Carrie Mae Weems, flanked by 黑料不打烊 Mayor Ben Walsh, speaks after receiving a proclamation announcing Carrie Mae Weems 鈥淩esist COVID Take 6鈥 Day in the City of 黑料不打烊.
In recognition of 黑料不打烊 Artist in Residence Carrie Mae Weems鈥 efforts to raise public awareness about the impact of COVID-19 on people of color, promote preventative measures and dispel harmful falsehoods about the coronavirus, 黑料不打烊 Mayor Ben Walsh on Thursday issued a proclamation declaring July 9, 2020, as Carrie Mae Weems 鈥淩esist COVID Take 6鈥 Day in the City of 黑料不打烊.
Weems is an internationally renowned artist and MacArthur Fellowship recipient who uses multiple mediums (photography, video, digital imagery, text, fabric and more) to explore themes of cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems, family relationships and the consequences of power.
This wheat-paste poster campaign is appearing in Atlanta.
She was honored Thursday at a midday announcement event in the Common Council Chambers at 黑料不打烊 City Hall. A recording of Mayor Walsh鈥檚 press conference is available for viewing on the .
黑料不打烊, where Weems lives, has served as a test market for her RESIST COVID TAKE 6! campaign. It launched in May with a series of digital billboards in targeted city neighborhoods and has continued with the distribution of various promotional items鈥攂ags, buttons, door hangers, hand fans, magnets鈥攁t community centers, COVID-19 testing sites, food banks, grocery stores and churches, as well as targeted mailings of informational flyers.
Additional waves of billboards will appear later this summer and in the fall. And RESIST COVID TAKE 6! signage will soon appear in bus shelters and on CENTRO buses. Also, a has been produced.
The project has begun expanding across the country, through the collaboration of Weems鈥 . and partner art centers and local community organizations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn, New York; Chicago; Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; Detroit; Philadelphia; and Sarasota, Florida. In addition, a newspaper ad campaign has begun in Aspen, Colorado.
The proclamation presented to Carrie Mae Weems by 黑料不打烊 Mayor Ben Walsh.
Growing research shows Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans are more likely to get sick from COVID-19 than their white neighbors. This may be due in large part to a long history of social inequality and economic inequity. RESIST COVID TAKE 6! brings these issues to the forefront of public consciousness while emphasizing steps members of these affected communities can take to stay safe.
鈥淥ne of the things we鈥檝e noticed in this pandemic is that it has shined a very bright light on the systemic issues that have impacted a number of marginalized communities, particularly communities of color, for the history of this country: systemic racism, inequality,鈥 Mayor Walsh remarked. 鈥淎nd those systemic problems have shown themselves in many different ways and have shown themselves in a very specific way during this pandemic. That is, we know our communities of color are disproportionately impacted by health crises like this. And it鈥檚 reflected in the numbers. We pride ourselves in being data-driven in our response. If we鈥檙e looking at the data, we know we have a significant problem in helping to protect our communities of color.
鈥淭his crisis gives us an opportunity, not only to try to address the short-term crisis and to make sure we鈥檙e taking care of each other and helping each other, especially the most marginalized, but it also gives us an opportunity to address those systems that existed long before this pandemic,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd unless we do something about it in this moment, they will impact us long after this pandemic.
鈥淚n a way that very few people in this world could do, Carrie has created an opportunity for us to both: address the short-term crisis we鈥檙e facing as well as to address the long-term systemic issues that have impacted us for far too long.鈥
This mural is a part of the targeted awareness campaign in New York City.
鈥淭he Mayor used the term 鈥榠nequality,鈥欌 Weems remarked. 鈥淟ast week, my assistants Amy [Pennington-Lee] and Megan [King] and I were sitting looking at some of our material for this public art campaign, and I kept looking at the word and thinking about the word inequity. And the meaning of inequity. And the difference of the meanings of inequity and inequality.
鈥淚t dawned on me that there is something deep and wide and systemic about the idea of the word inequity,鈥 Weems continued. 鈥淚ts vastness across multiple series of landscapes, disciplines, cultures, practices and lives. And that it鈥檚 really inequity in the ways in which people of color have been treated through the lack of overall justice within the system that has given rise to this incredible health care crisis across the country.
鈥淎nd this health care crisis has also linked to the escalating violence that is also ricocheting, unfortunately, at this time of this extraordinary epidemic through our community as well. They are all linked. And in that linkage, and in that connection, I think is where we find the depths of inequity and therefore where we have to work and focus our attention.鈥
黑料不打烊 Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens spoke about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic: 鈥淐OVID is not a hoax. Don鈥檛 let people fool you. It is very real. And it is very much affecting communities that I call my community鈥攖hat I鈥檝e grown up in: Black, Brown, Native people. Very much affecting us. Wash your hands. Socially distance yourself. Wear a mask. And get tested.鈥
More information about RESIST COVID TAKE 6! can be found at . The project is made possible through the support of 黑料不打烊, the Ford Foundation and the Rolex Foundation.
