Of
the many people we lost in 2022, one
whose passing flew under the radar
was multimedia artist,
mathematician, Afrofuturist, writer,
producer and activist John Sims, who
died
Dec. 11 at age 54.
Sims - known for his ritual burning,
burying and rethinking of the
confederate flag - was an important
Black artist who spoke out for
justice with his work. His legacy
reminds us of the important role of
the Black artist - to express our
culture and tell our stories, and to
speak truth to power in a racist
society.
Born
and raised in Detroit and a graduate
of Antioch
College,
Sims was a resident of Sarasota,
Florida. A friend and colleague,
John never ceased to amaze and
inspire me with his creativity and
the depth and breadth of his
artistic vision. I had the honor to
collaborate with him on a number of
projects on issues ranging
from electoral
politics to
the coronavirus and
Kanye
West.
It
was hard to place Sims in a box
because he worked across platforms
in a multimedia environment. For
example, John blended math and art
with his Black
Pi-inspired
quilts,
and in the midst of the COVID
pandemic, he designed Korona
Killa,
a COVID-themed video game
reminiscent of the classic game
Space Invaders.
Sims
was especially known for his work on
confederate symbols, toxic symbols
of white supremacy, terrorism and
trauma for Black folks. His
ritual burning
and
burying of the confederate
flag every
Memorial
Day was an example of the artist
engaged in protest. But he did not
leave it there. John seized control
of the confederate flag - a symbol
that continues to haunt America - by
repurposing it for Black people and
painting it red, black and green.
In Freedom
Memorial
at Gamble Plantation,
he envisioned reclaiming a former
Florida plantation, now a state
park, and transforming it into a
memorial to the enslaved Black
people and “a place of possible
transformative healing, where the
slave becomes free, the shamed
becomes washed and faith is restored
in the universal sovereignty of
human rights.”
But
Sims expressed himself through
music, too. On his album
“AfroDixieRemixes,”
John
repurposed the confederate song
“Dixie” with reimagined versions in
musical genres of the African
diaspora such as R&B, gospel,
blues, hip-hop, funk, samba and
others. A blues/jazz rendition on
the album is a chilling reminder of
Billie Holiday’s 1939 recording of
“Strange Fruit.” John created,
directed and produced
“AfroDixieRemixes” and even designed
the album cover.
Black
art is both personal
and
political.
And at their greatest, Black artists
are here for the culture, for Black
pride and uplift of the community.
When we consider the Harlem
Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s
and the Black Arts Movement of the
1960s and 1970s, Black artists saw
their role as to tell our stories,
reflect our experiences and help
make us free. In his essay “Blueprint
for
Negro Writing,” Richard
Wright
asked: “Shall Negro writing be for
the Negro masses, moulding the lives
and consciousness of those masses
toward new goals, or shall it
continue begging the question of the
Negroes’ humanity?”
At
this very moment - in light of the
myriad battles we face, the assaults
on basic rights and Black history,
and the threats to Black life in the
form of police guns and pandemics -
art plays a crucial role in
centering our experience, channeling
our emotions, speaking to the
audience and creating narratives
that approach the issues we face. As
artist Paul
Anthony
Smith said,
“As
artists, we must be engaged in our
communities. We must listen and
observe the pain of today’s society
and transform this energy into
positive action, unlike the
political rhetoric we’ve been fed.”
While
they are expressing their
creativity, blowing up established
boundaries and making it plain,
artists sometimes face persecution
and
censorship.
When John Sims was an artist in
residence in Columbia, S.C., he was
handcuffed and detained by police at
the gallery that showcased his own
art exhibit. His show “AfroDixia:
A
Righteous Confiscation,”
was
part of a series of his work that
toured throughout the South. The
exhibit featured “Five Flags: A
Group Hanging,” which displayed
reimagined confederate flags hanging
from nooses on gallows.
Our brilliant Black minds leave us
way too soon. And even when they leave us
physically and become ancestors, Black
artists leave with us an eternal legacy to
stir our emotions, lift us up and prompt us
to take action. John Sims, may you rest in
power.
This
commentary
is also posted on
The
Grio.
