The original subject scheduled for this post was the 100th anniversary of the "Harlem Hellfighter's" celebratory parade through New York City in February, 1919, following the United States' and allies' successful campaign to end World War I in Europe. For the African Americans who comprised the unit, participation had meant another step toward gaining racial equality and ending unwarranted violence against them at home. With Black History Month only a couple of weeks away and commemorations of the Harlem Renaissance Centennial now kicking off around the globe, the subject would have been timely and appropriate. ​ However: just as humanity had to address the impact of various forms of violence--such as war, lynching, and race riots--during the Jazz Age Harlem Renaissance, we find ourselves doing the same in 2019, an entire century later. Too often, the casualties you might anticipate hearing about are not the military personnel or police officers who confront danger as part of their profession. They tend to be children in school classrooms, at parties, attending concerts, playing in front yards, immigrating from one oppressive situation to another, or just nestled at home among family members assumed to be dedicated to their safety and wellness.
​The beauty of all they were or may have become is gone in the flash of one horrific moment. Rather than revisit yet again the question of why so many of us exercise so little compassion toward children and disregard the potential inherent in every child, I launched the Kaleidoscope Moons Art Series as one way to reclaim with compassion the beauty of lives lost too soon.
A New Perspective on an Old Wound
How to survive and cope with grief over the loss of an offspring is a dilemma I began exploring as a writer through poems in my first book, I Made My Boy Out of Poetry, and then later in essays in The American Poet Who Went Home Again. As the year 2019 slowly gains momentum, I am viewing the subject through a distinctly 21st century lens and re-engaging it as a visual artist via the Kaleidoscope Moons series. Why at this precise time? Largely because of what I expressed in these notes on the series:
STORY BEHIND THE SERIES
The American media has proclaimed the heroics of 13-year-old Jayme Closs for managing after three months to escape her kidnapper. However, she lost her parents to the abductor's shotgun blasts and in that instant experienced the destruction of her childhood. Clearly the concept of compassion held no meaning for him and a civilized society is obligated to reflect on possible reasons why.
What roles, for example, might the glamorization of hatred and sustained monetization of war play in Closs's abductor's choice to ignore the excruciating pain he would cause a child and her family? How did institutionalized practices which place the well-being of children toward the lower end of any list of priorities possibly intensify his nihilism? When reflecting on likely answers, this much becomes clear: the degree to which any given individual might be held accountable for helping maintain a culture of indifference and, by doing so, contribute to the malevolent destruction of human life is a consideration which can no longer be avoided. ​ NEXT: Kaleidoscope Moons Reclaim with Compassion the Beauty of Lives Lost Too Soon Part 2 AuthorFounder of the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance Initiative and creator of the Silk-Featherbrush Art Style, Aberjhani's work as both an author & an artist have been acclaimed by critics, readers, and cultural arts supporters around the world.
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​Presented with the choice between wholly committing my pen to writing about current waves of shock and awe stemming from political shenanigans on the world stage, or sticking to processes for meeting specific goals, I chose the latter. My choice should not be taken as indifference to what many have interpreted as pow-wows between world dictators leading to accusations of treason against at least one of them whose full name currently begins with POTUS. It is in fact a way of responding to those history-making upheavals in a manner which hopefully will last much longer than a 24-hour news cycle. As promised early in 2018, I have increased the number of images in my online art galleries, continued communication with publishing industry reps about publication of recently-completed manuscripts, furthered development of plays in progress, and extended promotion of observances related to the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance. ​ Reflecting on all these plans at this moment, I have to admit the get-it-done list assigned to me by me is quite a handful. Even for a workaholic. However, a little pressure can sometimes inspire a lot of rewarding productivity. Harlem Renaissance Deja Vu
The visual arts component of my cultural labors took over in the inspiration department this summer of 2018 as I found myself immersed in an abundance of visual works--some halting at the first-draft stage, others completed--for different projects. The creative intensity has been comparable to the experience which produced my books, The Bridge of Silver Wings and The River of Winged Dreams, in 2008 and 2010. The obvious difference is the previous results of the creative energy were literary.
​ But in some ways a number of the new visual pieces are also literary because they have been created as important parts of one of my in-progress plays (those cannot be sold at this time). Creating images for inclusion in a play has prompted me to revise the definition of a literary artist previously applied to myself. Whereas I formerly considered the term as indicating someone producing notable written works within different genres, in the current instance an accurate description would be: an author who is also a visual artist. ​One of the new prints, Song of Love and Compassion, marks a divergence in style which surprised me and put a smile on my face. Another, Harlem Renaissance Deja Vu Number 1, is part of the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance Initiative. Inspiration for it came from several sources, including works by Romare Bearden and Lois Mailou Jones, as well as from old photographs of the model. As indicated by the descriptive "Number 1" in the artwork's title, this is the first of a series. ​ Whether new prints from the series will also be offered through Fine Art America and Pixels.com has yet to be determined. However, a new blog series titled Art-Notes, which collectors, journalists, bloggers, and readers in general might appreciate has launched on the sites to share background info on images as they are posted. You can check them out by clicking the image below: 
Art-Notes by Aberjhani celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance. New Blog Series.
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AberjhaniContemporary award-winning author of classically-styled works in history, poetry, creative nonfiction, speculative fiction, and journalism. 
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