When we say resistance, people often think fight. But what if love is the resistance, too?
How we connect with ourselves and one another matters. Love as a celebration is imperative. As we celebrate Black history, not just this month, but always, we ground ourselves in love.
When Hank Willis Thomas and his team were creating “The Embrace” monument honoring the love of Martin Luther King Jr., and Coretta Scott King, a lot of it was done during the early chapters of the pandemic when we had to keep one another at a distance, masked, no hugs or high-fives.
While working on a piece symbolizing deep connection, they were physically disconnected.
“That was kind of something that was in the background of the making of the work,” he told me. “We couldn’t touch, couldn’t breathe, we were afraid of connecting. What a powerful reminder of the beauty and the opportunity and the honor that comes with every embrace.”
What makes Black life a beautiful resistance?
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I talk about Black joy as the most powerful source of energy in the universe and I consider it that because it’s been forged, much like a diamond under all forms of compression and oppression. It shines through everything.
There’s never been a form of Black love, Black joy, Black power that was not inclusive to those who are not Black. At the core of Black joy, Black love, Black power is a love of all humanity, of one’s self, of life itself.
Why is it important we talk about the arts as powerful tools of change?
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I don’t think you could ever separate any form of cultural evolution from the arts. Coretta Scott King was an artist. She understood through creativity she could bridge borders, cross boundaries, and enhance life. I really love the concept of thinking about her as an artist and creative nonviolence as an art. These are artists. Martin Luther King Jr. was a reverend and theologian, he was also an orator and a poet. Creativity is essential to any positive development in society.
What should we embrace?
The value of our own lives. If we can love and learn to take care of ourselves and be compassionate, generous, and actively engaged in healing and strengthening ourselves, then we can begin to hopefully develop those relationships with others. Our relationship with ourselves is critical to our relationship to the society we want to live in.
Jeneé Osterheldt can be reached at jenee.osterheldt@globe.com. Follow her @sincerelyjenee and on Instagram @abeautifulresistance.