Attorney – Protesters Against Police Violence Express the Message Through Art in Houston, Texas
At Art League Houston a multimedia art show called How Do I Say Her Name? is on display until May 6, 2017; it has been up since March 24. The work of nine Texas women is on exhibit in the display. The women are Ann Johnson, Monica Villarreal, Lovie Olivia, Kaneem Smith, Regina Agu, Lauren Kelley, Rabéa Ballin, Rosine Kouman, and Autumn Knight. The purpose of the exhibit is to raise awareness of alleged police brutality against women of color.
Ann Johnson’s artwork at the Art League was chiefly inspired by the story of Sandra Bland, which has gained worldwide attention and sparked widespread outrage. Twenty-eight-year-old Bland was pulled over by a police officer on the outskirts of Houston on July 10, 2015, for a routine traffic stop regarding failure to use a blinker before changing lanes. Following a controversial encounter with the officer, much of which was captured on a dashcam video shot from the patrol vehicle, she was arrested for assault. Bland was found hanged to death with a plastic garbage bag in her Waller County, Texas, jail cell three days later. The circumstances of her death are widely debated, with an investigation showing officers at the jail did no wrong and there was no foul play and family and friends of Bland saying there is no way she would kill herself. Another huge question in the minds of many is why she was arrested in the first place, calling into question the actions of the arresting officer, who was fired from his job.
Johnson said that after what happened to Sandra Bland, for the first time in her life, she was afraid when driving in Waller County. She frequently drove past the area on University Drive where Bland had her encounter with police and would rehearse repeatedly the importance of using her blinker to change lanes. She says she was so deeply affected by Bland’s story, she couldn’t say Bland’s name aloud for months. Friends encouraged her to use her creative abilities for activism against police brutality.
In this continuing series, learn more about specific concerns of police misconduct that are expressed by the women in this art exhibit.
–Guest Contributor
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