Blog Post
“The Good Old Days”
- By Linda Ternoir
- •
- 15 Jul, 2018
- •
Taking America back to “The Good Old Days” was one of the most powerful rallying cries ofPresidential candidate Donald J. Trump.
Taking America back to “The Good Old Days” was one of the most powerful rallying cries of Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. A cry that President Trump invigorates with every breath and every action.
When I first heard him utter those words, I felt a stirring of deep ancestral grief.
We all know what “The Good Old Days” mean, and for whom those days were good.
For those who believe that they don't know, they need only to listen to Trump and watch the direction in which he is moving our country. Every word and action leads us backwards to a world of “Yes” for White, Christian, straight, men, and “No” for every “other”.
As soon as Barack Obama was inaugurated, the wailing began: “I want my country back!” These were not the voices of Black people. These were the voices of people who were terrified at the thought of losing a world in which everything is about and for themselves.
In February, 2017, artist Jean Brantley organized a meeting of mostly Black women artists.
She proposed a group art project focused on “political” themes. Jean had purchased a number of T-shirt mannequins, which she distributed to the artists. Each artist was to choose a particular political focus for their mannequin. The group chose the project title: “The Manikin Project”. The completion deadline was set; Ciele Art Gallery, in Los Angeles, was secured; and the Exhibition date was scheduled: Sunday, June 25, 2017.
I immediately chose “THE GOOD OLD DAYS” for my Manikin theme.
Trump's base was awakened and enlivened by those words. Now they rejoice in a president that validates their ignorance, greed, and hatred. They are emboldened by Trump, who encouraged violence and polarization.The Ku Klux Klan, Skin-Heads, Neo-Nazi's, White Nationalists, and all of that ilk rejoice to hear their beliefs proclaimed to be the true American Dream. A dream of non-Whites reduced, subjected, and maintained in a status of subservience and expendiblility, even to the point of extinction.
My Manikin “The Good Old Days” honors all of the Black peoples who had to keep silent in order to protect their families and their livelihood. This piece of art is for the Black peoples who were forced to smile and pretend that everything was alright. America shamefully makes such ardent efforts to deny, conceal, distort and erase the true history of Black people. “The Good Old Days” is a celebration of TRUTH being told about the lives, pain, resilience, and beauty of these remarkable people.
How did America become great? Black people were forced to provide free labor for four-hundred years.
Black fathers were sold away from their families. White slave-holders raped enslaved Black women and tore their babies from their arms. Enslaved Black men, women and children were sold at auction as property. Once sold, they were held captive in inhuman conditions, with minimal, if any, medical attention. They were forbidden to read, write or educate themselves.
The credit for inventions and other contributions were usurped by White slave-holders.The enslaved had no rights as citizens even though they worked their entire lives to make life “great” for their White oppressors and to make America rich.
“The Good Old Days” Manikin (23”h x 15”w x 6”d) has been painted with acrylic paint, on top of a surface of pleated paper collage and finished with a varnish.
Linda Ternoir
7/15/2018
When I first heard him utter those words, I felt a stirring of deep ancestral grief.
We all know what “The Good Old Days” mean, and for whom those days were good.
For those who believe that they don't know, they need only to listen to Trump and watch the direction in which he is moving our country. Every word and action leads us backwards to a world of “Yes” for White, Christian, straight, men, and “No” for every “other”.
As soon as Barack Obama was inaugurated, the wailing began: “I want my country back!” These were not the voices of Black people. These were the voices of people who were terrified at the thought of losing a world in which everything is about and for themselves.
In February, 2017, artist Jean Brantley organized a meeting of mostly Black women artists.
She proposed a group art project focused on “political” themes. Jean had purchased a number of T-shirt mannequins, which she distributed to the artists. Each artist was to choose a particular political focus for their mannequin. The group chose the project title: “The Manikin Project”. The completion deadline was set; Ciele Art Gallery, in Los Angeles, was secured; and the Exhibition date was scheduled: Sunday, June 25, 2017.
I immediately chose “THE GOOD OLD DAYS” for my Manikin theme.
Trump's base was awakened and enlivened by those words. Now they rejoice in a president that validates their ignorance, greed, and hatred. They are emboldened by Trump, who encouraged violence and polarization.The Ku Klux Klan, Skin-Heads, Neo-Nazi's, White Nationalists, and all of that ilk rejoice to hear their beliefs proclaimed to be the true American Dream. A dream of non-Whites reduced, subjected, and maintained in a status of subservience and expendiblility, even to the point of extinction.
My Manikin “The Good Old Days” honors all of the Black peoples who had to keep silent in order to protect their families and their livelihood. This piece of art is for the Black peoples who were forced to smile and pretend that everything was alright. America shamefully makes such ardent efforts to deny, conceal, distort and erase the true history of Black people. “The Good Old Days” is a celebration of TRUTH being told about the lives, pain, resilience, and beauty of these remarkable people.
How did America become great? Black people were forced to provide free labor for four-hundred years.
Black fathers were sold away from their families. White slave-holders raped enslaved Black women and tore their babies from their arms. Enslaved Black men, women and children were sold at auction as property. Once sold, they were held captive in inhuman conditions, with minimal, if any, medical attention. They were forbidden to read, write or educate themselves.
The credit for inventions and other contributions were usurped by White slave-holders.The enslaved had no rights as citizens even though they worked their entire lives to make life “great” for their White oppressors and to make America rich.
“The Good Old Days” Manikin (23”h x 15”w x 6”d) has been painted with acrylic paint, on top of a surface of pleated paper collage and finished with a varnish.
Linda Ternoir
7/15/2018