It was back in January of this year that a good friend of mine, Kerry Jackson ( who himself is an excellent artist ) had opened the door for me to display a number of my own personal works at his gallery- a very nice establishment known as "New Creations" art gallery located on Roswell Street in Marietta , Ga. . Kerry and his wife are down home folks and have made it their ministry to help artists and the community in general as it pertains to the production of quality works and forms of art that are not only in good taste but make an uplifting impact as a whole. Both his work and gallery are worth viewing and visiting. That said, my blog today concerns what was my first real encounter with the virus that is devouring -in various size bites-the freedom which we enjoy as a part of our American heritage: The Social Justice Warrior mentality ( also known as the Black Lives Matter, The "Woke" generation or the "Me too", Me movement). I have waited for some time to speak out about this and only recently have decided to write down any thoughts on the matter thanks in part to the ever increasing vitriol coming from people / students / leaders in the workplace, college campuses and political seats. I have posted below this article the original work I had on display for that month in January of an Indian Warrior Chief. The work started out as a pen and ink but I finished it off as a full color print on canvas and presented it as a vintage firearms logo of a fictitious company for which I own the rights called "Red Crow Fire Arms" . Obviously it was meant to be a work which pays homage to the Native American Warrior and what he represented as well as the history of the freedom to bear arms here in the United States of America. I still have the original work and I value it but what made the evening even more memorable was that the print on display which was a one of one-was actually purchased that night by a customer. The customer was happy and I was humbled. The work was to be kept on display until the end of the month which at that time , my customer could pick up the piece he had purchased. All was good in Marietta Ga, right? Well not for everyone. A short time later, I dropped by the gallery and to my surprise as well as to Kerry's, someone had destroyed the canvas print "Red Crow Fire Arms" by spitting or flinging coffee all over the front of the piece. No other pieces were damaged throughout the gallery and the splatter pattern of the coffee was very prominent / in multiple patterns to emphasize someone's distaste of my work. I will say that I by no means fault Kerry or New Creations- I fault the emotionally delusional SJW who felt he was striking a cord for 'The RED MAN!" Never mind the fact that a team mascot , logo or company icon are meant to be SYMBOLS OF HONOR, STRENGTH and TRIBUTE- not insults or degrading denouncements of the very group or cause the image heralds ( OOPS, this may cause some younger "Woke" folks to get teary eyed). The younger / upcoming generations have been perpetually fed an ongoing platter of selective garbage such as "White Man, BAD", or "That Black Man is Conservative?-HIM AN UNCLE TOM!" and "United States SUX so WHO is GONNA TAKE CARE OF ME?" ... Therefore, they truly don't know what real FREEDOM is about! Furthermore, I dare say NONE of us has ever experienced REAL tyranny. Yet, as a whole , our education system and a wide swath of our political leaders have convinced anyone who will listen that tyranny and oppression is what we live in and this doctrine has produced an innumerable count of dolts within our society which is ( as Robert Bork exclaimed ) " Slouching Towards Gomorrah". "My candidate did not win and I am mad as Hell and somebody is gonna pay", "That Washington Redskin logo OFFENDS me", "YOU want to do WHAT- own a Mexican restaurant?! THAT is RACIST!" , "The Constitution NEEDS TO GO!", "I identify as a pronoun other than my gender so you best WATCH HOW YOU COMMUNICATE AROUND ME!"..... each one of these ludicrous statements is a small sample of just some of the ideas which are floating about today and are indeed making life HELL ON WHEELS for anyone who simply wants to enjoy living in the greatest, most blessed nation on earth-not PERFECT...but BLESSED. In closing, it is okay to disagree but why not do so civilly? I may not like what someone thinks, reads, proclaims or wears but I do not have the right to plot their destruction. Freedom means just that, freedom to say , do and live with your own decisions ( and decisions have consequences). America is one of the few places left in this world where freedom is valued - not in China, Turkey, Soviet Union, Pakistan, Cuba and increasingly not so in Canada or the UK. The right to free speech is non existent or rotting away in the above named places but thank God our Constitution born freedom grants someone like myself the opportunity to communicate through artwork-symbols of strength, honor and chivalry just to name a few and if that means I choose a native American Indian as my subject-I'm gonna continue to do just that. Plus, lest we forget where the idea of freedom came from- it originally and forever will be the idea of The Almighty. The living Lord God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob . The same God who gave and gives men free will. The same God who gave His own son to pay the ultimate price so men, women and children of every nationality , walk of life no matter the skin color could have freedom from death and sin. That is where freedom is rooted. Jesus Christ correctly proclaimed..."...if The Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" found in John 8:36. It is THIS same Lord Jesus who can change the hearts and minds of everyone who turns to Him for re-birth and Salvation. It therefore is no surprise that ideas such as tyranny and Communism despise the Gospels of the Bible and man's freedom overall... the idea is to suppress such great truths. Ironically, it is the same type of suppression which can be found in the actions of someone who will destroy a work of art just because they disagree with the subject matter. Oh, by the way, Mr. or Mrs. SJW coffee spitter, I reprinted the "Red Crow Fire Arms " print and my customer has it on display this very day and as for the destroyed print... (try not to cry, but) I have it on display at my home as a badge of great honor. |
AuthorGerald Jones Archives
January 2024
Categories |