Jordan Roots

JORDAN

ROOTS

Jordan Roots is an artist, chef, and family man looking to make a positive impact in the community. He began taking on freelance work after graduating high school, looking for opportunities to create. He attended Morehead State University for a couple of years and intended on later transferring to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. However, after moving in with his brother, art and school were sort of put on the backburner. He jumped around from job to job as a means of making enough money to pay the bills. Later on, he used that money to pay for art supplies and create which became a cycle. Roots ended up working for FedEx for nine years, which gave him ample time to pursue any artistic endeavors he saw fit. He began taking art more seriously around 2010; he was taking on commission works more constantly and always creating work for clients. In 2013, he ended up on the cooking show, Master Chef, in a spur-of-the-moment opportunity. Cooking was another passion of his and a way to express himself through food. Roots came in seventh place and gained notoriety from his time on the show. It is the reason he landed his job as the head chef at Wooden Hill Brewing in Edina, Minnesota. A career as a chef can be taxing so art serves as a nice break and creative escape.

After the murder of George Floyd, Roots felt called upon to contribute to the uprising in the best way he knew how: with a brush. While Roots himself identifies as a white male, he made a point to share that his wife, Thenedra, is Black and they are raising three, soon to be four, boys of color. He stated, “I am learning a lot and learning about racism and white privilege first hand...I have witnessed it happening and see her experience it.” As someone who often speaks up and makes his feelings known, he mentioned the value of sometimes “shutting up and listening.” While the injustice and unequal treatment towards people of color is unfortunately nothing new, Roots himself took on a completely different view of the world after the murder of George Floyd; “It was kind of the first time I put myself as a father to Black boys in a completely different area than I ever have.” As a father, he always thought, “these are my kids and I will raise them to be morally sound and do right by them by pushing them to be great humans in this world.” This thought still rings true, but he started to realize that what happened to George Floyd, and so many other men and women of color, could happen to his kids.

This summer presented a powerful opportunity to protest and open up dialogue. For Roots, he was speaking for his kids and family. However, having the space to do so isn’t always easy to find. For this

Photo Courtesy of Jordan Roots

reason, seeing so many people willing to open up their storefronts for this purpose was incredible. He went on to say, “The voice behind my work was so powerful because it was for my kids and dammit… I’ll keep doing it.” The laws in the Twin Cities are very strict when it comes to street art that sometimes it seems like the only way to get a message out there is to do so illegally. Roots stated that he is ok with that, “I would be okay getting in trouble for it if ultimately the message being put out there is something I believe in strongly.” For this reason, to find that opportunity to go paint and do so without hesitation or worry was incredible and a real breath of fresh air. The first mural Roots completed this summer was outside of Stella’s Fish Cafe. This piece was done entirely in black and white, a staple of his style, and says Say My

Name. Other people began reaching out after seeing this piece wanting something in front of their businesses. The second place was the Uptown Salon. They had initially asked him to come and paint a piece with dragonflies and flowers to brighten up their boards, however, “The voice behind my he politely declined. After work was so powerful seeing the piece at Stella’s because it was for my which is so powerful, he kids and dammit… I’ll felt a bit confused as to why keep doing it.” they would want a more generic mural from him. He stated, “If you want me to do a piece, pay for the supplies and I am happy to donate my time and talent, but I refuse to paint something that isn’t along the lines of speaking out about inequality and our racial relationship right now in our world, and country specifically.” At first, he was met with apprehension but after checking with the owner, they came back and were more than happy to have him do a piece that allowed him to speak his mind. The artistic direction for this piece was to tell a story from Gianna Floyd’s point of view with the quote “Daddy changed the world.” This was such a powerful statement that so many people could connect to, whether that be as a mother, a father, or just as a caring individual and it can be seen from many different lenses. The third and final piece Roots painted was about Breonna Taylor. This was the most controversial design and challenged a lot of people’s views. Brim Restaurant contacted Roots to create a mural however he saw fit. He wanted to do something that highlighted the idea of “injecting racism into our culture and country hundreds of years ago.” He wanted people to understand that “this was a well-choreographed and powerful system at work to create this unjust landscape of our nation- it’s killing people.” One

Photo Courtesy of Terrell Lamarr

side is a vibrant image of Breonna Taylor’s smiling face while the other is dead. The police line around the outside symbolizes that the case is surrounded by the police tape and we don’t get to see what goes on behind the scenes. The goal was to make people uncomfortable and this one stopped more people than the others. He wondered what about that piece made someone stop and reflect.

So many requests were coming in, however, Roots didn’t want to wash the city with just his art. He believes the energy should be collective and collaborative and referred to the Berlin Wall. He noted what makes it beautiful is the combined efforts of a community. In conclusion, “The more voices there are the better and in the end, it comes down to the power of numbers.” Many people view Root’s art as just aesthetically nice but he wants to focus on doing more art as protest especially on a larger scale. There’s a time and place “The goal was for art that is not driven by the protest to make people but he states, “my days of painting uncomfortable.” daisies are significantly numbered.” Sometimes, art happens because the money is good and we all need to pay the bills but those projects are becoming more difficult to do. Roots would rather sacrifice that money to do something that he and others can connect with; “I don’t want to do work that is only surface level, I want people to be challenged and question the work.” ■