Artist Statement
My Dear Guttman Colleagues,
Much like James Baldwin’s “Letter to My Nephew,” I, too, have written draft after draft of this piece only to find myself here, yet again, starting from scratch for the umpteenth time as the morning birds begin to sing their first songs. I came into the drafting process of this piece trying to keep as optimistic a tone as possible in order to spark inspiration in my peers. However, with the day and age in which we live, where it seems as though we are waking up to countless new videos of the limp bodies of babies being carried away by their crying parents on a near-daily basis, it appears to me that taking this angle or direction would be, at absolute best, pretentious. I don’t come to you with a smiling face and a freshly patted back—I come to you with the same tears of rage, the same feelings of intense internal pain, and the same traumas that you all carry daily. Life has been anything but sweet to us—however, in the midst of the whirlwind, I hope you learned at one point or another that it is better to let your tears reach the bottom of your chin and fall to the floor than it is to wipe them before they even get the chance to form. For what if God wiped away the rain before it ever got to storm? What would come of the soil, and what, if anything, would have the chance to grow?
Contrary to popular belief, expressing pain, rage, and discontent is not taboo. In my humble opinion, it is the spark that begins the revolution. Do not feel as though sadness is a mark of failure or that vulnerability is synonymous with weakness—you are a whole being deserving of nothing less than compassion and patience. Allow yourself to feel the full spectrum of human emotion—but always remember: Though we can allow ourselves a moment of sorrow, we cannot allow ourselves to forget that from which we came and fall into believing unjust fallacies. If you’re waiting for the “perfect time” to develop a club, apply for that program abroad, or begin gathering our people together to mobilize behind global issues, I would like to remind you that the fire this time will only see its first sparks the day we collectively realize that “perfect timing” is a concept that only exists in the minds of those who tell the story, and not those who lived it. No one I’ve ever studied, from Harriet Tubman to James Baldwin to Tupac Amaru Shakur, was granted the “perfect time” to be great. Instead, they had to stand up and say, “Today is the day these people will find out who they’re messing with.” Do not be led to believe that there is any other way. This is your time. Make the best of it.
May the sparks become an inferno…
With Love,
Your Colleague and Brother Marcos Quinones
City College Encampment. A CUNY safety agent watches as students and supporters set up their tents.
A student at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Encampment gets arrested as she holds a white flower.
Students and staff of the New School took over two buildings in Manhattan. This photograph was taken following an early-morning raid by NYPD.
NYU students being placed onto an NYPD bus after their encampment was raided during a moment of prayer.
Marcos Quinones is an undergraduate student journalist at Guttman Community College.
Featured image of the Columbia University Gaza Solidarity Encampment, the morning of April 30, by Marcos Quinones.