It needs to stop. I don't care about the excuses as to why every single one of these cops feel they had the right to shoot and kill an unarmed black man. Shit. Needs. To. Stop. This is not the America we want to be, I'm pretty sure.
But wait, Cathy, you say. This is about arts and entertainment, not politics.
Take a look at what's happening in the local arts and entertainment world this weekend.
Friday
FMoPA's new exhibit, There is a Light That Never Goes Out, opens with lectures from the artists: USF Faculty Wendy Babcox, Jason Lazarus and Noelle Mason at 6 p.m. Check out the opening reception for this exhibit, named for a song by The Smiths, from 4-7 p.m.
Why's it relevant? From the press release: "In his seminal book Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes examines a photograph of condemned assassin Lewis Payne by the photographer Alexander Gardner. The photograph shows Payne in his cell awaiting execution. For Barthes this illustrates the essential paradox of photography that, a photograph is always a picture of the past in the present, Payne is both 'dead and going to die.'"
Take a break from reality: It's Fourth Friday, so that means while you're hanging riverside you should probably check out the other awesome-osity happening around the once-tumbleweed-like Friday night of downtown Tampa. I'm not only saying check out the enchiladas at Urban Cantina, I'm saying you should get yourself a Fourth Friday wristband and use the water taxi, discounted admission to see The Illusionists at the Straz and food and drink specials all along the river.
Scare yourself shitless taking a break from reality: Scream your ass off at Scream-O-Geddon, because this election cycle isn't scary enough and we need more, like cursed hayrides.
Saturday
Lift Every Voice In conjunction with the Smithsonian's opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum will have its own schedule of events, including live coverage of the opening in Washington D.C. In addition, Joe Savage's children will speak. Joe Savage, in case you aren't up on your "horrible shit we did to black people" led a local sanitation worker strike in 1968, because black city workers in St. Pete made less than white city workers and he found that wildly iniquitous (read more about the strike and Joe Savage here).
Why's it relevant? Duh.
Bonus points: Take a walk or drive around some of the neighboring communities to see where centuries of white people being douches to black people have gotten black people. Sure, these black families could pull themselves up by their bootstraps — if only we didn't keep hiding the boots. Then head to Chief's Creole to process it all.
Free Museum Day means you can take your pick of area museums — think of the entire day as a sampler. Our picks? Florida Holocaust (check out Women of Ravensbrück), the St. Petersburg Museum of History (Experience Cuba) and the MFA St. Pete (Folk Art on Paper)
Why's it relevant? In some form, all three deal with oppressed or the formerly oppressed.
So, as I say, take a look at the local arts and entertainment world and tell me again how I'm supposed to write about the happy artsy things happening.
Art reflects life. If you want to change the art, change the world.
This article appears in Sep 22-29, 2016.