WOVEN TOGETHER
Creating a tapestry of equity through the arts. BY CRYSTAL C. MERCER
B
COURTESY CRYSTAL C. MERCER
lack. Southern. Woman. Poet. Activist — these are just a building their own buffets of justice, trading seats and scraps for handful of the identities that are an integral part of my thrones and feasts. humanity and how I move through this world. Though An example of such ceremonious table setting is the scale of my important to show up in my fullness, there is also a veil of recent work, “Black Star: A Love Letter From A Daughter of the disdain when I am navigating a world that constantly rejects me for Diaspora.” It was seen on display in March 2022 at the Arkansas my ethnicity and assumed civil standing in a country that was built Repertory Theatre, held as a flagship institution of performance from a legacy of slave labor. As a young girl, my late grandmother, art in Central Arkansas, during their production of “School Girls; Leola Strong Brown Or, the African Mean Girls (affectionately known as Lobby installation at the Rep for “School Girls; Or, The African Play” by Jocelyn Bioh. My “Memaw”), picked cotton Mean Girls Play”. lobby installation featured a in Pelahatchie, Mississippi, 32 1/2- by 12-foot Ghanaian later laying roots in Pine Flag quilt, swallowing the Bluff as a wife and mother entire theater, visible from in the late 1940s. Her hands, the heavy traffic at the a wrinkle in time, lined with corner of Sixth and Main the stories of her sacrifices streets, as a testament to to build a better life for every iota of my being. her family, are the same A diverse threading of hands that prayed with me, young, old, professional, combed my hair, prepared creative and a rainbow of holiday meals and lifted ethnicities stood under with thanks when good the red, gold and green things happened. Those bands, centered with a happenings were few and black star, making their own far between. Barriers and quilted cool of connection. access to justice are more That declaration in like boulders to shoulder, the cloth ignited many as if the titan Atlas himself conversations about origin, was an uncle to me, posed art, beauty, culture and, in a position I often feel, most importantly, the crux weighted with inequities. of my work as an artist: However, being from The equity. These dialogues are Natural State, a lush haven necessary and simulated of mountains, lakes, caves by art; whether it’s an and diamonds, I understand how pressure can create beauty. installation, mural or sculpture, they help us interact in rural and Godmother. Sister. Daughter. Traveler. Artist — these are another urban settings, hopefully allowing progress to be made. collective of identities that have fueled my work to dismantle Stitch(her). Make(her). Create(her) — these identities are at the oppressive systems and construct new realities to encourage intersection of a cotton blossom of a girl from Little Rock, who equity. My primary mediums: theater, poetry and textiles, are fully bloomed in her world travels and returned to the South to utilized for building creative communities through artistic promote freedom. It is in that freedom where I perfect my work, expression. There are a slew of artists who are using their craft to amplify my voice and the voices of others, to fight for change and create a tapestry of equity through the arts. Be it visual, literary advocate for communities where people of color can exist without or tactile, artists are generating a positive relationship with their agitation, oppression or question. It is the balance of justice, art, small towns, city centers and booming metropolises to provoke design, renewal and development that can erect a stronger sense of thought and spark dialogue, interlocking pain with expression, to togetherness. But this work is not my work alone. There is room for pursue deeper human connections. In addition to strengthening everyone to light a candle on the altar of liberty. There are enough our equilibrium of co-existing in peace, artists are also leading the thrones for us all to dine like royalty at the table of freedom. charge of preserving humanity through an imaginative historical record and boosting economic activity with their capture. A current recognizable phrase being used to describe how we integrate as society is diversity, equity and inclusion. DEI work, also known Crystal C. Mercer is an Afro-creative, textile artist, actor, activist, as DEIA (adding the “A” for accessibility), is a hot topic, as poet, author, creative director of Columbus Creative Arts + Activism, communities that were traditionally excluded from the table are and designer and lead merchant of Mercer Textile Mercantile. VOLUME 8 | 2022 BLOCK, STREET & BUILDING | 55
