Tales of Liberation and Redemption

I had just begun to wonder if art could truly serve any function in the Herculean cause of collective liberation besides a commodity traded for the funds needed to fuel the fight.  But then I watched a man from a colonized island dance and sing in the face of enormous, hateful pressure, with nothing but love to share.

And as the tears streamed down my face and I felt the transmutation of centuries of brutal oppression into a few minutes of profound joy and pride that welcomes all, even the oppressor, to feel for a moment what it is to be alive without asking permission to bring your whole self.  It was served as entertainment but it was also a spiritual experience.  I felt the way I feel watching a Hakka being performed- a real-life embodiment of unity among people whose culture refuses to be restrained by the confines of the colonizer.  Seguimos Aqui.  We’re still here.  Something cracked open in me and the tears carried the stains of the dark inheritance of my colonizer culture to the light.

I cry from the depths of ancestors over a thousand years ago whose culture was burned away and cut off from future generations.  I cry over the centuries of bleak nothingness where traditions rooted in true connection to the land and to each other should be.  I cry over the centuries of perpetuated brutality of white supremacy and the perversion of patriarchy, the denigration of women and children under the ego of the man.  I cry over the fractured humanity of my ancestors who wanted only to believe in their own goodness and never to do the harsh self-examination required to actually be good.  I cry for my people who don’t see it is their own self-righteousness and fear that binds them to their plight, not the people they want to blame because they don’t look or think like them.

There is a difference now between liberty and liberation, I think.  Collectively these words, while similar, now carry a different connotation.  When I think liberty I think of privileged people taking liberties with no thoughts to the consequences for others.  When I think of liberation I think of the deep knowledge that we are all connected, and therefore we have a responsibility not only to each other but ourselves, to live fully in authenticity, accountability, compassion, connection, and in whatever physical practice that helps us to embody that.  That we are not here just to work, make and spend money, procreate, and die- we are here to feel, to act, to rest when we are weary, to dance and sing and play and love.

I have long known that my strength lies not in any particular brilliance of my own, but in the transformative illustration of others’ stories on their skin.  Having struggled all my life with whether or not what I have to say really matters, I live to help people say what they struggle to say, and find the answer to a question they didn’t even realize they needed to ask.  Watching and rewatching and analyzing this performance, walking around with the melodies in my head, gave rise to a desire from deep within to call for stories in this vein to illustrate.

Tell me your story.

Tell me what cracked open the darkness within you and surrounded you with love and acceptance and the will to fight for all that is beautiful within you and your place in the collective.  Tell me where you come from, about the home that no longer exists- and why you’re glad it’s gone, or why you mourn its disappearance.  Tell me about when you realized that your obedience to a system that rewards the profane made you a monster.  Expand your whole chest and tell me when you realized that you were worth more than your abuser ever wanted you to know.  Tell me your favorite story in history- a victory for the oppressed.  Tell me your vision of a future where everyone has everything they need, and no one has to live in isolation anymore.  Tell me when something made you feel alive and seen, and from that moment on you could no longer hide or pretend.

This Spring, I am going to choose 8 stories to illustrate through tattoo or painting with a special arrangement for the energy exchange (market translation: special price) that will be unique to each individual storyteller and their material conditions.

If you’re ready to tell your story, fill the form below to submit. Storytellers may choose to remain anonymous but I must be granted permission to share the story with the art. Don’t worry about what images we will use to depict this story, but do let me know whether you want a painting or a tattoo. If a tattoo, please select from the choices of placement provided. Stories will be selected by April 10th, 2026.