S2 EP5 - Black Creative Voices: barry johnson Part 1

Today we continue our journey listening to and uplifting Black
Creative Voices. This is an ongoing series where we interview black
artists about their work, challenges and dreams. This episode
features incredible Seattle-based author, artist, and entrepreneur,
barry johnson. Join us as we talk about:  

-barry's IMMACULATE exhibition depicting black and brown faces
that have been distorted, covered up and partially erased to
represent what has happened to black culture and heritage to fit
another party's narrative, and his nomination for the Neddy Award


-barry's work for TEDx exploring identity and the creation of
different personas as a way to navigate the world by freely
evolving to explore multiple areas of yourself and your life


-"Black Lives Matter" as an apolitical statement that refers to
human rights and the non-radicalism of inclusion and togetherness


-the call to enforce law emotionally rather than physically which
requires removing military-grade gear within police, and
addressing the profitability of holding citizens back through
mass-incarceration and slave labor


-the origins of the black peoples' mistrust in American systems
due to racist law enforcement, mass sterilization of black people
at the hands of racist American health-care systems, and mass
killing of black people at the hands of racist American systems,
along with black peoples' unwillingness to share for fear of
their vulnerability being used against them again as it has in
history


-black peoples' agency to believe freely and go against norms,
systematic erasure of their accomplishment in history, the
potential for their lives to change at the hands of police, their
generational trauma and the willful ignorance of racism within
society


-the way divisiveness is used against society for profit, causing
humanity to forget their likeness to one another, and how our
inherent shared values can be appealed to by radical ideals
exacerbated by the echo-chamber of social media


-the importance of artists' roles in society and their duty to
document the aesthetic and emotional history of humanity, and
art's potential as a healing force


You can find barry's work at:


barryjohnson.co


Instagram: @barryjohnson.co


Twitter: @barryjohnsonco


Patreon: patreon.com/barryjohnson