do you not perceive it?

Our Lady, Mother of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence

Our Lady, Mother of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence, often shortened to 'Our Lady of Ferguson', was created in 2015 by Black iconographer Mark Doox, after being commissioned by Rev. Dr. Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones for the Trinity Church in New York City. The icon was made to honor Michael Brown, a Black teen murdered at the hands of Darren Wilson, a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, in 2014. While Black Lives Matter and similar groups had already established their presence in the United States following the murder of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown's brutal murder brought all eyes across the United States onto the movement and forced the reality of police brutality onto the TV screens and twitter feeds of white usamericans who refused to acknowledge that reality.

Rev. Bozzuti-Jones, a Jamaican priest at Trinity Church, an Episcopal church in Manhattan, commissioned the icon to honor Michael Brown and all other African Americans taken by police violence. Rev. Bozzuti-Jones, who is known for his racial activism and writings in the Episcopal church, chose Mark Doox for his bold, unflinching combination of Blackness and religion. Influenced by Byzantine iconography and Dadaism, Doox describes his art as such:

Blending narrative elements, historical references, and spiritual iconography in his Byz Dada style, Mark aims to create works that challenge viewers to confront sometimes uncomfortable truths about race, Identity, and power in American history. His commitment to addressing these existential themes head-on aims to explore deep cultural and historical issues while inviting reflection, conversation, and healing.

Doox continues to create icons for the Episcopal and African-Orthodox churches, and recently published "The N–Word of God", a graphic novel and art book. You can purchase it here

and the thing is, I don't disagree. lately I've been thinking a lot about what god has asked me to sacrifice by making me queer: familial approval/acceptance. confidence in legal protection and medical care. safety in every public space. an easily accessible history of christians like me. implicit trust in fellow christians. an understood and not sexualized relationship. a wedding that could be held in any church, presided over by any pastor, and attended by everyone I invite. the ability to have biological children with my partner.

I have had, at different times, great desires and longings and needs for these things. and I lay them at the feet of a god who is bigger than them. I sacrifice what the world asks of me for what love asks of me. I ask for the grace to live out my own life, not for skilled enough repression to force myself into a different one. I ask for forgiveness for conscious and unconscious sin, and god shows me what bears good fruit.

Translation of the scroll: "Behold our God in whom we hope and rejoice in our salvation, he will give rest to this house."

- Penned the famous all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well line

- Wrote about a Christ who willingly chooses to become permanently disabled out of love for humanity and how this elevates the honor and dignity of the disabled body

- Lowkey a universalist?? She hedges it by going “of course disclaimer here I agree with the church” but fully espouses a theology in which all shall be saved and all shall be restored to Christ and thus all shall be well

- Had a cat

- Gave us gems like the world is a hazelnut

- Apparently cast Satan out of her anchorhold “the power of Christ compels you” style

- Was a renowned teacher and frequently sought after for advice in her community and by pilgrims including the famous Margery Kempe

This is what that mural looks like as of this morning:

There was more explicit and aggressive language on the other side ramp that the church has asked not be spread around.

Life in the City is still working on a ‘proper’ statement, but until then, they have placed this on their property and similar areas

Alongside asking for prayers for the person or people who committed the vandalism, Life in the City has a place to donate here to help pay to clean up the area and make Life in the City feel safe again.

Paul: What do you mean it’s been two thousand years?? And he hasn’t come back yet?

Me: Yeah, anyways, see the thing is both sides use your writings as proof of their arguments, and I was just wondering what you actually meant, especially in Romans where you wrote-

transgender jesus poem (working title) some explanations below the cut