MY FAMILY OWNS IT THEREFORE I OWN IT
The beginnings of "The Recognitions"
I am an artist who walks. Having grown up in rural Georgia with very little capital I was recently shocked into recognition of the contribution my family made to the United States. Because I grew up without the privilege of material wealth I never considered that my family would have been involved in the terrible underbelly of the United States. Looking into this history revealed itself to me: my great-great-great grandfather was a slaveholder, as were most of my male relatives before him. From 1718 to 1867, my family owned approximately two hundred people. I discovered this by reading the following letter given to me by my grandmother in a packet of information she had compiled (Mrs. Mary Carson Bumpous is my great-great grandmother):
The beginnings of "The Recognitions"
I am an artist who walks. Having grown up in rural Georgia with very little capital I was recently shocked into recognition of the contribution my family made to the United States. Because I grew up without the privilege of material wealth I never considered that my family would have been involved in the terrible underbelly of the United States. Looking into this history revealed itself to me: my great-great-great grandfather was a slaveholder, as were most of my male relatives before him. From 1718 to 1867, my family owned approximately two hundred people. I discovered this by reading the following letter given to me by my grandmother in a packet of information she had compiled (Mrs. Mary Carson Bumpous is my great-great grandmother):
This letter, specifically the story of Henry, has had a profound affect on my work. Because walking was already part of my practice, I couldn’t believe that Henry had walked sixty miles, from Huntsville, Alabama to Shelbyville, Tennessee, for my family.
So I decided to walk there too.
So I decided to walk there too.
That was the beginning. Only got 20 miles until it started raining and didn’t stop for five days. One year later, I am trying again. Join me: www.therecognitions.com.