Debtfair

I decided moved to Mexico in 2013 in order to continue living from my online teaching income and to continue my art practice. I was also outraged and terrified by many economic and social realities facing Black Americans even during the years of our first Black president. I had a few encounters with the police during graduate school for simply standing on a sidewalk or being on a bus and I was not feeling ready to move to another US state given that these encounters always seemed to happen because the police sensed I was not "from their town." I thought moving to Mexico was a good temporary solution especially because video takes a lot of time and also because I wanted to have children and I kept thinking about my work as a way to keep re-imagining Black Futures. I now understand that I am part of a legacy of Black artists who have left the US for similar reasons. I know I will have to return but at least I did not lose the first two years after receiving my MFA and was able to rebuild a creative practice after having a period of unemployment in the US.