National Panhandling for Reparations Day
Hi folks. public computer, but.
Below this cut is my report-back from the hour I did as part of a nationwide performance piece with Damali Ayo yesterday.
More posts and a link to pictures of people around the country doing it are at reparationsday.blogspot.com and more great videos etc. of damali doing this work is on her website (google damali ayo and you'll find it.)
Okay. Dinner.
g
Thursday, October 11, 2007
"Expect more, Pay less" Panhandling for Reparations
Hello from Durham, NC.
I'm checking in a day late (due to no internet access) but I wanted to give a report back on the panhandling.
I set up in front of the SuperTarget in Durham. Six to seven p.m., prime beige-towel buying time. Folks streamed past, mostly doing a suburban-ish ignore of the person asking for money in their vicinity. There was some disapproving/frightened "we don't talk about that subject" glares and icy "absolutely not" and "no thank you's" from a few white woman passerbys. Once I got my call-out appropriately packed with the necessary information (Hi there! Would you like to give a dollar in order to give reparations for slavery in the united states?) most white people continued with the general nervousness-at-being-spoken-to/asked-for-money, but with all the information out, a large number of african-american people came over to see what I, a white person, was talking about. We talked about congress's refusal to discuss reparations on the floor, reconstruction, forty acres and a mule.
While at the end of the hour only one white person had put money in the can, two different black women came with dollars drawn ready to donate. I explained to them more fully what the project was, and one woman put her dollar up and said "well I was all ready to give you a dollar. Now I get a dollar, and you know it's not even CLOSE to what it should be." Exactly, exactly. One young gentleman, Mike, was pretty thoroughly dumbfounded by the project and quite excited. He took his reciept, his dollar, (chorus of "hell yes. You are so right. This is a cool thing you're doing) and went and got his friends and brought them back. Repeat. Repeat.
At the end of an hour I had given out all the dollars I had in my pocket, along with the ONE that was donated. Throughout the hour people who I had met through the project were waving goodbye, calling to me out the window "Have a great day grover."
White people uninterested in listening about reparations and the history of slavery in this country, nevermind paying OUT money for it? Shocking. The words reparations and slavery and benefit bouncing off cars in the parking lot of target: a pretty fucking awesome feeling, taking up this space with those words.
If I were to do it again I'd have a party or some fundraiser beforehand and encourage my white friends to stack up the dollars, so even if the white folks weren't putting out I could keep on distributing, cardboard "Reparations for Slavery Accepted Here" sign resting in front of Target's tag: "Expect more, pay less."
p.s. I couldn't wrangle a friend along for the videoing, so I have some photos i'll send as soon as I find a cord, and perhaps some video that audio recorded a conversation with someone. Thanks for organizing this Damali, letting us be involved in your always excellent work. Fucking right on. Next year?
Below this cut is my report-back from the hour I did as part of a nationwide performance piece with Damali Ayo yesterday.
More posts and a link to pictures of people around the country doing it are at reparationsday.blogspot.com and more great videos etc. of damali doing this work is on her website (google damali ayo and you'll find it.)
Okay. Dinner.
g
Thursday, October 11, 2007
"Expect more, Pay less" Panhandling for Reparations
Hello from Durham, NC.
I'm checking in a day late (due to no internet access) but I wanted to give a report back on the panhandling.
I set up in front of the SuperTarget in Durham. Six to seven p.m., prime beige-towel buying time. Folks streamed past, mostly doing a suburban-ish ignore of the person asking for money in their vicinity. There was some disapproving/frightened "we don't talk about that subject" glares and icy "absolutely not" and "no thank you's" from a few white woman passerbys. Once I got my call-out appropriately packed with the necessary information (Hi there! Would you like to give a dollar in order to give reparations for slavery in the united states?) most white people continued with the general nervousness-at-being-spoken-to/asked-for-money, but with all the information out, a large number of african-american people came over to see what I, a white person, was talking about. We talked about congress's refusal to discuss reparations on the floor, reconstruction, forty acres and a mule.
While at the end of the hour only one white person had put money in the can, two different black women came with dollars drawn ready to donate. I explained to them more fully what the project was, and one woman put her dollar up and said "well I was all ready to give you a dollar. Now I get a dollar, and you know it's not even CLOSE to what it should be." Exactly, exactly. One young gentleman, Mike, was pretty thoroughly dumbfounded by the project and quite excited. He took his reciept, his dollar, (chorus of "hell yes. You are so right. This is a cool thing you're doing) and went and got his friends and brought them back. Repeat. Repeat.
At the end of an hour I had given out all the dollars I had in my pocket, along with the ONE that was donated. Throughout the hour people who I had met through the project were waving goodbye, calling to me out the window "Have a great day grover."
White people uninterested in listening about reparations and the history of slavery in this country, nevermind paying OUT money for it? Shocking. The words reparations and slavery and benefit bouncing off cars in the parking lot of target: a pretty fucking awesome feeling, taking up this space with those words.
If I were to do it again I'd have a party or some fundraiser beforehand and encourage my white friends to stack up the dollars, so even if the white folks weren't putting out I could keep on distributing, cardboard "Reparations for Slavery Accepted Here" sign resting in front of Target's tag: "Expect more, pay less."
p.s. I couldn't wrangle a friend along for the videoing, so I have some photos i'll send as soon as I find a cord, and perhaps some video that audio recorded a conversation with someone. Thanks for organizing this Damali, letting us be involved in your always excellent work. Fucking right on. Next year?