CAM Look | Ryan Nichole Leary Shares a Poetic Response of Whitfield Lovell's Our Best | 5/23/24

Welcome to #CAMLook, your twice-weekly dose of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Every Tuesday and Thursday, a staff member or volunteer will share an object from the collection and pose questions for discussion. Please check back at 10 AM for a new discussion and a new artwork.
Today, Cincinnati Poet, Ryan Nichole Leary shares a poetic response to Our Best, from the installation Visitation: The Richmond Project.
One cent
Copper hue skin like mama
Copper penny becomes patina green if it remains in too long in water
Like my ancestors that never made it tossed overboard on ships
Chain together they all died because only one of them was sick
I wonder if they held one would they cherish it
Like I did when mama gave me mine
I held it close my health
Stored in the handkerchief
Rather kept it close to my heart to ensure abundance of wealth
Wonder how she got it
Did she steal it? Earn it? Find it? Take it? Too many thoughts are a blur.
I wonder how many pennies they collected in order to purchase her
We live in Richmond
Where folks who look like me might not ever be a rich man. Definitely not a woman
But that don't stop me for dreaming thinking believing
But oh if only I had a penny for my thoughts
I'd be a rich woman in Richmond
My momma gave me another penny so I guess that makes my two penny twins
But I Thank God for Ken folk. It's true
And I Thank God for the independent order of St. Luke
Who realized resources and rights needed to be tied to economics
So I gave my two cents
Jackson Ward should have a bank an emporium a newspaper a factory
Hell I want it to have a whole Enterprising community
But first, we need security for our financial liberty
So on the second of November of 1903
St. Luke's Penny Savings Bank open in our neck of the woods
Who would have thought? Oh Maggie Lena Walker
First Black woman to charter a US Bank gave her two cents and made sure Black folks knew how to take their pay and save
But in 1921 my heart grew grave
Because many many states away
My brothers and sisters
Experience flames that licked up the vision
Because white folks got jealous and paid attention to Black greenwood Tulsa's Ascension
Burn downtown and bodies with slain
Ain't no way they going to get up. They won't rise. There’s no way this can be risen
They don't have no business, no resources, no buggies. No horses. Ain't no way they gonna get another achievement.
Ha, but what fools they are copper doesn't melt in fire. It simply tarnishes and gets scars
Like our history under rubbled buried the truth
But our children will find and collect. What's hidden what's owed and what's due
But don’t worry, Trust me America will have its reckoning in 1929
While banks sunk like the Titanic but Saint Luke. Not only did we stay afloat baby we did just fine
They they say a penny saved is a penny earned
We still open in Richmond. I thought you know
We're now call the Consolidated Bank and trust. And yes we are still Black owned
Coppery melanin like my skin
You can burn me, put me through fire, bury me. Understand honey, I'll always win
But I implore you to remember the volume, and wealth and worth of your dreams and thoughts
Cuz when you do, you'll understand that your pennies are worth more than a lot.
About the Artist:
Ryan Nichole Leary is a Visual Artist/Historian/Educator and Cincinnati native dedicated to educating, sharing, and celebrating the narratives of people who are part of the African Diaspora. Leary works as a visual artist, specializing in portraits, lectures on art history at local institutions, and blends her love for creativity and activism in her work. She describes her work as “Obnoxiously Large, Unapologetically Black." It is through Leary’s artwork, lectures, and teachings that she hopes to correct false narratives and celebrate the brilliance of the Diaspora. Learn more about her work at ryannicholestudios.com.
Whitfield Lovell (American), Our Best, from the installation Visitation: The Richmond Project, 2001, Charcoal on wood, found objects, Courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York

[@SoLTheArtist]

Beautiful performance, Ryan! SO much history with great storytelling to match. :)