BLACK LIES MATTER BY ROMULO SANTA RITA
The experience of being Black, being African… the photograph of African communities painted in the image of unscrutinised truths and self-serving lies, crafted by those who wish to conveniently sell them.
With George Floyd, in the USA, nations were stirred. The empathy of the white community grows in proportion to the level of assimilation of the individual.
For Ukraine, the movement gained even greater momentum. Why? Because “it could be one of us.” Not everyone can be.
And so, entire civilisations are ignored – made up of people [mostly children], whose permanent image of misery and despair is so constant and transgenerational that allowing them to work is almost seen as a favour.
The chocolate, the batteries, the tablets, the PCs, the diamonds… that comfort enjoyed by some, which justifies the misery of many… which lightly explains child slavery across continents, especially in Africa. A distant reality. Merely a means to an end. It does not move nations. It is just statistics.
It is the unscripted truths or the well-managed lies that challenge what should or should not truly matter. That strange culture is too distant, prevailing only because half the sophisticated world subjugates the other. The convenient image is painted – the one meant to be shared with outsiders, so that those who look from afar can think, “No, it couldn’t be one of us.”
And so, their lives carry on – fat, adorned, and entirely consumed by technology and the dream of their future electric cars. No movements, no grand discussions. Here, the perpetuated lies matter more than the lives of those who bear no resemblance to the privileged.
Originally created: 2023
Subject: Social, Political
Materials: Recycled Paper
Medium: colage and spray
Styles: Documentary, Conceptual, Realism, Portraiture, Pop Art
