Tuesday, December 4, 2012

American Spring in Chicago


American Spring at HumanThread gallery for peace, arts, & education
For the month of January
Opening Reception January 11th 6-10pm

On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old from Sanford, Florida, was gunned down, presumably without provocation, by a self appointed vigilante.  Trayvon was African American. The FBI reports that there are annually, more than 7,000 victims of hate crimes, the majority of whom are African American.   The Federal Hate Crime Act defines these as “crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.”  These are violent acts borne of intolerance, prejudice, ignorance and bigotry simply because of WHO the victim is.

This quilt exhibit is a call for justice and a reckoning that our imperfect union strays even farther from its ideals of “liberty and justice for all” when we tolerate hatred based on someone’s skin color, LGBT personhood or faith.  Quilts submitted for this exhibit are required to interpret the theme of seeking justice and redress for hate crimes in America.  Rather than incite hatred for the perpetrators of hate crimes, this exhibit is designed to influence positive change in every aspect of our social systems, especially within the legislative and legal systems.

Exhibition will include 12 of the 28 pieces.

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