Absconded Project

[ARCHIVAL] Inaugural Moving Monument Ritual for Ona Maria Judge Staines Unpaid Labor Day Monday, September 7, 2020 12pm - 1:30pm Lower Manhattan (Social distancing expected and implored) WALL STREET: 12pm -- Federal Hall 12:20pm -- NYSE BROADWAY PROMENADES: 12:40 -- NYSE to St. Paul's Chapel 1:00 -- St. Paul's Chapel to African Burial Ground MOVEMENT // SOUND // STILLNESS // SILENCE Ona Judge was enslaved by George & Martha Washington. Ona quietly walked out one evening as they ate dinner. She died a fugitive in poverty for refusing a life of unpaid labor as human property of the very first First Family of the United States. By her account, Ona had NO REGRETS for claiming her liberty. “...I am free, and have, I trust been made a child of God by the means.” ~Ona Maria Judge Staines Forgotten Founding Mother of Liberty 1773-1848 #unpaidlaborday#abscondedproject #unalterednationday #africanburialground #americanhistory #blackhistory #blacklivesmatter #blackwomen #decolonization #federalhall #georgewashington #graceexhibitionspace #lowermanhattan #marthawashington #nevercaught #NYSE #onajudge #OnaNotOney #publicart #reparations #takeitdown #slavery #streetperformance #streettheater #streettheatre #takethemdown #ushistory #wallstreet (at Lower Manhattan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKQB9WDgZwn/?igshid=whs5sva6i2tu

[ARCHIVAL] Inaugural Moving Monument Ritual for Ona Maria Judge Staines Unpaid Labor Day Monday, September 7, 2020 12pm - 1:30pm Lower Manhattan (Social distancing expected and implored) WALL STREET: 12pm -- Federal Hall 12:20pm -- NYSE BROADWAY PROMENADES: 12:40 -- NYSE to St. Paul's Chapel 1:00 -- St. Paul's Chapel to African Burial Ground MOVEMENT // SOUND // STILLNESS // SILENCE Ona Judge was enslaved by George & Martha Washington. Ona quietly walked out one evening as they ate dinner. She died a fugitive in poverty for refusing a life of unpaid labor as human property of the very first First Family of the United States. By her account, Ona had NO REGRETS for claiming her liberty. “...I am free, and have, I trust been made a child of God by the means.” ~Ona Maria Judge Staines Forgotten Founding Mother of Liberty 1773-1848 Link in bio for more about Ona’s story and the Absconded Project. #unpaidlaborday#abscondedproject #unalterednationday #africanburialground #americanhistory #blackhistory #blacklivesmatter #blackwomen #decolonization #federalhall #georgewashington #graceexhibitionspace #lowermanhattan #marthawashington #nevercaught #NYSE #onajudge #OnaNotOney #publicart #reparations #takeitdown #slavery #streetperformance #streettheater #streettheatre #takethemdown #ushistory #wallstreet (at Lower Manhattan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKQBXEbAZfd/?igshid=1gckja50rl2m

ABSCONDED #EjectionDay2020 was DRAGONFLY’s second iteration of Ona Judge as a living monument.  This procession is a meditation on the perpetual state of fugitivity as freedom for the marooned members of the African Diaspora. This procession also serves as a binding hex to refract and reverse the evil deeds of past and present colonizers and slaveowners lionized in monuments.  As we continue to challenge and remove racist monuments, Ona Maria Judge Staines calls from the beyond to dismantle false mythologies surrounding America’s celebrated tyrants.  The performance was organized and sponsored by the artist and the Hemispheric Institute at New York University, and co-sponsored by Grace Exhibition Space, with Dr. Joy Brooke Fairfield (Producer), Sabura Rashid (Director), and Ak Jansen (Costume Design). #ejectionday2020 #abscondedproject #americanhistory #blackhistory #blacklivesmatter #blackwomen #centralpark #christophercolumbus #columbuscircle #decolonization #decolonizethisplace #enslavedwomen #frederickdouglass #georgewashington #hemisphericinstitute #marthawashington #nevercaught #onajudge #OnaNotOney #oneyjudge #publicart #reparations #takeitdown #slavery #streetperformance #streettheater #unalterednationday #takethemdown #ushistory https://www.instagram.com/p/CKQAJPLAUNf/?igshid=vady7tb03hol

ABSCONDED #EjectionDay2020 was DRAGONFLY’s second iteration of Ona Judge as a living monument.  This procession is a meditation on the perpetual state of fugitivity as freedom for the marooned members of the African Diaspora. This procession also serves as a binding hex to refract and reverse the evil deeds of past and present colonizers and slaveowners lionized in monuments.  As we continue to challenge and remove racist monuments, Ona Maria Judge Staines calls from the beyond to dismantle false mythologies surrounding America’s celebrated tyrants.  The performance was organized and sponsored by the artist and the Hemispheric Institute at New York University, and co-sponsored by Grace Exhibition Space, with Dr. Joy Brooke Fairfield (Producer), Sabura Rashid (Director), and Ak Jansen (Costume Design). #ejectionday2020 #abscondedproject #americanhistory #blackhistory #blacklivesmatter #blackwomen #centralpark #christophercolumbus #columbuscircle #decolonization #decolonizethisplace #enslavedwomen #frederickdouglass #georgewashington #hemisphericinstitute #marthawashington #nevercaught #onajudge #OnaNotOney #oneyjudge #publicart #reparations #takeitdown #slavery #streetperformance #streettheater #unalterednationday #takethemdown #ushistory (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKP_332gRuX/?igshid=1pfnnlb493k8l

New York City has a habit of sequestering Black communities into areas considered undesirable--until the land is wanted back and we are once again forced to relocate to the next undesired place. This pattern includes the displacement of the dead, as evidenced with the African Burial Grounds throughout Manhattan and the meager relocation of a few tombstones to Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Camilla Ella Williams, Danville