Black Lives Matter

Ragisms – Gregory Uba

Artist’s Statement:

The art came out of my experience during the Rodney King Riot.  I prefer the term riot to rebellion because it feels more authentic to the passion and anger and violence.

I rode my motorcycle all around the city for days.  Then I drew what I saw on a wall of my home.  I took some Polaroid shots and played with them.

The black on yellow version is, if I remember correctly, a second or third generation photocopy.  It became the cover for a collection of poems that I had photocopied and bound by some copyshop in Glendale.  It would have been early 2000s some time.

Bio:

I’m an “early childhood educator,” most of my career spent as a preschool teacher and advocate for preserving childhood. Wrote poetry back in the day. Angry as fuck about a lot of things.

Donation Appeal:

As you view the work on this site each day, we would like to encourage you to donate to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). Their mission “ is to feed our neighbors in need by providing dignified access to supplemental groceries. AFAC is seeing a record number of families due to the COVID-19 pandemic as families who never thought they would ever be in need are now showing up at our doors for much needed food.”  And, in keeping with our hunger-focused efforts, you may also want to visit the Poetry X Hunger website where poems by many poets are posted and are being used by anti-hunger organizations.”

Throughout June and July, we will be presenting on this web site work by poets and artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will find these works relevant, comforting and inspiring as we all cope with the economic and health-related fallout.

Please consider donating to AFAC. If you do, let us know which poet or artist inspired you so we can send you a personal thank you.