WE THE PEOPLE --- created 2018 --- spoken here in this edit 2023 --- is one of my works of spoken word art ...
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... i'm a conceptual text-based artist ...
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... my art is informed by, but not about, my mental illness --- bipolar 1 --- diagnosed twenty years ago ...
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...this piece, spoken, accompanies the visual text work of the same name with the same words ...
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... i'm a self-taught artist with no art education or training ...
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... a contemporary conceptual art gallery, Engage Projects in Chicago, started representing me three years ago ... 20 artists from all over the world, true diversity ...
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... my two solo shows --- all of which incorporate text art and sound art that will be added here --- have each been selected by Artforum Magazine as 'must see' ...
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... a london / berlin art advisory lists me as one of the top one-hundred living activist artists due to my body of work on US and international issues ...
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you tube --- www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vPD-gLLKVI
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lyrics --- note --- i experiment with the words so sometimes they change ...
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WE THE PEOPLE -
WHEN IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS -
WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT -
WE SAY ALL MEN -
ONLY MEN -
NOT WOMEN -
ONLY MEN -
JUST WHITE MEN -
NOT OUR SLAVES -
ARE CREATED EQUAL -
AND ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR -
JUST ONE CREATOR -
OUR CREATOR -
FOR NO OTHER COULD EXIST -
WITH UNALIENABLE RIGHTS -
JUST FOR US -
NOT YOU -
NOT EVEN CENTURIES FROM NOW -
AND WE HAVE A DREAM -
THAT ONE DAY YOU JUDGE OUR POSTERITY -
NOT BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER -
BUT BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN -
AND THAT THEY ARE NOT REFUGEES OR IMMIGRANTS -
AND BY HOW THEY PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE -
NO MATTER TO WHOM -
FOR IT IS ALLEGIANCE -
THAT MAKES A NATION GREAT -
DOES IT NOT -
NOT NON-VIOLENT PROTEST -
AND THE RIGHT TO VOTE -
FOR THE TRUE AND ACTUAL -
JUSTICE -
AND LIBERTY -
AND EQUALITY -
THAT MUST EXIST -
SOME DAY -
IF THERE IS TO BE -
MORE THAN MYTH -
IF THERE IS TO BE -
A TRUE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -
A TRUE AMERICA -
A TRULY UNITED -
A TRUE