ethnicities, and other walks of life...I can't believe I actually said such a thing without getting sick.

 I took a long hiatus from a lot of things, especially art, until I decided to come back stronger than before, I created a couple of pieces and submitted them to a juried art exhibit that I felt was liberal and open to ideas and subjects, especially since they feigned interest in showing my last work, Portrait of My Hood, which depicted the marginalization of inner city residents, neglecting their needs for a decent quaility of life, and setting them up for gentrification, among other heinous crimes of humanity, but I guess being Black or people of color in general is still not a real concern for America, huh? This gallery, which moved to another location in North Dallas, held another exhibit in which they entitled CONTAINED, and claimed that they didn't mind loose interpretations of containment. Well, seeing that they seemed to love my work, I hit 'em with two blows to the head, entitled Complex I and Ghetto Ingredients, the latter can be seen on my website as a featured piece by clicking HERE.

Complex I deals with inferiority complexes among African Americans, and it's manifestations of self-hatred , which is a by product of institutionalized racism from all aspects of American society, and to cap it off, in the background is the symbol from the controversial bestseller The Bell Curve, which I won't go into it's own critique at this momemt. Recently I have discovered that some people have attempted to give it the name Colorism, because it deals within the African American race. However when one fully researches the issue, it appears to be a misnomer, placing the blame solely on African Americans, omitting the root cause of the problem, which is racism, supplying misleading information by mentioning slavery as the root cause, and giving a false impression that slavery is over, and therefore the lingering "colorism" that is displayed in African Americans is another form of proof of Blacks' supposed "intellectual inferiority" and lack of reasoning. I wanna take this time out to thank Oprah Winfrey and others who propogate this nonsense in an effort to stay away from truly holding those person/s/entities responsible for the pathological brainwashing of people of color.

Well any, back to the subject at hand...I received a letter of rejection from the gallery, which put it so lovely that while they enjoyed my work, it just didn't make the cut...oh ducky... I kinda figured that since this gallery was moving to another area inside of a mall which renovated it's second floor and rented many floors to artists as "studios" the subject matter would be mainly escapism, which is the word of the day in the art world. Unfortunately this would be the same word for African American artists too, as I have also discovered in my travails this year into the art world. But I take it all in stride...God(Allah) is still in control....Part 2 later...

The Power of One Piece

 Peace! I haven't forgotten anyone at all, I thought I would go right into blogging and editing the video for the Red Tails tribute that was given at my local library. It was a great event to say the least, the audience fully enjoyed the whole shabang, and I was able to exhibit my community artwork. I also met some locals who didn't know I existed, but then again there are many who don't know me in my neck of the woods. But in addition to the exhibit, my picture along with my artwork was put in the community newspaper(oh boy, I hate photographs) and I was able to present a piece that really made everybody's day. Sgt. Hogues and family could not get over the appreciation and the effort that was put into it, and I have to thank Ms. Almetta Russell, who really worked hard to get this off the ground, as well as the staff at the Highland Hills Library for their support. I have already informed them of my plans for another exhibit soon.

The event was really about Sgt. Hogues in the first place, but I got the wrong impression. I spent  days before the event telling everyone that it was also an exhibit, even though the fliers did not speak of such. I realize now the event was a community affair in his honor, and I am privileged to have shown my work at such a prestigious function. However the one piece dedicated to Sgt. Hogues of the Tuskegee Airmen stole the show, although it was not my intention.


Very few people knew about the painting. Ms. Russell informed me a few weeks going into the event that she would like to give something to him as a token of respect and appreciation for what he and the rest of the Tuskegee Airmen accomplished, especially in the face of such blatant racism, such racism that a lot of Americans believed did not exist anymore until Trayvon Martin, although some of us were telling people that the menace was still present...I won't mention names here, it's not important. I didn't show anyone the piece until a couple of hours before the event. Everyone was blown away by it, even the neighbors as I walked to the library. One elderly gentlemen quipped, "You never know what a person can do...." But he's right. Only a few in my area knew what I was capable of.

But the effect that it had on the community, the Hogues family, and me as well proves of the powerful impact that visual art can have on any society. This community has suffered and still suffers from a serious identity crisis, no one could define any landmarks or any notable presence except former basketball player Spud Webb of the NBA, but that's typical of the hood.

 Barbara Hogues, daughter of Staff Sgt. Hogues explained during the event that the family was not aware of his involvement of the Tuskegee Airmen until 2008, and he didn't receive his Congressional Medal of Honor  until 2009 from the same airport that denied him a job shortly after retiring from the military, telling him the only thing he could do was custodian work. This was AFTER the success the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. We still have a long way to go before Blacks get serious respect here in America, especially with Trayvon Martin continually haunting America, but now Black youth, as well as White youth should realize all of those slavery stories and stories of racism and domestic terrorism still have impact, because it never left....

Overall I felt it was a victory for a small area that no one cared to remember, except in a negative light, but now we have history as well as culture to bring to the table.


May God Help Us... Peace....

The Perception of Reality

Peace all....

Putting the finishing touches to the online exhibit entitled The 554, everything looks great, hope to be finished with it and ready to present in a couple of days, God Willing...I think you're going to like it...

Anyway, I wanted to touch a few bases with the reader here, who if one has read a few of my posts or even heard an interview, has heard or read from time to time about my disgust of the declining quality of life in my area, especially in regards to the inability to purchase produce and adequate food unless one goes to the nearest food store 10 minutes away, and if one is "underprivileged" to have meaningful transportation, then one must walk to the nearest dollar store, and get whatever they can find until one can get such means of transportation. Such is the life at the 554....




To set the record straight here, this is not the only beef I have, but it is a strong symbol of a much larger issue that we tend to overlook or even AVOID, and that is the reason why the quality of life is declining in my area so rapidly, especially with the post office threatening to close its customer service operations, just leaving a shell for local carriers to convene, along with attempts to make the local landfill here the GO TO Dump for ALL of Dallas and surrounding areas. Add the emerging police presence and Gang Units roaming throughout the area, the proliferation of liqour, the half-hearted efforts to fix the streets in the area although the people of Dallas allowed intoxicants to be sold in order to "create revenue" , the building of a prison in the locality, and the resegregation process taking place with a new name redistricting, one should understand that there is a certain belief about the people here which is the catalyst for why such events take place here.



Last week while at the library an African American woman was speaking with an White American man who apparently is trying to open a business in this area. While discussing the issue, the Black woman, who appears to be some sort of real estate agent or broker of some sort mentioned that there is a "perception" about this place that needs to be changed before this "revitalization" effort takes place here.

By the way, revitalize is a code word for gentrification. And gentrification has taken a new face now, it's no longer just the White middle class trying to oust the Blacks, but now the Black middle class is ousting the Black poor, calling it revitalizing efforts instead of what it really is, which is removing the grotesque look of "indecency" and "filth" in one's neighborhood. Which is why no one questions the occupying presence of a police, which didn't even come into existence until newer homes were being built in the area, around 10 years ago.

I strongly disagree that there is a perception about my area which disallows people to view my area in anyway except negative. I believe strongly that there is a REALITY that needs to be dealt with, not avoided, not hidden from the masses of the people by corrupt politicians, but CONFRONTED, but before confronting the reality, proper knowledge about the issue must be dispersed.



This picture looks innocent in scope, until you realize the reality behind the picture. I just found out this place which looks like any old warehouse or storage room is actually a peep show. This establishment was actually an underground event until the city of Dallas got wind of the issue, which only resulted in allowing the owner to legalize the business by getting a permit. This establishment which is actually walking distance from my home, somewhat like the prison here, but the city of Dallas is content with this establishment residing near a predominantly Black neighborhood. Never mind the consequences and the stigma that a place of pornography does to a neighborhood, especially one that has a problem with drugs and prostitution that came as a result of the truck stops built in the area, just as long as they pay their taxes and get the necessary permits.

This is a serious indictment upon a city and how it treats is so called constituents, when they feel it is ok to dump all of the unwanted things that predominantly White neighborhoods refuse to take, and go to extreme lengths to do such things. I remember going to the town hall meeting in '92 to protest the building of the prison in our area, only to listen to a prison official tell a predominately Black audience that allowing the construction of a prison will bring the prisoners closer to some of their relatives....And the Black politicians who paraded around television cameras and socking White joggers because they broke through picket lines DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! In fact one Black politician retorted aloud "I DON'T SEE ANY OF YOU COMING UP WITH ANY OFFERS ON THE TABLE!!!"

It's becoming more and more obvious of the intentions of many if not all of these Black politicians, yet many Blacks fail miserably to see the point. We fail to see the double dealing of these politicians to get what they want, the lies and shakedown tactics and the demagogery they display, all many of us see is the color of the skin, and despite the chicanery of these criminals we allow them to continue and let them "get a chance to get a piece of the pie."

We as humans will continue to suffer the consequences of our failure to change our reality...



Peace all...CWATIC @ http://www.realquwwa.com