The Colors of One Love
By Antoine GHOST Mitchell. June 1, 2008.
When I think of unity, or "I-nity", the combination of colors green, yellow, red, and black come to mind. The meaning of those colors, of course, depends on the order of them. Green, yellow, and red are the colors of Rastafari, but first and foremost they are the colors of the Ethiopian flag. Red, black, and green are the colors of Black liberation. Those colors were made popular by Marcus Mosiah Garvey and his “back to Africa” movement. Red, black, and green is also used in Kwanza with the lighting of the Mishumaa Saba, or the seven candles.
Many Black movements of the past and present used the colors to represent their various causes. To most conservative minds, the colors are a threat to their systematic rule of their “traditional American patriotism” principles. To the minds ignorant folk, stereotypical comments of marijuana come from them when looking upon the colors.
However, to me, these colors represent something that the conservative American mind will never understand, and what the ignorant will be taught to respect. Green is for the land of Africa; the birthplace of human kind. Yellow is for the richness of the mother continent; something to be proud of, but yet, something to be saddened about because of the brutal exploitation of those minerals and human cargo. Red is for the blood of our ancestors that have cultivated the mother continent. It is also for the blood of our ancestors that was shed through 500 years of chattel slavery. Black is for the African people home and abroad. It is something to be proud of. These colors, no matter what combination or order, is something that we, as a human people should all be proud of because we all originate from Africa. When thinking of the Ethiopian flag, it brings that factual theory to central focus because not only were the oldest human bones found in Ethiopia, but biblically speaking, it is the birthplace of human civilization. All of these aforementioned facts (and I will provide sources at the end of this essay) are the basis for The Colors of One Love.
Unlike previous exhibitions of mine, such as Profile of a Black Woman and HERO, the target audience for The Colors of One Love will be any and everyone who has a respect for culture, a search for truth, and a want for unity. I will NOT be preaching truths of my own down anyone’s throat. I will, however, offer facts that inspired my works of art that will give spectators a choice to go research for themselves. This month-long exhibition will be held at the Greenwell Springs Branch of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library. It will exhibit work that will feature those combinations of green, yellow, red, and black.
The underlying theme for The Colors of One Love is the Ethiopian/Rastafarian/Black Liberation colors; but, the deeper inspiration for this exhibition was Bob Marley and the Rastafarian philosophies of one love. As I have stated in a previous essay, Bob Marley has played a direct and indirect role in my way of thinking. Listening to his music has pushed me to listen to other Reggae artists, thus, pushing me to learn more about the Rastafarian way of life. That, in turn, has made me learn more about H.I.M. Haile Sellassie I, which catapulted me into learning more about Ethiopia. Learning more about Ethiopia has placed me on a journey through the Kebra Nagast, and also seeking out a bible not tampered with by European kings who only saw Africans as subjective savages.
This exhibition will show the evolution that I have been going though for the last six months. My goal is to still promote truth through my work, for that is the reason I create art from a representational stand point. Moreover, I want the spectator, the art critic, the student, the passerby, the conservative, the liberal, and the ignorant, to see the humanity in the work. Hopefully, all look upon The Colors of One love, will see that we all, no matter what race, are victims of mis-education and the true enemy is a system that seeks to destroy our love, peace, and unity. Jah Bless.
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Sources:
Oldest Human Fossils Identified
The Mission: The Life, Reign and Character of Haile Sellassie I. Lockot, Hans Wilhelm. Hurst & Co. 1989.
The Kebra Nagast: The Lost Bible of Rastafarian Wisdom and Fatih from Ethiopia and Jamaica. Translated by Gerald Hausman with Introduction by Ziggy Marley. St. Martin's Press. 1997
©Copyright 2008. Antoine Dijion Mitchell
