This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Originally published by Sixty Inches from Center on December 7, 2018.
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Portrait collage. Sarah-Ji looks directly at the camera with a slight smile on her face. She is wearing a white, salmon, orange, and patterned colored dress with her hands interlocked in front of her. In the background is a television glitch graphic with the painting titled “Faces (Faces a la Picasso)" created by the artist, scholar and activist Margaret T. Burroughs. The image is framed by a 35mm film strip. Photo and collage were created by Ireashia Bennett. All other images were sourced online.
Abolitionist Sarah-Ji Uses Photography To Reimagine Community Liberation
This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Published originally by Sixty Inches from Center on October 29, 2018.
Read MoreTonika G. Johnson Uses Visual Activism to Combat Distorted Truth
This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Originally published by Sixty Inches from Center on September 25, 2018.
Read MoreArchivist Candace Ming Preserves and Uplifts the Cultural Memory of Chicago’s South Side
This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Published by Sixty Inches from Center on September 18, 2018.
Read MoreArchivist and Activist Erin Glasco Envisions Rebuilding the Archive—From the Inside Out
This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Published by Sixty Inches from Center on September 10, 2018.
Read MoreChicago Dyke March 2018
On June 23rd, Ireashia Monét documented the Chicago Dyke March post-rally celebration.
Read MoreJuneteenth with Black Lunch Table at MCA
Ireashia Monét created portraits of over 50 people who stopped by the Juneteenth Black Lunch Table workshop at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago on June 19th, 2018.
Read MoreTake Back the Fight, April 5 2018
Documentation by Ireashia Monét of the exhibition opening, panel and reception for "Take Back the Fight: Resisting Sexual Violence from the Ground Up" at Pop Up Just Art (PUJA) Gallery, 1344 S. Halsted on April 5, 2018.
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By Ireashia Monét
2018 Chicago Free Black Women's Library at Hyde Park Art Center
On June 9th, Ireashia Monét photographed a day of healing sessions, craft workshops, and teach-ins at the Chicago Free Black Women’s Library.
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"For many many years, I wanted to talk to somebody about it. And when [they] began to ask me, I just began to flow." Gwen Bennett, in conversation with her grandchild Ireashia Monét, about the domestic abuse and violence she experienced over the course of her life.
Artist Talk with Ireashia Monét at Build Coffee -- April 13, 2018
On April 13 the lovely folks at Build Coffee hosted me for the opening of "The Pearls My Mother Gave Me," my ongoing exploration of intergenerational trauma, the residual effects of abuse in the lives of the women in my family, and my personal fight toward radical healing and self-love.
At 6:30 we screened “Grandma’s Wisdom (2016)” and “The Pearls You Gave Me (2018).” Afterward, I held a public conversation with my grandmother on the series. For the first time, Gwendolyn Bennett spoke about her experience working on “Grandma’s Wisdom” and how it has changed how she sees herself as an older black woman, as well as the impact of feeling heard and understood.
Photography by J. Michael Eugenio
"The Pearls My Mother Gave Me" combines photo, video, and audio to create oral and visual documentation of the healing properties of the rural South and Monét’s process of understanding their maternal family history. In doing so, they actively preserve what little they still have to trace the blood memory which binds them to their ancestors. This memory is revealed through spiritual experiences, love, and a fight to survive. The result is a raw and honest body of work that simultaneously celebrates and examines the complexity of motherhood, black queerness, and an intrinsic right to be free. It will be on display at Build Coffee through June 2018.
"For many many years, I wanted to talk to somebody about it. And when [they] began to ask me, I just began to flow." Gwen Bennett, in conversation with her grandchild Ireashia Monét, about the domestic abuse and violence she experienced over the course of her life.
Ruminations on that trauma are present in Monét's short films THE PEARLS YOU GAVE ME and GRANDMA'S WISDOM. Both films were shown last month at a gathering in Build Coffee. Afterward, Monét and Bennett dove into a discussion on intergenerational trauma and healing.
South Side Weekly Radio airs live on Tuesdays from 3-4pm at WHPK 88.5 FM - The Pride of the South Side - with your hosts Andrew Koski, Sam Larsen, and Olivia Obineme.
The bumper at the beginning featured Chicago scholar, artist, and activist Eve Ewing and was produced by Jed Lickerman.