3: The Gunrunner for the Arts: L.O. Sloan’s Half-Century of Thriving as an Artist for Change (Part 2)

THRESHOLD QUESTIONS AND DELICIOUS QUOTES?Many older monuments are being challenged these days for for their distorted representation of history. What challenges confronted this effort to create a new monument to an an important but forgotten story? Well, the Department of General Services told us to do that you are going to have to get the vote of the House, the vote of the Senate, the endorsement of the governor, and you're going to have to raise the money yourself. The only word in the dictionary that I really love is no, because when you say no to me, that's like a green light. So, you know, I said, “cool beans” you know. I know how to do that, you know. So, we got a unanimous decision from the House, a vote of acclamation by the Senate, the governor's endorsement, and we raised the money to place this monument sometime this summer.?How can monument building become a community organizing strategy?I will be sad to see the monument go in the ground, because what it has caused is a coming together a purpose, and an advocacy, and a civic dialogue, about the value of the vote and the engagement of individuals, not the leaders. The leaders all step back, said it's on you people to do this. So, this is a way that people project and the process has been monumental. It's the process that I'm hoping will continue engagement, and that many coalition efforts will come out of bringing these people together.?What is the relevance of a monument building initiative like this in the time of COVID? And so now I'm, I'm saying, well, perhaps the dedication of a monument will be an equation and a prescription for gathering again, you know, the name of the monument was with a gathering at the at the crossroads takes on new meaning, when we look at how long will it take for people to feel comfortable about gathering, again.?How does does this story inform this current moment in history?The story of the of the demise of the old Eighth Ward is the story of redlining today, I mean, you know, the practices of changing your polling place, redrawing neighborhoods, the suppression of black women candidates. I mean, all of the history, which we thought of in a sepia tone way that we were going to recall, we are actually reliving you know, right down to the pandemic that they suffered.?What lessons can cultural organizers starting out take from a project like this?So, listening, humility, knowing that things come through you not from you. And you try to contain your ego that insists it was your idea. My chosen culture is New Orleans. You know, the notion of gumbo is you got two crabs, I got okra, somebody else has the roux, you know, we go make up something really good here. So be humble enough to know that you are but an equation, in any idea. LinksThe Crossroads Project official website. https://digitalharrisburg.com/commonwealth/ Digital Harrisburg: Exploring the history, society, and culture of Pennsylvania’s capital city

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