FIRE AND MOVEMENT REVISITED
WITH JEFFERSON PINDER, VINOD HOPSON, MEKEVA MCNEIL, MICH S, AND ANTHONY SUBER
In honor of the upcoming 103rd anniversary of the 1917 Camp Logan Uprising on August 23, 2020, DiverseWorks reunites with Chicago-artist Jefferson Pinder and Houston artists Vinod Hopson, Mekeva McNeil, Mich S, and Anthony Suber for a conversation and second look at the 2019 presentation of Fire and Movement on the streets of Houston.
With Fire and Movement as a jumping-off point, in this program participants will examine the historical context of Houston in 1917 set against today’s social and cultural climate. Through the lens of visual and performance art, we’ll unpack the ways in which art, protest, and political gestures can contribute to a global movement for racial and cultural equity and justice.
Fire and Movement is a public performance that was commissioned by DiverseWorks and presented on the streets of Houston and the African American Library at the Gregory School on July 11, 2019. The work is part of Jefferson Pinder’s Red Summer Road Trip and DW’s 2019-2020 History is Contemporary programming. In Fire and Movement, Pinder and a trained group of 13 artists marched the route and performed the narrative of the 1917 Camp Logan Uprising (also known as the “Houston Riot” or “Camp Logan Mutiny”). The Uprising was a response by African American soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 24th United States Infantry who revolted and attempted to march on the city after experiencing abuse from white citizens and the police in Jim Crow-era Houston.