Charlottesville Hatred by Taliesin Gillkes-Bower
“…I no longer hold that delusional excuse for inaction.”
A photo essay by Taliesin Gillkes-Bower.
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Taliesin Gilkes-Bower: I woke up Monday to posts on Instagram from Anti-Racist organizers in the Charlottesville calling for more bodies, especially white bodies, to come put themselves on the line to protest the Unite The Right “rally.” It felt important, but I waffled for a few days about my place there, and the world’s need for more images of white supremacists, or any amplification of their message.
Like many white people unaccustomed to the constant threat and real consequences of racist violence and oppression I had some sympathy to the argument that we should just ignore white supremacist’s public actions and hope they go away. After my experience in Charlottesville, I no longer hold that delusional excuse for inaction.
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Taliesin Gilkes-Bower is an artist and photographer based in Bolinas, California. Their work focuses on creative community driven responses to oppression. They are currently working on long term research projects around interstellar communication, intentional communities, and government transparency. More photo work can be found here, or on Instagram here.