Pieces of Amerika

Part 1 out of 4 “Phobia” (Lower-Half of Canvas)

This collage was created from a collection of various news magazines/sources from 2016-2018. This assortment depicts the phobias of America.

It showcases the ideology of neoliberalism and the effects of international intervention and what it truly looks like to me.

Throughout the collage it depicts different stages in American history from slavery to institutionalized racism to civil rights to xenophobia, there are various stages that we as a country have gone through over the centuries that have led up to the very moment we are in today.

(Focused in these images is the lower half of my collage)

Part 2 out of 4 “Legacies” (Upper Right Hand Corner of Canvas)

What is our legacy?

This past summer our nation has been troubled with its own truth, that has long stayed dormant.

This reawakening has forced us to sort through history and to dig deep into the psyche of our country.

We as individuals start to question our own personal contribution to the failure of our society. “Am I at Fault?” “What can I do to do better?”, “What should I learn?”

Our country has begun it’s own healing process, it’s a process of self recognition and looking into a mirror where we finally remove the façade that’s suppressed a genuine change.

We as a nation are now recognizing the faults in the legacies, in our institutions and "heroes" that we’ve held dear to our hearts.

The romanticized history that was taught to us throughout our life is now being told with Realistic and factual details that makes many people unsettled. Question what you know. Question who are. Question your legacy

What is your legacy?

(Focused in these images is the upper right hand corner of my collage)

Part 3 out of 4 “Memoricide” (Central Focus of Canvas)

Can you remember who you are?

Memoricide -the destruction of the memory, of the past of targeted people. Usually used during ethnic cleanses or genocides to erase the presence of an entire population.

It seems that our society suffers from amnesia. We repeat the same destructive choices and shocked when the results don’t change. Through education we use the same small tactics to alter history and to erase what doesn’t fit.

Biased Books, articles, case studies and other resources are the only way our societies can validate certain peoples’ history, past atrocities, discoveries or successes. These contribute to the ongoing memoricide and historicide of countless cultures

We tend to question the validity other truths or narratives that don’t conform to those biased resources.

Some of the greatest atrocities on this planet weren’t just physical attacks to particular ethnic groups or races but an attack on their culture and knowledge. Misinformation is one of the most successful ways that colonization changed world.

It’s not just senseless killing of a person but to eradicate any trace of their presence. To erase their history, languages, cultures, practices, stories, songs, laughs and hidden family secrets. Any chance of resurrecting ideas or to connect to family roots are completely gone.

Now we forget who we are.

(this focuses on the central area of the canvas)

Part 4 out of 4 “influence” (Upper Left Corner Focus of Canvas)

This concludes my showcase of my collage series. The U.S. is arguably one of the most influential country in the world.

But in reality we lack diplomacy and empathy.

We are now realizing more and more as a people that we have a lot of undealt issues, a lot of underlying, venomous,& toxic behaviors that are eating away at the soul of our nation.

A soul that hasn’t gotten its justice yet, a soul that is hungry for peace and tranquility. A soul that seeks balance. The soul of this nation is tired and needs the right nutrients to enact the change we need.

To be quite honest, we’ve all had a hand in the undoing and whether you’d like to admit it or not.

But we all also have a chance in bringing it to the order that it should and can be.

We can never go back to where we used to be we can only progress to a better tomorrow whether it’s forging beneficial foreign policies and having less intervention overseas or positive federal interactions that benefit us, the people. We must take those steps!