We Who Believe In Freedom 2020
“We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes”, The title of LMNOPI’s mural in Rutland, Vermont. This piece served as a ‘study’ for that mural.
The title is a quote from a song composed by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon using the words spoken by the civil rights leader and SNCC mentor Ella Josephine Baker.
The first verse strikes to the heart of the issue facing us during what is the largest mass uprising for civil rights this country has ever known.
“Until the killing of black men, black mothers’ sons
Is as important as the killing of white men, white mothers’ sons.
We who believe in freedom cannot rest
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes”
“The way I read it; the use of the word rest in this case is akin to the word “wait”. Waiting will not bring about change, we’ve already seen that. Who has the luxury of waiting for freedom to come of its own accord?”
“I was born here almost 60 years ago. I’m not going to live another 60 years. You always told me it takes time. It’s taken my father’s time, my mother’s time, my uncle’s time; my brother’s and my sister’s time; my nieces and my nephew’s time. How much time do you want for your progress?” –James Baldwin (from the 1989 documentary “The Price of a Ticket”)
This mural is an act of love. Let it serve as a rallying cry for those of us who believe in freedom.
This work is part of LMNOPI’s Uprising Portfolio, a collection of prints that mainly originated in her street art practice, made up of murals and some unsanctioned interventions into urban environments. They attempt to address her political, social, environmental, human rights, and climate crisis concerns during the years 2018-2019.
The following is an excerpt from her artist statement: “Street artivism is where street art and activism intersect. In a world where protest marches have become more like parades and being inundated on social media with petitions, memes, news, and opinions can have a numbing effect, outrage fatigue can leave us feeling anesthetized and apathy can arise from the sheer enormity of issues confronting us. Street artivism can disrupt a person’s day and it is the element of surprise that catches them with their guards down. This moment is an opportunity to bypass rigid political ideas and remap cognitive patterns. This is a potential juncture of disarmament, where the emotional impact of a message can rewire and perhaps begin to change a person’s perspective, if not at the very least; to plant a seed.”
This work is part of LMNOPI’s Uprising Portfolio, a collection of prints that mainly originated in her street art practice, made up of murals and some unsanctioned interventions into urban environments. They attempt to address her political, social, environmental, human rights, and climate crisis concerns during the years 2018-2019.
“There is an international tradition among street artists known by various names. “Slaps’ is the slang term for stickers. Within this is a sub-genre known as ‘label 228’ which involves acquiring priority mail stickers from the US Postal Service and making art on the stickers. People trade them, people are fairly obsessed with these stickers. I’ve been enjoying this art form for many years now and my newest iteration of the form is to create collages using the stickers.
When I created this one, I thought it particularly profound to have the words PRIORITY MAIL above the heads of these kids, two boys who walked all the way from Guatemala to the US-Mexico border. If only they could be treated as well as priority mail, yet they are being used for the political agendas of the right-wing oligarchy that is presently imprisoning them in detention facilities. Many are separated from their parents, never to be reunited.
In the print edition, I utilized a topographical map of the southern border. The rallying cry of “no borders on stolen lands” comes to mind. Many of the people attempting to migrate and flee the effects of the climate crisis and violence in their countries are Indigenous and their relationship to the continent pre-dates borders.”
The pattern in the older boy’s shirt suggests the border fence in Tijuana De Plava, which extends into the Pacific Ocean. If you follow the boundary line, which is the Rio Grande, it cuts through the child’s chest, enters under his chin, and come out through his forehead.”
LMNOPI is an American artist dedicated to utilizing her artistic skills to amplify messages emanating from within movements for social, economic, racial and climate justice. Her primary mediums are painting and printmaking, which she utilizes to create both sanctioned and unsanctioned interventions in the commons. She has been a community organizer, humanitarian worker and civilly disobedient activist over the last three decades, standing with the movements she depicts in her work.