I was reading the latest Substack from writer and photojournalist Linda Tirado, it’s called Stories From The Rail. For anyone who doesn’t know, she was shot in the face by police while covering the George Floyd protests in 2020, a rubber bullet. She lost her eye. This was in the US, just want to reiterate. She spoke of lately being unable to write in any form other than stream of consciousness, no organizing a draft or holding onto and elaborating precisely on a single thought. I relate to this, and I think that’s what this blog is, mostly- a zig zag of whim with sometimes intentional, sometimes accidental organization, and hopefully some social consciousness/awareness to ground the disorder, to justify (?) it.
-
One of my first memories of experiencing protest and creative nonviolence is from middle school or junior high. For a few days (weeks?) a person in an orange jumpsuit and black hood over their head knelt, hands behind them, at a major intersection in the nearby “big town.” This caused a stir, with questions of sanity and safety and legality. That’s what I remember. I also remember staring and being a little freaked out. It left an impression in my mind and, as I think on it now, might’ve been the only (remembered) moment where a larger movement, in this case a call to shut down Guantanamo, sort of made it past the force field surrounding my home community. It was a spectacle.
I am spectacle-averse. Going viral? I’ve seen enough Black Mirror to not want any of that. I’m also a strong feeler of second-hand embarrassment, even in the form of an entirely scripted film. The idea that “all press is good press” makes me want to sue somebody but I can’t even do that because then it’ll make the papers. That said, what about going viral for doing a good deed (is…that why you did the good deed?), or taking part in some absurdist beautiful performance art? Are these acceptable spectacles? A megaphone used to disrupt an amoral meeting, or blocking traffic to protest the overuse of oil- spectacle, planned or unplanned, for good?! Is it possible? When is a spectacle needed or beneficial or helpful? Is it a spectacle if no one sees it? If only one person sees it?
I want to say more and there will be another part to this as it comes to mind, but this is all for now.