I'm Resistant to This Show

I felt a quilt show entitled "Threads of Resistance" was a timely idea. I lost track of it for a while and picked up again when the submitted images and categories were published online. At that point, I posted a link and made a comment regarding the lack of ethnic diversity of the organizers. I didn't comment on the small number of submissions in certain categories, that many may see as being more relevant to civil and social justice issues in the lives of people of color and poor folks than those of the middle to upper-class lives of many white quilters.

These were the suggested subject matter categories: Refugee crisis, Immigration, Environment, Climate change, Black  Lives matter/racism, Attack on science, Gag rules on federal employees, The Women’s March Jan. 21, 2017, Sexual violence/sexual assault, Equal rights/equal pay for women, Women’s reproductive rights, LGBT rights/gay marriage, Freedom of the press, Fake news and lies, Supreme court nominees, Education, White nationalism/supremacy, Electoral college, Border wall, “America First” policy, Income disparity. Freedom of religion and worship/religious discrimination, Gun control/gun violence). 

There weren't any organizers (The Artist Circle -  Sue Bleiweiss, Susan Brubaker Knapp, Judy Coates-Perez, Jane Dunnewold, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Jamie Fingal, Lyric Montgomery Kinard, Melanie Testa, Leslie Tucker Jenison, and Kathy York) of color. Anyone who hangs out in the US quilting or fiber arts world knows that this area of art is even more racially segregated than most.

The final outcome of the jury process (who did the jurying was never disclosed. It may have been the members of The Artist Circle, or someone else, who knows) for the Threads of Resistance traveling exhibit was the selection of a limited number of quilts created by African American quilters. I'm not sure if the Girls who organized this thing are aware of the many networks of African American quilters. Their world appears to be very limited and exclusive. So, of course, if you follow these networks, it became apparent that not just one or two AA quilts were rejected, but quite a few. To be fair there are some quilts by AA quilters which were accepted. (I love Alice Beasley's name, because if you are listing artists alphabetically, she is always very near the top of the list, and so, BANG, there is our artist of color.) 

How do you tell when you’re messing with a bunch of self-serving folks with whom you do not share defining experiences and who therefore lack the necessary qualifications to understand, speak about or judge your art? First give away is lack of representation on the organizing body of people like you. If you are a woman of color who for some reason thinks you are a middle class white woman, despite sharing the history of the diaspora with the rest of your clan, stick your little narrow hips out there and you will surely get your feelings hurt, to say nothing of a sore behind.

Second give away (from this group specifically) is the following quote at the beginning of the about page ‘"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’ -Martin Luther King, Jr.” After the Donald Trump Frederick Douglass fiasco, you would think that any intelligent white person would stay away from quoting black folks. Nope, not these arrogant Girls. And what an interesting quote. Very little conversation about gun violence (white police, white young men, white family violence, white hunters) or the racism category. The word racism was attached to “Black Lives Matter” code for hey y’all this is your category. But I would love to hear white women talk about racism from a white perspective.

I would also love some recognition as a human being who is just as likely to be interested in the environment, science, social justice, women’s rights, income disparity, and freedom of religion as the next person. To quote Sojourner Truth “Ain’t I a woman too?”

There is a voice missing in all of these conversations. It is the voice of the white women who owns who she is and her complicity in the denial of civil rights and social justice to many people of color even if that is a complicity of omission rather than commission. 

We rarely hear my father, my brother, my husband, my uncle, my next door neighbor in the white feminist conversation. We never learn that these men are not divorced from the speakers' lives but remain engaged in active relationships with them. The enemy is portrayed as some far distant white male figment of the imagination. 

I want to scream "Speak up Girls." Then I realize that they have. This is what I hear them saying: We have the privilege of setting the rules on how resistance to our men will be visualized. You need to understand that white folks, be it old white men, or middle aged white women, are running this. No questions tolerated or necessary. 

We appreciate Dr. Mazloomi and Marla Jackson. We embrace the work of Faith Ringgold and Xenobia Bailey who have moved beyond America and American attitudes on race along with other artists who work in fiber. These are artists who refuse to be limited by the narrow parameters and rules of the American quilting conglomerate. My heart is broken for the women whose work was rejected. No matter their color or perspective. But should we really expect inclusivity from an exclusive group? We thought we were joining a conversation, but in reality we were engaged in a competition. One enters a competition with the expectation that everyone is playing the same game. In the world of American quilting and fiber art, white folks and black folks are not in the same game. Unless, of course, you are a white woman appropriating an African aesthetic and technique which allows you to command the highest international prices for contemporary quilts. Cause the bottom line is that it is always about the dollar for the Girls. I wonder how Meli’s book and Janie’s classes are selling?