ABUSE OF POWER BEGINS WITH US, 2022

American flag, white plastic crucifix, metallized plastic sheet, waxed cotton thread

Language constructs our political and legal reality. Language becomes a weapon when it is used to construct legal realities based on manipulation and fear, when words are redefined to serve power, and violence is veiled in more publicly acceptable terms: racism disguised as ‘states’ rights’; disenfranchisement disguised as ‘liberty’; surveillance and control disguised as ‘safety’; bigotry disguised as ‘God’s will’; and misogyny disguised as a ‘right to life’. 

Our challenge is to confront our own blindness, our shadow, to ask ourselves a painful question and be willing to answer it honestly: What abuses am I willing to tolerate and perpetuate to maintain my own power?