The Black Lives Matter protests really changed the way we viewed the police as a whole. This is not to say that all police are bad, but it did show how much police brutality as a whole is a big issue especially to people of color. In the span of 2 months we saw many cases of police brutality being brought up such as Breanna Taylor, George Floyd and James Blake. It showed us what was really going on that the media did not report. Street Art like this really shows us that people are tired of this mistreatment, and want it to stop. That it is being displayed for the world to see. Sadly this will never end, there will always be a bad apple laying around but we as people must use our voice to speak our narratives. We can not be silenced! I remember waking up the morning after the George Floyd situation and I watched the full five minute video and just watched the cop knee George Floyd’s neck. This truly gave me chills, for some apparent reason I knew this was gonna be much bigger than what it was. But I never expected it to be the biggest Civil Rights Movement ever. I am glad it was. In a time where social media is only growing, we have the power to spread awareness with a click of a button. We must use it and it could be our voice and our way to contribute to society and truly leave our mark on the world. This piece was created by Chris Tuite. There is no question that this is activist. I feel as if this is very straightforward and gets to the point effectively. George Floyd had this picture of him shown in the media as an average black man. But that was simply not the case. He was an Army Reserve for 8 years, but still that was the picture shown. What a true shame. He served for the United States of America, and was not able to be shown that way. It goes to show that the media plays a part in all of this. We must bring this to light and keep everyone involved accountable for these actions. We have a job as a society to shed light on things no one is talking about. The cop who kneeled on Floyd is serving life in prison and will have to pay for what he did. But the saddest part about it is that his daughter will now have to grow up without a father. His daughter has been shot since in an attack on their family, she survived but it doesn’t make any of this ok. All we can do is pray it gets better.
This painting right here holds a very special place in my heart for many reasons. This piece was done by Jacqueline Hammond. I think this painting is activist in its own way. It shows and represents what Cuba is really about, which is originality. This is what a taxi in Cuba looks like right now. You see it is very old fashioned. Just like myself I like to describe myself as an old soul and old fashioned. I enjoy retro music like disco and old hardcore rap. That is not even the beginning of my relationship with the piece. Aside it shows who I am as a person, my identity and my culture. The taxi brand is named COCO. That is my childhood nickname from my parents. It was very amusing and directly linked me to the piece. I am not even sure how my parents came up with it but it is truly awesome to see it here. You might think the guy in the taxi is the driver but actually he is not. In Cuba, they have these guys in EVERY SINGLE PARKING LOT. They serve as car protectors kind of. It is courtesy to tip them every time you park your car and they open the door for you when you step out of your car when you are already parked. You can recognize these guys by the Havana Club shirt and hat they would be wearing. This piece really connected me to my culture and that is why I loved it.
This is a picture of me that my mom took, on my first day at NJCU. This is a very Cuban thing to do, in every school year we take a beginning of the year picture so in the future we can compare.I was very excited to get into this new chapter in my life. My first semester was Fall 2019 and it went amazing, I met a lot of new friends which I still am close with. In my spring semester school shut down and we went remote. I have been remote ever since because of how far school is from me. I have missed a good chunk of my college experience but it has not stopped me from achieving my goal. I am in my junior year now, two semesters away from graduating and I am excited to see where it takes me.
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