You are not alone

“You Are Not Alone” by Bradley Stevens

We have two crises in this country
One is the Covid pandemic, ignored for months by lack of presidential leadership and ultimately left to the governors to handle, some extremely competent and others not. This pandemic has had a secondary effect as it has ripped the scab off the skin of racism in all forms in our country. And it has exposed the harsh reality of poverty in this country. Food desert is now a common term. Our country’s inability to effectively mobilize our pandemic response is disheartening at the very least. We are lagging behind most other countries who have met the crisis with assiduous and mandatory testing and tracing. Our failure to meet these standards is a humiliation for a country that used to be the first to conquer and eliminate diseases such as smallpox, polio, Ebola and have found effective treatments for HIV.
No matter how successful you are, if you are black, brown, Indian, Muslim, Jewish, Asian LGTBQ (and so many more it is hard to list all the groups that are persecuted including women) you must tell your children how to avoid encounters with the police, racists, rapists, Neo Nazis, pedophiles, and the list goes on.
Hate is poison, it is toxic for your body.
Love heals.
Art heals.
Laughter heals.
Fear, frustration and desperation are normal responses to horrific events. The cold, callous, non-caring way the police officer who nonchalantly had his knee on the neck of George Floyd, with his hands in his pocket, while taking a man’s life exhibits a lack of a human soul so deep it boggles the mind.
Within days artists have expressed themselves by painting murals and portraits honoring George Floyd. Please look at them, they are a click away.

Our next show will be about what artists did during their time in Isolation.
However today we have some great news. The US has reentered space by a very ingenious private citizen, Elon Musk. We are capable of greatness. The spaceship Dragon made it into space and along with it a piece of art called Human Kind by artist Tristan Eaton, commissioned by Musk.

“Human Kind” by Tristan Eaton, commissioned by Elon Musk to be on board the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

My point is to be your best self. Find out what you love to do and either do it or learn how to do it. Do not be afraid to take risks. I never would have opened an art gallery and art center three quarters of a block from 14th Street only ten years after the riots in DC. If I had any idea how difficult would be, I might not have done it. Similarly with starting a non-profit, and of course my first venture opening a woodworking studio in 1973 when there was no female with solo woodworking studios.
It is time to follow your passion and not harm anyone else. Bring people up, do not drag them down. Vote in the change you want to see, and do not burn down your own community. And for those who choose to stir up trouble in other people’s communities I ask what do you want your legacy to be? Is this how you want your children to remember you?
It is time to dig deep and find the good in yourself, then share that with the world.

Creatively yours,

Margery E. Goldberg

“NASA Heroes and Sheros” by Hubert Jackson

“Jean La Fitte’s – New Orleans” Joyce Werwie Perry