SO WHO'S R2C2H2 AND WHAT'S AN ARTIVIST???



My name is Ronald Cortez Herd II a.k.a. R2C2H2 a.k.a. 'The Artivist'…MY JOB AS AN ARTIVIST (ARTIST + ACTIVIST) IS TO ACTIVELY PROMOTE UNDERSTANDING, LOVE AND APPRECIATION FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS AS WELL AS FOR CREATIVE PEOPLE...I USE MY ART IN PARTICULAR TO BREAK DOWN ALL TYPES OF WALLS AND BARRIERS THAT PEOPLE PUT UP EITHER TO JUSTIFY THEIR HATRED, PREJUDICE AND INDIFFERENCE OR BECAUSE OF THEIR IGNORANCE AND NAIVETE TOWARDS CERTAIN ISSUES AND TOPICS CONCERNING PEOPLE, HISTORY AND CULTURE (S)...ONE OF MY MAIN OBJECTIVES IN MY PROFESSION IS TO TEACH THE WORLD HOW TO LOVE NOT JUST TOLERATE BLACK PEOPLE AND OTHER BEAUTIFUL BEINGS AND THINGS!!! IF I REACH JUST ONE HUE-MAN BEING THAN MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE IN ALL ITS MEANING WILL BE TOTALLY JUSTIFIED!!! My art is one created through the use and motivation of three of my main passions: my love of art, my love of music and my love of history in particular African and African American History. I love to tell stories through the use of symbols. I think four of my biggest influences, Jacob Lawrence, El Greco, Miles Davis and Paul Gaugin, have taught and convinced me that interesting stories can be told in a visually expressive and highly original individual style without the use of the written word. These artists among the countless others that I admire like Picasso, Charles White, Van Gogh, William H. Johnson, Romare Bearden, Lois Jones, Archibald Motley, George Hunt, Jean Michel Basquiat to musicians John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Run DMC, Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, Howling Wolf, Billie Holiday, Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and 2pac remind me through their prolific outputs that research is one of the most important ingredients in forming your own artistic voice. Before I create a series of related artworks I dive deeply into the subject(s) of my choice through the use of books, movies (documentaries), music and discussions with people who are connected to the subject(s). These tasks take me countless hours to perform, but I honestly feel that me taking the time to collect and analyze the information have made me a better artist as well as a better human being. In this way I feel artists are like synthesizers, taking in all foreign information and materials mixing it with the artists’ experiences and knowledge and then compressing it into a product made in the artists’ likeness or image based on the artists’ own ideas and philosophies. All great art to me seems to be those works that have substance and tell unwritten as well as written stories that are to be retold and reinterpreted for years to come. Hopefully my dedication to my art will continue to lead me in this direction.

Creative Tribute To Tha Artvist
Copyright 2005 by Lady Devon Hill

Sister Nineties Literary Group (S~NLG) is a literary and arts outreach organization started by the multitalented and incomparable Mrs.Debra Morrowloving a.k.a. Mama D...The organization is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri U.S.A. but has chapters throughout the U.S.A. and membership throughout the world...The talents of the members are showcased through several publications each year...To learn more about this beautiful organization please e-mail Mrs. Morrowloving at mywriteword@yahoo.com and send letter(s) of correspondence to the following address:
S~NLG
P.O. BOX 4506
St.Louis,MO 63108

These poems by Mama Collette and Mama D. Morrowloving and picture by Lady Devon Hill can be found in the 2005 Kwanzaa Edition of Sister Nineties Literary Journal titled "Cultivating Family"

sonku R2C2H2
by Mama Collette

Poltical hats
run to see two herds
blues fuse connects trane
music directs paint
powerful canvas

MUTUALLY MUSIVE ARTIVIST

by D. Morrowloving

blends jazz history
with contemporary
events and theory
denudes lies
at every gallery

innovative learner
strokes his pens in
images red, Black
green, blues telling
honest thoughts
showing
what to remember
demanding we
do not forget
an artivist

blends jazz history
with contemporary
events and theory
dispels myths
at every gallery

understanding dual soul
of Bert Williams
like nobody
except maybe DuBois

paints sunshine bright
beneath blood red strokes
and the hanging eyeball
so we retain
what the hate looks like
that killed Emmett Till

crowns of kings
birds, spread-winged
symbolize things
of culture, value
me, you
from Sankofa

to Charlie Parker
the artivist

blends jazz history
with contemporary
events and theory
exposing lies
at every gallery

decoded place
in Sun Ra space
that seemed to radiate
from an ancestral face
like a muse of fate

traveling
throughout Southeast
with Langston's detrmination
signing books
arting salons
from Memphis to Paris
by way of Cali to DC
scratching out lies
speaking truths
that fall on hungry ears
the artivist

always ready
to keep our youth steady
from a foundation
of ancestor veneration
providing explanation
of Louie's pained grin
and the shape were in


artivist

blends jazz history
with contemporary
events and theory
repairs half truths
at every gallery

we salute the artivist-
topped with a brim-
wrapping us up in
warmth from deep laughter
that follows his "common sense"
approach to biased theories
shares his Afrikan muse
with Sister~Nineties and EliotReview
acclimating students new
to John B. Ervin at Wash U
in Dogtown and at Ted Drewe's
for a real taste of brew
from mindsets askew
in the racially polarized "Lou"

"Art Teachers as Artists-
Art Teachers as Mentors" Art Exhibition @ The University of Memphis
Art Opening March 3, 2006





Hey yall I just wanted to share with you all an exhibition and opening I truly enjoyed...I was invited to show in this exihibit by my high school art teacher and one of my biggest fans and supporters, Dr. Emily "Boo" Ruch...She is truly a beautiful person with a great big heart that knows no limits...Her passion is evident in the art program that she runs at my alma mater, Overton High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in Memphis,Tn and in the work that she does in training art educators at the University of Memphis...Her high school visual art program is one of the best in the region as well as in the country and has produced many capable and talented students such as myself with a committment to living a creatively focused lifestyle...The following pics are from the opening of the Art Teachers as Artists-Art Teachers as Mentors Art Show @ the University of Memphis...The good looking woman with the blonde hair next to the big fella with the hat (me) is my high school art teacher Dr. Boo Ruch...We are standing in front of the two pics I contributed to the show, "Miles' Drag" (the longer dark piece) and "Multinstrumentalist"...Multinstrumentalist was also a piece which was included in a group exhibiton at The Triptyque in Paris,France sponsored by the famous and critically acclaimed Hip Hop Soul music group known as The Roots...



When I attended the opening on friday March 3 I felt like I got a welcoming befitting a celebrity...Dr. Ruch through her endless praise for my work as a creative artist and character as a person helped to create an instant fan club for me among her colleagues...One would have not to look or read no further than the official program handed out for the event which read:

"Dr. Ruch is particulary proud of former student Ronald Cortez Herd II, an established artist who recently participated in an exhibition in Paris, France. Herd, who goes by the name R2 C2 H2, describes his work as being motivated by three passions, art, music and history, particularly African American History. "Through the influences of Jacob Lawrence, El Greco, and Paul Gaugin," Herd writes,"I tell expressive stories without the use of the written word."

At first I felt overwhelmed, but soon afterwards I felt very thankful and humbled that Dr. Ruch would consider me among her favorite former students and that she sincerely felt that my accomplishments were actually worth being repeated and recorded for all to see...If you go to her art room right now you would see newspaper clippings lamenated outside her doorway detailing my early recognition and achievements in the art world...


It should also be noted that Dr. Ruch is no stranger when it comes to individual achievements and recognition by exceptional teachers and authority figures...Dr. Ruch went to the University of Alabama during her undergrad years and managed to earn the respect and admiration of the legendary college football coach known as Coach Paul Bear Bryant for her award winning talents with the cross bow and arrow...William Tell ain't got gesso on Dr. Boo!!!

S~NLG Poetic Tributes to Haiti

Sister Nineties Literary Group (S~NLG) is a literary and arts outreach organization started by the multitalented and incomparable Mrs.Debra Morrowloving a.k.a. Mama D...The organization is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri U.S.A. but has chapters throughout the U.S.A. and membership throughout the world...The talents of the members are showcased through several publications each year...To learn more about this beautiful organization please e-mail Mrs. Morrowloving at mywriteword@yahoo.com and send letter(s) of correspondence to the following address:
S~NLG
P.O. BOX 4506
St.Louis,MO 63108

S~NLG Poetic Tributes to Haiti
S~NLG poets Mama Collette, Negest Asha Jahi, D. Morrowloving, & Orlando Taylor penned laurels for the heroes of the Haitian Revolution.


ART: "The Charcoal or the Grenade" by R2C2H2/ 2004
Copyright © 2004
"THE CHARCOAL OR THE GRENADE"is the title of the above art that R2C2H2 created for this edition. He writes, "It's my take or satire on 'The Ballot or The Bullet'. One of Haiti's major products or 'cash crops' is charcoal (shown being held in the right hand of the figure) which is collected from the rotten trees on the mountainside due to their inability to grow vegetables because of extensive erosion caused by a lack of trees in the lowlands to keep the fertile soil in place. A lot of their best trees were bought and cut down by the French for millions of dollars in the 19th century. However, no one thought about replanting the trees that were taken and so by the start of World War One, the damage was done.

"The hand grenade in the other hand symbolizes the violence that seems to have been a vital part of Haiti's legacy since and before its inception and will tragically continue to play a part in its present and future...The handcuffs symbolize how these symptoms of the problem are linked because of lack of a profitable economy and stable government. Violence will continue to play a major part in the lives of all Haitians and will continue to affect the rest of the world for the worse."
- R2C2H2


FRANCIS MACANDAL by Mama Collette

African born--Slavery is not robbery
thousands kidnapped to St. Dominigue
Maroons are fugitives scorned with snobbery
feeling trapped and brutalized not unique

thousands kidnapped to St. Dominigue
working indigo, cotton and sugar plantations
feeling trapped and brutalized not unique
meanwhile concentrating on building a new nation

working indigo, cotton and sugar plantations
lost an arm but no time to mourn
meanwhile concentrating on building a new nation
sometimes wishing had not been born

lost an arm but no time to mourn
planning an escape to the mountains
sometimes wishing had not been born
but the voice of liberty trickles down fountains

planning an escape to the mountains
organizing conspiracy to poison slave owners
but the voice of liberty trickles down fountains
the oppressor has now become spineless moaners

organizing conspiracy to poison slave owners
the first attempt to destroy slavery
the oppressor has now become spineless moaners
Macandal's legend continues to live for his bravery

the first attempt to destroy slavery
oppressors down--plantations up in fire--fire
Macandal's legend continues to live for his bravery
twisting and writhing was burned alive--alive

oppressors down--plantations up in fire--fire
Maroons are fugitives scorn with snobbery?
twisting and writhing was burned alive--alive
African born--slavery is NOT robbery?

______________________________
Copyright © 2003 by Mama Collette


HAITIAN lullaby (a pantoum) by D. Morrowloving

Haitian warrior cries are looming lullabies
Rhythms—strong, bold, sweet—of Napolean's defeat
Ancestral Haitian eyes bear truths beneath white lies
In spite of battles' heat Haiti did not retreat

Rhythms—strong, bold, sweet—of Napolean's defeat
1791 insurrection had begun
In spite of battles' heat Haiti did not retreat
From Jamaica came Boukman armed with Vodun drum

1791 insurrection had begun
Wrapped in Haitian lore blares the revolution's roar
From Jamaica came Boukman armed with Vodun drum
Toussaint L'Ouverture broke through slavery's door

Wrapped in Haitian lore blares the revolution's roar
Tortured Ogé made them see not one of them was free
Toussaint L'Ouverture broke through slavery's door
Maroons of liberty joined hands with Affranchis

Tortured Ogé made them see not one of them was free
Mulattos and quadroons along with octaroons
Maroons of liberty joined hands with Affranchis
In organized platoons they fought the knights of doom

Mulattos and quadroons along with octaroons
Slaughtered enemy to end slavery
In organized platoons they fought the knights of doom
In 1803 Haiti won autonomy

Slaughtered enemy to end slavery
For life as governor, Jean-Jacques had settled score
In 1803 Haiti won autonomy
In 1804 Dessalines called, "Slaves no more!"

For life as governor, Jean-Jacques had settled score
Ancestral Haitian eyes bear truths beneath white lies
In 1804 Dessalines called, "Slaves no more!"
Haitian warrior cries are looming lullabies
_______________________________
Copyright © 2004 by D. Morrowloving

In The Spirit of Redemption...There's Something About Tookie



Well, my interpretation of redemption, it differs from the theological or the academical rendition. I believe that my redemption symbolizes the end of a bad beginning and a new start. It goes beyond, in a sense of being liberated from one's sins or atonement in itself. I feel that my redemption mostly or primarily encompasses the ability to reach out to others. I call it -- when people say spirituality, I break it down as a spirit act, with “spirit” being the [inaudible] of the soul, the id, etc., etc., and the “uality” aspect of it being an act, a performance, a deed. So, we’re talking about a spirit act, a spirit act towards helping other people, which are primarily youths in my case.
--Stanley Tookie Williams

Although Stanley Tookie Williams the man is gone the SPIRIT AND TESTIMONY OF HIS CONTROVERSAL AND POWERFUL LIFE LIVES...Please take advantage of the website links below to learn about who Stanley Tookie Williams was because the mainstream media won't show because they don't want you to know!!!
Bro. R2

The Death, Funeral and Resurrection of a Prophet: Stanley Tookie Williams
This is actual footage of the program which includes speeches by Snoop Dogg, Jesse Jackson, Tony Robbins, and the Hon. Minister Louis Farrakhan. Tookie's son (who has an uncanny resemblance to his father) gives a stirring eulogy tribute to his late father and on keeping his legacy of hope and redemption alive:
Tookie's Homecoming

Tookie's one on one interview with Self-Help Guru Tony Robbins AND LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF TOOKIE FROM LINDA OWENS, THE WIDOW OF ALBERT OWENS
The Tookie Protocal For Peace
Tookie's Official Website
Some info on Tookie and the Crips he helped to found
Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story Starring Jamie Foxx
Photos of Vigil outside San Quentin Prison During Tookie's Final Hours
A Life Redeemed,A Life Destroyed
One of Tookie's Final Interviews