President of BSU and student artist Terrie Kennon’s artwork.
Byline: Brenda Sanchez-Barrera and Mercy Calvo-Cruz, Staff Reporter
If you come across the Black Student Union (BSU), or even just stumble upon their Instagram page, you might be drawn to their 2021-2022 logo. The BSU logo is a recreation of “This is America… No Justice, No Peace!” which was created in 2020 by an artist known as Mcflyy. California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) student and BSU president Terrie Kennon recreated the art piece to use as the logo for the BSU.
Kennon is a sophomore at CSUDH studying Africana Studies and Political Development. She is the artist behind the BSU logo, and has been creating art for seven years. Her main focuses are graphic design and painting. It was back in highschool when she took a graphic design class that she discovered that she was able to express herself, as well as her perspective on the world, through her art. According to Kennon, the BSU logo holds significant meaning for her and for society.
“It simultaneously highlights the historical foundation of the organization and embodies this generation’s hunger for social justice and liberation,” Kennon said.
For Kennon, it’s her community which inspires and motivates her art. She believes the culture that the Black American community has created through the struggles is art in itself. Art gives her a way to define her own experiences and environment.
However, Kennon’s art is more than just a pastime, it takes on a political stance: “My art is for the fallen Black and brown victims of the racial caste system in the United States, which includes, but is not limited to victims of mass brutality, incarceration, police brutality, sexism, homophobia, and systemic racism,” Kennon said.
“My art demands that their stories [are] heard, respected and understood beyond stereotypes,” Kennon said. She tries to convey the message that “there is beauty within the struggle and pain,” within her art.
While Kennon’s art helps her feel connected to her community, poetry helps journalism student and poet Rhys Revels feel connected to his spirituality.
Rhys Revels, also known by his artistic name Moondog Revels, got into poetry at age 15, choosing to go into the poetry only after studying it intensely. As a teenager, he enjoyed being athletic, but became a big reader of novels, short stories, and poems. Today, as a junior he has expanded his focus to poetry, short stories, painting, and screenwriting.
He describes his art style as “Gonzo” poetry. Gonzo, coined by Hunter S. Thompson, is a form of fact-based journalism where the reporter’s involvement in the story is vital. Revels also describes his poetry as a “mixture of humor, reality, fantasy, and everything in between.” He creates poetry that is music based, and believes that both music and poetry go hand-in-hand.
What motivates Revels to create art is “turning on the world.” To turn on the world, Revels explained, is to wake the world up through his art. Similar to how music can turn on the world with sound, he realized that he can change society for the better through his art. He believes that in order to fulfill his poetic purpose, he has to turn on the world with his art.
In turn, art helps connect Revels to his spirituality. He explains that art “wakes him up,” and that he is not fully awake yet, but his eyes are beginning to twitch.
Like most artists, Revels seeks to put out a message with his poetry, and that message is that life, itself, is art. He wants his readers to know that life can be just as beautiful as it can be ugly and confusing. He hopes that through his poetry, he can tell his readers to “take [their] life more seriously than [they] already do.”
His first book, “The Sorrows of the Contemporary World and Other Poems” holds a special place in his heart. It was published in 2019, and was inspired by Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” which is a poem that criticizes capitalism and societal expectations. Once he read the poem, he sat down and worked on his own poetry for the next couple of months, and his first book was born.
During the peak of the pandemic, Revels would stay up until late hours of the night writing until the piece was finished, claiming that once he got an idea, he had to keep writing until it was seen through. Oftentimes, this would result in “art grooves,” as he calls them– periods of time where he would forget to eat, and would grow irritable and tired.
It is no surprise that Revels created some of his most heartfelt art during isolation. He believes that his inspiration and achievements go hand-in-hand with his struggles; he says “ the best art comes when you are feeling alone or literally alone.” He attributes art to helping him get through the worst of the pandemic, and stays optimistic about any struggles he’s faced.
During that time, Revels wrote a 20 page poem about his late mother, who passed away when he was 10. Revels explained he had not been able to talk or write about it until then, and went on to perform that piece once places opened back up. This was the first time in 10 years that he had been able to talk about his mother’s passing. He realized then that death isn’t necessarily negative, but rather, it can be a beautiful transition in life.
“Just because life and death are opposites doesn’t mean death is ugly. Life can be a struggle but with death it is a beautiful snap,” Revels said.
The pandemic has not been the only thing that has contributed to his struggle as a Black artist. He explained that most of the Black artists he knows create art about race, politics, and trauma, while his art doesn’t focus on that. As a result of this, his biggest struggle is the fear he has of not making it as an artist because he doesn’t write about those things.
“Black art is more than our struggles,” He explained about why he chooses not to write about those struggles. “Although some of the best art is about the artist, it is the 21st century, and we do not have to focus on our pain.”
With many inspirations for his own art, Revels clarifies one thing: “In no way shape or form do I want to be the writers that I have read.”
Another poet on campus is Robert Cunningham, a student at CSUDH who is also a videographer, photographer, and graphic designer. Cunningham has been writing poetry for almost three years. He tapped into his artistic side when looking for a way out of a rough time, trying to connect with people without directly speaking about his struggles, rather through his emotions.
“I like how poetry can be a conversation. It can help you travel deep into your mind and connect to people,” Cunningham said. “Photography really showed me that too, it is similar to poetry, people can interpret it with whatever is on their mind. They can create an entire story from one picture.”
Cunningham’s motivation to deeper explore his creativity was inspired by his first book, “Nineteen.” At first Robert was anxious about releasing his book, but after receiving full support from his peers he was inspired to release it . Cunningham began documenting his life through photography and videography, inspired by a quote from one of his favorite rappers, Isaiah Rashadd, which read “You never realize how interesting your life is until you document it.”
Cunningham’s art style consists of vintage photography, poetry rhyme, and rhythm based.
He feels his direct inspiration comes from artists like; Tupac, Childish Gambino, J-Cole, Mac Miller, Erykah Badu, and Reggie. Still, Cunningham says he does not want to be like the artists who have inspired him.
“I feel art is subjective, it is whatever you make it to be. I want to give people something different yet something they can relate to,” Cunningham said. “I try to convey the message that everything is for a reason.”
When the world suddenly went to a halt during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cunningham Robert had just released his first book. He faced writer’s block stemming from a combination of stress and turmoil. However, if the pandemic gave Cunningham anything, it was time to reflect.
“A big part of creating art is to be vulnerable. It is good to have time to process emotions. The first months of being inside gave time to think about past situations. There is a vulnerability to being alone.” Cunningham said.
Cunningham is constantly creating, as photography helps him stay in the moment, whereas poetry is being able to document what is on his mind and helpful to look back at the progress. Cunningham explained through his art people know “the best part of a breakdown is that you can get back up.”
Another artist on our campus goes by the name of Amir Hunter. Amir is a third-year student at California State University of Dominguez Hills. Hunter’s focus in art is Digital Art, a passion which arose “by accident” as Hunter would say.
According to Hunter “art is a way to express yourself when you can not use words, it’s about expressing what you feel.”
Still, one of Hunter’s biggest struggles as an artist has been finding new ways to express what he is feeling. As Hunter was a starting artist prior to the pandemic, most of his learning process was trace work, whereas his new direction reflects more self-expression.
Hunter derives most of his inspiration from an Instagram account by the name of Chiworld1234. According to Hunter, after seeing the Chiworld account, he was inspired to start learning about the world of digital art.
After the 2020 Pandemic, Hunter decided to take a step back from his art. “The pandemic played a major part in me taking a step back, but my approach in doing several projects a day burnt me out faster than I needed too.”
Hunter hopes to return to his art in the future, as he finds himself searching for different ways to express his creativity, and expanding his knowledge with new skills to improve on what he can already do.
