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Broken Glass, Art and Social Justice

Broken Glass, Art and Social Justice

Someone smashed my car window. Broken glass was everywhere!

My car was parked in a public lot, and someone decided to break my window after I parked it. I don't know who did this. I was only away from my car for a few hours. It happened in a public car lot. Now, I had to spend the rest of my day addressing this problem. I had to clean up the mess to make the car drivable, and then I had to drive somewhere where I could vacuum the rest of the glass out of the vehicle.

Breaking something can be easy; repairing it will take work….

Art, Clowning, Afro-American Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonDecember 12, 2023Batch 7Comment

A clowns walks into a Medical School…

A clowns walks into a Medical School…

I walked from the parking deck across the university campus and approached the medical school building. The destination is familiar. We've met in this building several times over the semester. I open the door and walk into the halls of the Emory Medical School. I am at the university to co-teach students at medical school as part of Emory’s Arts and Social Justice Fellows Program.

Art, Clowning, Racial Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonNovember 21, 2023Batch 7Comment

It's Alright to Snälltolka in Barcelona

It's Alright to Snälltolka in Barcelona

As I played the music, there was a line of performers singing and dancing along. They all replied, "It's Alright "!. This started as my version of the Curtis Mayfield song "It's Alright." It's one of my favorite tunes to play in the hospital. At home in Georgia, people sing along. For them, it is a gospel refrain from the black church, and they are eager to join me in singing….

Clowns w/out Borders, Clowning, Social JusticeMeredith GordonOctober 8, 2023Batch 7Comment

Meredith selected to be an Emory Arts and Social Justice Fellow

Afro-American Issues, Social Justice, ArtMeredith GordonJune 7, 2023Batch 7Comment

CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS USA, TURKEY EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR TOUR DAY 6 OF SHOWS

CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS USA, TURKEY EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR TOUR DAY 6 OF SHOWS

Clowns w/out Borders, Social JusticeMeredith GordonMarch 28, 2023Batch 7Comment

CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS USA, TURKEY EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR TOUR DAY 3 of shows

CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS USA, TURKEY EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR TOUR DAY 3 of shows

The site of young children and adults joining us in the parade warms my heart. In one of the parades today, a woman saw a clown balancing a juggling club. After seeing this, she decided to play with us.

Clowns w/out Borders, Clowning, Social JusticeMeredith GordonMarch 24, 2023Batch 7Comment

CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS USA, TURKEY EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR TOUR DAY 2 of shows

CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS USA, TURKEY EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR TOUR DAY 2 of shows

Later, it began to rain when we arrived at our next camp. We paused, wondering if we would be able to do our performance in the rain. We decided to continue the performance. Halfway into the show, the sun came from behind the clouds, and a rainbow appeared in the distance.

Clowns w/out Borders, Social JusticeMeredith GordonMarch 24, 2023Batch 7Comment

Black Mental Health

In my experience, there has been a stigma surrounding mental health in the Black community. Many of us feel pressure to conform to traditional notions of masculinity, making it difficult to express emotions. I grew up in a society that enforced these notions of masculinity.

Afro-American Issues, Racial Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonMarch 12, 2023Batch 7Comment

A Call for Black Laughter.

One of the unique challenges in the field now is that there are very few African-American clowns doing this work. When I began this work 21 years ago, I was one of eight people who were hired. I was the only black clown on the team…

Afro-American Issues, Social Justice, ArtMeredith GordonJuly 13, 2021Batch 3 Comments

Black Clown Matters

The recent focus on Black Lives Matter and the racial awakening that began last year renew a focus on an issue that I've wrestled with over these 20 years…

Art, Racial Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonJanuary 14, 2021Batch 3 Comments

Faith, Work and Stacy Abrams

The past election and the upcoming runoff here in Georgia has me thinking about political action and how we all participate in the process. I live in Georgia…

Afro-American Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonNovember 20, 2020Batch 3 Comments

Continuing the conversation. A Racial Awakening in Clowning.

The conversation about diversity in the arts and the clowning world continues. I've been in several panel discussions about diversity and people of color in the circus world. In late September, The Play the Fool Festival hosted a talk called "Culture, Identity, and Clowning: A BIPoC Artist Conversation"…

Afro-American Issues, Art, Clowning, Racial Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonOctober 12, 2020Batch 3 Comments

Art, feeling and understanding.

The words were familiar if not identical to comments I've seen before. They talk about the purpose of art in our world, how artists' work can serve a greater good in our society. Too often, we think that the artist's primary goal is to entertain…

Art, Afro-American Issues, Social Justice, Racial IssuesMeredith GordonSeptember 3, 2020Batch 6 Comment

Blackman in blackface … 1916.

I recently had a conversation with Ampie Alblas. They are a blogger from Belgium who writes a blog called Collecting Clowns. Ampie was working on a story about a film made in 1916 called “Natural Born Gambler.” This film is unique because it is considered one of the first films directed by a black man, Bert Williams…

Afro-American Issues, Art, Clowning, Racial Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonAugust 9, 2020Batch 6 Comments

Blackface Representation

I've been thinking about representation recently—specifically the representation of Black people in our society. Many people seem to be willing to take an honest look at the role race plays in our culture. I am encouraged by this reckoning. I also have some earned pessimism.

Racial Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonJuly 24, 2020Batch 6Comment

Can we talk about clowning, clown make up and racism?

Recently this ripple of cultural change has been felt in my professional world. There's been a lot of discussion in the circus and clown world regarding racial issues. Some of our performing/circus organizations function under the presumption that "we performing artists" are not racist.

Clowning, Art, Racial Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonJuly 1, 2020Batch 6 Comments

Black lives matter. Symbols matters.

I am taking a walk this morning. I walk through my neighborhood across the campus of Agnes Scott College and into Downtown Decatur. My destination is the courthouse, specifically the site where the Confederate monument once stood…

Art, Racial Issues, Social JusticeMeredith GordonJune 22, 2020Batch 6Comment

Express yourself with protest. Express yourself with art.

We are seeing changes in our society regarding black lives matter and racial justice.

The NFL has flip-flopped on its former stance. Four years ago, the league banned Colin Kaepernick from playing in the league. His offense? He dared to protest police treatment of African-Americans peacefully.

Art, Social Justice, Racial IssuesMeredith GordonJune 14, 2020Batch 6Comment

Our smartphones are looking back at us.

We have seen the video of the policemen killing George Floyd. Mr. Floyd was killed in Minnesota in broad daylight by police officers as he was stretched out on his stomach with his hands in handcuffs behind his back. A police officer unnecessarily forced his knee into the back of Mr. Floyd's neck. He died moments later.

Social Justice, Racial IssuesMeredith GordonMay 28, 2020Batch 6 Comments

That black man in the street just didn’t look right. (Sounds familiar to me.)

That black man in the street just didn’t look right. (Sounds familiar to me.)

Today, I joined many others as we run for Ahmaud. I am one of many people running or walking 2.23 miles

Social Justice, Racial IssuesMeredith GordonMay 8, 2020Batch 6Comment

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