Peace: A Fight For Justice

From the Artist: During this pandemic, we have not known much “peace.” Day in and day out we are
confronted with stress that we’ve internalized due to job insecurity, food insecurity, and health insecurity. While shut away in our homes, the world has been undergoing change and also experiencing a lack of peace. Between the Black Lives Matter movement, the responding counter movements, police brutality, ultimate political divides, and the most recent assault on our capital, we have not seen peace, or felt at peace, for a very long time.

The outline of words is from the Westchester Examiner’s articles and letters to the editor from January 12th-18th. The words describe a history of changing thought. What we deem to be basic now were once groundbreaking and new, such as women going to college and racial integration. These are then juxtaposed within the outline with the current issues of riots and the need to condemn violence, racism, and hatred. At the center, are “George Floyd'' and “’peace’ officers,” in an effort to keep the cruelty many Americans face daily at the center of conversations. Taken as a whole, the piece’s purpose is to signify that we have a long way to go to achieve peace both internally and externally. Peace can only be achieved through the willingness to not remain stagnant in the face of change and to not be complacent as we wait patiently for a pandemic free world.