The Current Summer 2020

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ONTENT

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08

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Art Gallery

Creativity Through Crisis

Shelter In Place

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16

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Fm90 Plays On

Black Lives Matter

David Lovejoy Q&A

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Escape Through Entertainment

Reenacting Art

Art Gallery

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Corona Time

Art Gallery

Take Back 2020

Greetings

R E T T LE Within the pages of this magazine, you will see a clear response to 2020.

From the student art galleries to the writing, each piece highlights a tumultuous time in our society and the impact this environment has had on the Amarillo College community, from current students, to professors, to alumni.

M O R F This issue of The Current pays particularly close attention to the art and media resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic and the protests against racial injustice taking place around the globe during the spring and summer of 2020.

Through this collection, we wish to convey that, even as the world falls apart, there is hope in the things we create.

Vincent Van Gogh summed it up nicely when he said, “In spite of everything, I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing.�

E H T As our society continues to struggle with both internal and external forces, we hope this magazine shows that art will continue adapting to these forces with an unrelenting stride, and remain as an outlet of expression for all.

— Lauren Ebben

Staff & Contributors

Lauren Ebben Jill Gibson Jenna Gibson Caylee Hanna Derek Weathersbee Maddisun Fowler

Christiana Dawson

Daniar Onoz

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REATIVITY HROUGH RISIS

hroughout history, the experience of crisis has informed, shaped and prompted creativity. Similarly, the Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the creation and consumption of art. From the issues of isolation and the unknown, to the loss of access to art materials and work spaces, the coronavirus has touched every aspect of Amarillo College’s creative community. During spring semester, AC art experts held a video conference panel discussion to examine connections between Covid and creativity. They said they expect the virus will have an impact for many years to come.

Alex Gregory, the curator of the Amarillo Museum of Art, said he noticed that one of the first changes sparked by the virus was a trend toward dematerialization due to the fact that many artists had lost access to the studios and materials they needed to create their art.

"If you’re short on space and you’re short on materials, then you turn to what’s on hand,” Gregory said. “I think for a lot of artists, if you don’t have access to your studio, and you’re driven to create… you have to create in order to get through this mentally and physically… you’re going to turn to what’s available to you.”

New art styles and materials will be derived from the time spent in isolation, he said. “Artists may not be able to go back to doing the things that they have done before. They are going to develop new styles and work with new materials. Things get scaled down in size if you don’t have access to a large studio. Things become more intimate, thoughtful and poignant. It’ll be interesting to see how culture as a whole, in visual arts specifically, changes over time following this,” Gregory said.

Stephanie Jung, an AC art professor, said she has noticed a connection between isolation and surrealism, a modern movement in art and literature that tries to express the subconscious mind.

“Surrealism is exactly the right art movement to be talking about at this time. That comes back to this notion of what we’re doing in isolation, how we’re watching things on our screens. It’s this very strange combination of being extremely intimate with each other: seeing into each other’s homes, seeing each other’s pets and each other’s children and hearing intimate commentary in the background, while at the same time being removed from each other,” she said.

Jung also noted that being in an emotionally strange place relates to the surrealism art movement. “One of the things I’ve found written about recently was people who feel very traumatized psychologically about what’s going on, understandably.

At the same time, they feel guilty for feeling traumatized because maybe they’re not experiencing the physical or financial hardships that other people are. Being caught in a place where you’re feeling something but you’re not supposed to feel it, it’s a strange spot and it’s kind of appropriate to surrealism,” she said.

Along with creating artwork, the pandemic has driven people to spend more time consuming art in the form of movies, television and online content. People have sought escape through video content, said Hilary Hulsey, Panhandle PBS director of content and AC film instructor. She pointed out that throughout history, movies have provided an entertainment outlet during difficult times, such as the Great Depression.

Similarly, Covid-19 has increased the amount of time spent watching movies and TV. “I’ve seen a lot of memes about finishing Netflix. I have escaped into films and I feel like people have done that since the beginning of its history,” Hulsey said. The coronavirus has also impacted the way video is produced. Hulsey said the staff of Panhandle PBS has had to change the way that they create content.

“We’ve had to really lean on each other as a team and really get creative about how we’re doing it. It’s difficult when you’ve learned one way of doing something your whole life. This is what we’re all facing right now and it’s nothing we’ve ever experienced before, so I’ve really enjoyed the creativity and the innovation with that. It’s been fun to come up with a way to still connect people through something they’ve already grown accustomed to with PBS,” Hulsey said.

Like many creators, Hulsey said Covid-19 has forced her to think about the future of her medium. “At PBS, we’ve had to figure out how to make content from Zoom meetings and our phones, so it makes me wonder how that will influence what is considered quality and what we’re willing to watch because it is what’s available,” she said. Jung said that this pandemic is a time of reflection for many artists. “This is a moment where we can begin to think about how we want to live,” Jung said.

— Caylee Hanna

Christiana Dawson

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SHELTER IN PLACE Amarillo College photography professor René West began every morning in self-isolation with a cup of coffee and a piece of paper, crunching numbers and sketching out concepts. In search of any form of control during the global pandemic, West started a photo still life series that captures her feelings during this unprecedented time.

“Artists are filters. We interpret the world in our own metaphorical language,” West said.

What originally began as a project she designed to ease her anxieties, now offers excitement as West ponders what she will create each morning.

As an artist, she is able to turn her uncertainty into a work of art. Every day, West knows there is something she has to get done, and that is a still life that she later posts to Instagram. West sets aside 20 to 30 minutes each morning to concentrate solely on one image and what message she wanted to portray that day. aunting and thought provoking, this series focuses on feelings of anxiety, despair and dealing with the unnecessary loss of life. Each photograph translates West’s experiences coping with the Covid-19 outbreak, the social unrest sweeping the country and the divisive political climate. West said the series has given her something to “be obsessed with.”

“It keeps me anchored in a turbulent sea.” The subject matter of her images, from eerie dolls to tiny animal figurines and everything in between, are items she has found around her house. West had not left her home for months, so it is crucial to note she already owned all the unusual items she photographed.

Each still life is created in her studio, with natural window light and a simple setup with various backdrops atop a textured wooden table that once belonged to West’s great-grandfather.

She shoots the images with her camera and prints inkjet negatives on Stonehenge paper using

the Vandyke process. Working with a historic process in the dark room creates a “finished result that is much softer, which is something you don’t see on Instagram,” she said. West said she is grateful this photo series has provided her with a creative outlet and a way to express her feelings. As an artist and professor, she encourages people to find ways to create and escape during these times.

“I don’t think it matters if you are coloring in an adult coloring book, making quilts or planting a garden — that’s creating,” she said. “Creativity

is so important for people. I think that’s why so many people are creating. It’s something you can control, which is more than anything else that we can do,” West added.

West’s series has been chosen to be a part of the United Art Gallery (https://unitedart.gallery/), which is a digital gallery based in Austria, that focuses on Coronavirus Art (along with BLM content) created by artists from around the world.

To keep up with West’s still life series, follow her on Instagram: @wildewest or register for one of her photography classes at AC. — Jenna Gibson

“Artists are filters. We interpret the world in our own metaphorical language.�

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Sheltered Dreams

RenĂŠ West

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M90 PLAYS O

uring every hard time in my life I have had music. It is something no one can take away. Music can bring joy or sadness … solace or passion. Music is the key to surviving any situation. No matter what you are feeling, there is always a song that can bring you into the light.

The coronavirus has prompted many closings and cancellations, but at Amarillo College’s FM90, the music has played on. The student-operated station’s continued service in the face of multiple Covid-prompted changes shows the resiliency of radio — a medium that has successfully transformed itself and adapted to challenges ever since its invention more than a century ago.

In late February 2020, as the student music director at the station, I was making plans to represent FM90 at the “South by Southwest” music festival in Austin. I was looking forward to meeting musical artists and hearing new bands when the first round of Covid-19 cancellations began. For me, the cancellation of SXSW was an important marker in the timeline of the coronavirus pandemic. Shortly after that, the college and the station shut their doors.

AC’s move to remote teaching in mid-March meant we could no longer allow live broadcasts from inside the studio on the Washington Street Campus. For the first time in its more than 40-year history, FM90 didn’t have student DJs live on the air. Nevertheless, the music didn’t stop.

Amy Hart, the FM90 program director and a mass media instructor, refused to let the campus closure separate the listeners from the music. From moving to automated programming, to publishing student DJ-curated playlists on FM90’s new Spotify account, the station stayed on the air and continued to play new music. As student music director, I began doing the music programming from my home.

At first, I wasn’t even aware that what we were doing was

abnormal. To keep the station on air and keep adding new music seemed like the right thing to do. Then I heard that some schools’ college radio stations were going dark, but FM90 kept on going. We kept on doing what we do, which is bringing music to the people however we can. Whether it’s the specialty shows now playing through Spotify, or working remotely to add and edit songs for our library, we didn’t question making the extra effort to get back to normal. In hard times, a little bit of normal goes a long way.

As an instructor, a program director and a person who is susceptible to the coronavirus due to asthma and allergies, Hart has had to deal with this epidemic on multiple fronts.

Through these challenges, she has kept up with the changes happening in the music business and has even led the station to host a virtual concert featuring new music from a Southern California-based band called the Brevet.

Hart says it’s essential to maintain FM90’s role as a place to hear the newest music. “The music industry itself is trying to adapt to no touring. They’re waiting to release albums because the artists can’t tour to support them,” she said.

This means radio could become more important to record label companies. The new songs that labels push for stations to add, the way audiences respond to these songs will dictate how record labels can turn a profit. With less touring and fewer songs or albums being released, the more the big label companies will have to rely on radio stations for audience feedback.

Covid is causing changes in every industry and the coming year will likely involve more innovation per sector than ever before. With that in mind, Kyle Arrant, the FM90 and Panhandle PBS director of station operations, has plans to have a voice-tracking system installed at FM90.

This will be another first for the station. Arrant said it will serve both listeners and mass media students well.

“

Music can bring joy or sadness… solace or passion. Music is the key to surviving any situation. No matter what you are feeling, there is always a song that can bring you into the light.

“

“Voice-tracking has never been used by FM90, but that seems to be the direction the industry is going,” Arrant said. Most commercial stations use some form of voice tracking so their DJs can pre-record or remotely work their shifts.

Learning voice-tracking techniques will be helpful for students pursuing all media-related careers, he said. The voice-tracking system will be identical to that used in many commercial radio stations throughout the country.

The system will also allow students to pre-record radio shows from their homes. Additionally, the college will be adding broadcast quality microphones and headphones to students’ required class materials and will soon begin selling these items in the Amarillo College bookstore. As the current

student music director, I am excited that new students will be able to learn voice-tracking. Having trained students to do on-air announcing, I think giving students the ability to hear themselves before they go on-air, live, will help them gain confidence and will diversify their skills.

Our adaptation to challenging circumstances reveals who we are as people. FM90’s reaction to the pandemic has shown a commitment to keep the station on the air and continue to train the students in a progressive environment that gives them the tools and opportunities to get the experience they need to start a career.

FM90 truly is more than alternative and Amarillo College’s radio station will keep the music playing no matter what.

— Jake Day

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PEACEFUL PROTESTS SUPPORT BLACK LIVES Area residents gathered at Bones Hooks Park for an NAACP rally June 6, after protests erupted worldwide after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers. In Amarillo, protesters called for police reform, an end to institutionalized racism and encouraged participants to register to vote. — Stormie Sanchez

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DAV

LOVEJ COMMUNITY L fter leaving the military, David Lovejoy began his career in radio in 2014 while earning his mass media degree at Amarillo College. Throughout his media career, he has worked as a radio DJ, a news reporter and a news director. He is currently the program director at KGNC AM. Lovejoy also serves as the first vice president for the Amarillo branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Amid recent racial unrest and calls for social justice, Lovejoy shares his perspective as a Black journalist during a time of history characterized by sweeping protests, political polarization and the push to end systemic racism.

NAACP unique. Instead of being reactive to situations like that, we’re proactive. Right now in both Randall and Potter county, we have people in our community who work on police advisory boards, so it’s ongoing.

It can’t be just ‘Well, this happened. So we’re going to react.’ That’s a big difference. I think it’s important that we already have that groundwork laid. It’s not perfect, don’t get me wrong. Nothing’s perfect. The relationship between police and the community is not perfect. The police department is not perfect, but neither are we. But we’re there working daily, with police, with the government, with community leaders to try to get that harmony.

Could you tell me a little bit more about the work you do with the NAACP?

How has the Black Lives Matter movement impacted your work at the NAACP?

The Black Lives Matter movement is a very important one because it has energized young people. Incidents and issues that now are our major concerns go back to my generation, as far back as Emmett Till. It’s a daily struggle for me. It’s a daily fight. It’s not just something new for me in my world. It’s not something new for a lot of people of color, Hispanic, for women, for gay people. These fights and these struggles aren’t the latest news story. It’s our daily existence. Black Lives Matter has kind of highlighted that and that’s a good thing. Because you’ve seen a seismic change in our country. You could feel the earth moving under your feet.

A lot of times, we’re asked to look at things in our society, especially issues of race. We have a dialogue with the Amarillo police department. We have dialogue with city politicians. That’s what makes the

How are you able to stay objective through your job as a journalist, the work that you do with the NAACP and what is happening with the Black Lives Matter movement?

The job of the NAACP is to stand up for civil rights. And that doesn’t mean civil rights of Black people, it doesn’t mean civil rights of Hispanic people, it means all civil rights … no matter color, creed or whatever, we stand up.

VID

JOY: LEADER It doesn’t matter what my opinion is when it comes to my job and telling you the news. My job is to see what happened, report it and let you, as a free thinking individual, make that decision. News is me just telling you what the story is, not what I think of the story. It’s not entertaining. It’s the passing of information.

How do you feel being a person of color has impacted your career in the media?

Being a person of color gives me a unique perspective on how I look at stories. My age gives me a unique perspective on how I look at stories. While some might be quicker to anger, or to draw an opinion, my experience gives me a chance to sit back and look at both sides of the coin. My color gives me the ability to have that point of view. Because if you’re sometimes raised in one certain world or certain way, that’s the only way you see things. My experience in the military, my experience of how I was raised has given me that ability to look at both sides of the coin, whether good or bad, white or black, night or day.

Sometimes, I go into a story and I remind myself, and I remind others what I instruct young journalists: it’s not about you. Nobody is here to see you. It’s about the story.

Do you ever find it hard to cover stories like the death of George Floyd or other issues that you can relate to?

No matter what my emotions are, what my feelings are, whether I feel it’s wrong or right, I have to set that aside as a journalist, and I just have to give the facts. Yes, certain stories bring me to tears. Yes, certain stories move me to anger, or to action. But when I’m doing my job, I just have to give you the facts. I can’t sway one way or the other. If I’m going to be honest with myself, if I’m going to be honest with my craft, then I just have to give the facts, and then I let the public make their decision.

My job is to try to find the truth and report it. Sometimes that's difficult to do on both sides, because you can see, pardon my language, a mile of bullshit coming a mile away, either Democratic or Republican. But I have to give them the respect of letting them tell their story, so I can report it. It’s up to you, as a consumer, to decide, not for me to tell you, and sometimes we forget that as journalists, as people. We want to tell people what we think and what our opinion is. Well, two days later, you might get a different point of view on something that can change that.

So that’s a dangerous thing when you come down as a journalist and say, “This is the only way you can think about this. This is the only truth.”

No, here’s the facts. You make up your own mind. Media is a reflection of our society. It’s us. So the media you take in, the media you go to, is the reflection of your society. I get asked a lot, “What do you watch for news?” and I say, “All of it.” I take it all in, and then as a grown person, it’s my job to filter through it.

— Lauren Ebben

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ESCAPE

THROUGH ENTERTAINMENT o amount of hindsight could prepare us for this year. Since its beginning, we’ve nearly N witnessed a third world war, fires sparked up in the land down under and a virus turned the world into its personal playground, with us as unwilling playmates.

And that was just in the first three months. Murder hornets popped in to say hello, police brutality graced us, yet again, with its presence, and we all began developing an underlying fear that nothing in our lives will ever be the same again. It’s only natural to want to escape it all, so society has turned to the one thing that is guaranteed to bring us at least a little happiness during this time: entertainment.

According to a poll from "The New York Times," online streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon and Hulu have seen a rise in popularity, especially during quarantine.

Based on data from that same poll, the use of mobile apps like Tik Tok, which was already taking off at the beginning of the year, skyrocketed. And, according to a Forbes survey, there has been an increase to the amount of music we’ve consumed since we were told not to leave our homes.

YouTube also reported a rise in visitors streaming content on the website.

I f you’re looking for a scientific explanation for this type of behavior, psychology calls it escapism, which is the desire to ignore, evade or avoid reality. And while escapism usually gets a bad rap, as it’s often associated with addiction, higher rates of streaming tells us it’s obviously become a popular coping mechanism for people. As the American author Shirley Jackson once said, “No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality.”

And as the world continues to slide into an increasingly bizarre and stressful reality, we are all looking for ways to get away. But in a time of social distancing, it isn’t just the consumption of entertainment that’s important. After all, content needs to be made before it can be consumed.

Stay-at-home orders have caused many content creators online to rethink how they connect to their audiences, according to an article on Business Insider. Some influencers are putting more focus on social media, even taking advantage of the influx of people online to sell their products and merchandise. Live streams have become a popular tool for influencers as well.

Many film and television productions were also put on hold due to the pandemic. As places open back up, these productions are slowly, but surely, returning to schedule, according to an article on "Insider." Additionally, movies originally scheduled for release in the spring or summer are still set to come out this year.

As the world continues to fall apart around us, entertainment is more important than ever. And more important than that, it’s okay to want to escape for a while by rewatching your favorite TV show or listening to your favorite song on repeat or creating a dozen Tik Tok videos. We’re all doing what we can to keep our sanity, and if someone judges you for that, just blame 2020.

— Lauren Ebben

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality.�

Devree Mallory

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Cecilia Mendoza

Emily Flores

Sierra Treviozo

Johannes Vermeer

RenĂŠ Magritte

Frida Kahlo

EENACTING AR

An internet trend in which people recreate famous works of art with their own resources has made its way to Amarillo College. Students in Stephanie Jung’s spring art history class followed suit, putting their own twists on the fad.

Jung said she felt it was important to include something fun when classes had to move online after spring break. “The Getty Museum had posted an online challenge to recreate works from their archives, and some of the results were amazing - some with very simple approaches, and some that were really elaborate,” she said. “It seemed like such a great way to get people to look at museum collections online, and to start thinking about how you could remake the image with the things you had on hand, which requires you to look at your surroundings and objects differently. It’s really another way of approaching visual analysis besides writing.”

The students, who had spent the semester studying the history of art, were encouraged to choose pieces they liked and attempt to recreate them in photographs as an opportunity to get extra credit in class. Natasha Gerardo, an art history major, chose to recreate “Madonna and Child With Saints Jerome, John the Baptist, Bernardino and Bartholomew”

by Sano di Pietro.

“I chose this piece because while going over Renaissance art, I became very interested in the many depictions of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child,” she said. “With this specific piece, I loved the gold-ground and tempera technique, along with the Gothic style of the figures.”

Quarantine caused challenges for other students participating in the project as well. For Victoria Vasquez, an education major, finding the right foliage for her recreation of “Still Life With Lemons, Oranges and a Rose”

by Francisco de Zurbaran, was the problem. She picked the piece because she admired its simplistic beauty, but struggled getting the roses and leaves from her backyard to

hold the right position. “My mom suggested I use her fake foliage instead, which turned out to be a lot easier and I love the way the piece came out, but I just wish that the leaves were real like roses,” Vasquez said.

Parker Chrzanowski, an art major, intentionally used items in his recreation of “Louis XIV” by Hyacinthe Rigaud that reflected his own interests, rather than trying to make a perfect replication. “I used a Star Wars blanket to use for the cloak, since I like Star Wars,” Chrzanowski said. “I used my sword that I got from The Knife Guys and a Jeff Dunham hat for the crown."

Chrzanowski said the hardest part of the project was finding the correct angles and proper lighting. For Gerardo, the biggest challenge was finding a willing model. “The only difficulty I had with making this was getting my husband to play along with me. He isn’t one to take silly photos, or any pictures in general,” she said. “When I showed him the final product, he really got a good laugh out of it.” He enjoyed the photo enough to even make it the background on his cellphone, Gerardo said.

Jung said that because it was an extra credit assignment, there wasn’t pressure to participate. “Everyone in the class, whether they did one themselves or not, seemed to enjoy seeing the images from their peers,” she said.

The project offered students a chance to dig further into famous artwork. Both Chrzanowski and Gerado said they are considering working on future recreations. Vasquez prefers just to enjoy art. “Although it was cool to recreate a famous artwork, I’ll leave the art to the real artists,” she said.

— Stormie Sanchez

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Cassandra Neal

Shawn McCrea

Shawn McCrea

Russell McGaha

Shawn McCrea

Natasha Gerrardo

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LIFE IN THE TIME

OF CORONA At first we made jokes about the virus. The night the mayor announced that Amarillo had a confirmed death, I was so scared. I felt scared to be scared.

I haven’t gone into work for a while now, I don’t remember how long. I sit and do nothing. Doing nothing once felt rewarding, but now it is a prison.

I had hoped this all would pass. I felt this couldn’t be forever. The daily news updates, one by one, have torn my hopes down.

I began to take more walks to at least have some reason to get ready. I noticed the community’s togetherness.

Despite the safety measures, neighbors gave support

and love to the neighborhood. Kids wrote, “We can do this” on the sidewalks with chalk, and adults marked their windows with “We are together.” Social distancing and wearing masks have become a reality.

Drive-through service and curbside pick-up were the new norm. Recreational areas such as playgrounds were roped off due to fear of contagion. Public swimming pools stayed closed.

The situation is still evolving, numbers rising and falling, arguments over what should open and what should stay closed, anger and fear. At first we made jokes about the virus. Now it has infected every aspect of our lives.

— Isabelle Link

“

Every t hing had to be re le arn ed , Suddenly eve r yt hing was about th e pandemic. I found a way to ma ke a hum an con ne ct ion t hrough t he l en s of a depress ing all- cons uming to p i c .

“

— Stormie Sanchez

Johnny Lawhon

Isabelle Link

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David Clayton

Carol Denney

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TAKE BACK 2020 has not been my year. As we are quickly passing the halfway mark, I doubt it has been your year either. Coronavirus wreaked havoc on this country, shedding a now blinding light on already present issues.

The need for health care reform, housing as a right and the need for Wi-Fi as a public utility are just some examples of cracks that turned into dangerous crevices during this pandemic.

With the House and the Senate constantly at war with one another, using relief packages as political tools to push their agendas, the country couldn’t seem more divided. Then George Floyd was murdered. When Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, extinguishing his life, he ignited a fire not just across the country, but across the world.

At first glance, it might appear that the country is doomed to fall apart. “United we stand, divided we fall” comes to mind. But we aren’t falling. Americans are doing the opposite; we are standing up and finally saying, “Enough is enough.” For weeks, protests took place across the country and across the world, with social media playing a new and major role in spreading the word and fanning the flames of revolution.

Many people have compared this current wave of social activism to that of the 60s, but we have many advantages our predecessors did not have. With social media, we have instant access to information, endless ways to communicate and high definition cameras to record it all. People of all nationalities, races, genders and sexualities are banding together to demand justice for those Black lives that have been snuffed out by systematic racism. We are banding together to demand equality and a safe future. We are banding together to say, “I might not be able to walk in your

shoes, but I stand with you, and I support you.” Artists are using their platforms to create protest art and work to honor those who have died directly as a result of police brutality and blatant racism. On Spotify, protest songs such as “This is America” by Childish Gambino, and “Say it Loud — I am Black and I am Proud” by James Brown have increased dramatically in popularity, becoming the new summer soundtrack for change. In cities across America, murals are being painted to honor victims. Thomas ‘Detour’ Evans and Hiero Veiga have depicted George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain and Isabella Thallus in their popular murals.

2020 can still be our year. The first half might have been trash, but we took that trash and used it as kindling to light a fire, and we cannot let that fire go out. If you are an artist, keep creating. Keep writing about injustice. Keep recording what is happening so we can have a historical record of this.

Keep singing songs and making videos about it. The worst thing we can do is be silenced, to not use our voices. There is a reason that the First Amendment is first, and that’s because the Founding Fathers knew that without our voice, we are nothing.

If you don’t think you are creative, or you can’t attend protests, you can still help. Share other people’s art. Use social media to keep fanning the flames and keep the push for social justice relevant until we see the changes we are fighting for. We have seen firsthand how much our world can change in just six months. Let’s take 2020 back.

— Stormie Sanchez

Salome Almaguer

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take care The Current, Summer 2020 An Amarillo College Student Media Publication