“The Poetry of Protest” our show in the Gallery of Art and Design at the University of Central Missouri of large prints of photographs from rallies, protests, marches, and demonstrations opened on September 26th. The exhibit runs through October 28th.

We left an open notebook with blank pages and pencils on a podium next to the exhibit title wall. We get comments.

We do have freedom of speech but some of these protests show how imature [sp] America really is. These photograph do have great meaning…but for what purpose? To anger others? If you want to “Make America great again” be humble and kind – anonymous

If you want to criticize the maturity of others you might want to check your spelling as you do so.

Freedom of speech is freedom of speech. It ain’t free if someone else gets to impose their sensibility over your expression. Put differently, who died and made you God?

Sure, counter someone else’s free speech with your own free speech. Knock yourself out. Get a camera, take some photographs, make some prints, put together a gallery show. But you won’t, will you?

Meaning is what you make of it. Purpose is what you make of it. Protest is supposed to make people uncomfortable. We assume by your writing that the exhibit makes you angry. Okay.

People who protest in the streets chose to do so because they believe they have no other recourse available to them.

There’s a delicious irony in your juxtaposition of “make America great again” with humility and kindness. The former has absolutely nothing to do with the latter two. Did you do that on purpose? The purveyor of “make America great again” is neither humble nor kind. He’s a sociopath.

Previously:

The Poetry of Protest (September 9, 2017)

In the gallery (September 21, 2017)

In the gallery – part 2 (September 23, 2017)

In the gallery – part 3 (September 26, 2017)

In the gallery – comments (September 30, 2017)

In the gallery – comments – part 2 (October 3, 2017)

In the gallery – comments – part 3 (October 4, 2017)

In the gallery – comments – part 4 (October 6, 2017)

In the gallery – today (October 10, 2017)

In the gallery – comments – part 5 (October 16, 2017)

In the gallery – comments – part 6 (October 17, 2017)

In the gallery – comments – part 7 (October 19, 2017)