This video is like nothing I’ve ever created. Much of it I did not create…but I edited it in such a way that I hope it tells my story in a way that will hold your attention. Prior to living in Longview I never really expected much from Art Districts. I was creating around Longview since before there was an art district. I’ve been everywhere from Los Angeles, to San Francisco, to Austin, to Chicago, to Atlanta, to New York City and lots of places between creating on the streets.

When Longview was trying to get an Art District they saw and celebrated one of my more underwhelming creations with multiple news appearances, along with a front page news story that got picked up by the Associated Press and shared in papers across the country. My art showed up multiple times in their application video and I was told how important my work was…then I returned from my summer travels to create in the newly official art district the day before art walk…and I was arrested, given a cavity search for “encumbering a public sidewalk”, locked up for 18 hours, had my mugshot shared on the nightly news along with them trying to paint me as ignorant of the laws only to eventually admit the charges had been dropped in the interest of justice.

These experiences gave me a voice in Longview so I would try to use my voice to create positive change to the best of my ability. Prior to Longview I wasn’t ever really active with BLM…but the amount of mean/hateful/racist/bigoted things I would see people share in the comments of KLTV, KETK, KYTX, and Longview News Journal helped wake me up to the reality of how bad it was. In the big cities it can feel like there’s lots of people talking about humanitarian ideals without investing time or effort into bringing those ideals into reality…that used to be a turn off to me…but it’s a lot better than places like Longview where people are scared of physical violence or financial retribution for being “too woke.” I understand now that lots of people in the big cities have run away from areas like this and are too busy dealing with their trauma and keeping up with their bills to be able to invest time in trying to fix anything.

I feel like lots of people in Longview, and in other small cities that are similar to it, most of the inhabitants are not near as extreme, or as mean, as the more vocal ones. Many of them wouldn’t believe the things they believe if it wasn’t for people like Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, and Donald Trump…and their co-workers, their bosses, their preachers. Lots of people allow themselves to be silenced for a multitude of reasons…but mostly because life is hard enough without taking on new battles.

My last news worthy experience in Longview I think I handled masterfully…yet the silence from those in positions of power and influence was deafening…Video footage of Sons of the Confederate harassing me and erasing my chalk as I wrote Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a Dream Speech. The ring leader of the harassment is the son of the Commander of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans! Had they stood up this could have been the event to end them…but they were silent. It led to me writing a speech, speaking at City Hall, then writing that speech in sidewalk chalk in the old location of the confederate monument before it got moved to the courthouse…and eventually to this video now.

If anything is to change there needs to be an outside push. I’m hoping this video will lead to that push. Longview needs change. Many of those who marched on MLK day before this happened talked about being an ally, then held their tongue as they saw confederates harassing me working to erase the words of Dr. King.

I’ve had multiple people tell me that my issues with the art district and the confederate monument are two separate issues…In certain very real ways I’m able to acknowledge them as separate…but at the same time, I believe it is hard for the district to adequately represent our city’s culture if it has a monument to white supremacy at its heart.

https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/artist-experienced-racism-on-mlk-day-while-honoring-him-in-front-of-longview-courthouse/501-29a72304-82c2-4872-aaa9-010f36546491
https://www.kltv.com/2019/04/02/mystery-artist-creates-elaborate-sidewalk-art-longview-city-park/
https://www.kltv.com/2019/12/13/east-texas-street-artist-preparing-art-walk-arrested-blocking-sidewalk/
https://www.news-journal.com/news/local/gregg-county-commissioners-hear-more-arguments-about-confederate-statue-as-brown-plans-to-seek-vote/article_6c36e044-d283-11ea-9116-5f79982df550.html
https://www.news-journal.com/news/local/misdemeanor-assault-allegations-outside-gregg-county-courthouse-forwarded-to-justice-of-the-peace/article_d7f1a424-c2c3-11ea-99b6-2b9dd2aea3b8.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longview_race_riot
https://www.sfasu.edu/heritagecenter/9811.asp
https://www.sfasu.edu/heritagecenter/9585.asp

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