God's Backyard

      One of the programs at our church is "God's Backyard", a youth photography project.  A photo from the collection is posted here--its title is "Take Back the Alley".  You can look at it and wonder who's doing the taking and who's being taken.  What I like about the photograph is that its layout was not designed, but rather the young photographer shot what they saw. (Most of the photographs in the collection are not attributed to one artist, but to the group).
     The different shapes and colors--even of the broken and discarded pieces make a colorful whole.
You can see where we painted a mural on a garage that had be tagged with graffiti. You can also see the "resurrection of the wild" that I wrote about here yesterday, with the plants rising out of any little foothold they can find.  The trash has been removed by now, but the mural is still there. And the plants for sure are still there.
     We chose the name "God's Backyard" for a couple of reasons. First, the neighborhood of Phillips is often seen and more often portrayed as one of the "backsides" of Minneapolis.  The press it gets is usually about some crime or problem.  It's not featured in magazine portrayals of our beautiful lakes and parks, though we have beautiful parks, and when it rains a lot, beautiful lakes at many street corners.  We wanted to make a statement that this turf is indeed a place of God's action: calling, liberating, reviving the people who live here, and the place itself.  If I may dare say so, God likes to hang out in the backyard!
     We also chose it because the back yard is where the action is, at least in Minneapolis.  It's where families have their tomato and jalapeno plants, their wading pool. It's where barbecues are held, where clothes are hung out to be freshened by the sun and the wind. If you want to run into people in Phillips, you'll have a better chance meeting folks by walking the alleys in summer, rather than the streets.
     Finally, many of the photos were literally taken from the backyard: from the alleys, from the margins.  To my artistic eye, that's where most exciting stuff takes place.  The photograph above wouldn't be the same if we just had a nice shot of the mural. It's the juxtaposition of the discarded and the growing, the used up and the new that makes it interesting.  A lot of good stuff happens in the margins, in the backyard.
     Including much of what we rightly claim as our freedom.  Many of the major changes we now cherish--freedom of speech and religion, equal protection under the law--didn't come from the centers of power. They came from the margins--often at great cost to those who brought them forward.  The battle to expand the franchise of voting didn't start in this country with the few white males who owned property who could vote in most states.  The push to expand and protect the votes of women, African-Americans, the disabled, 18-year olds didn't start with the centers of power.  It started with courageous people pushing and organizing, and eventually we were able to move enough people, of various political beliefs, to sign on.  The Voting Rights Act, the 19th Amendment for Women's Suffrage got both Democratic and Republican support, along with other parties.
      That's what bothers me about the amendments up in Minnesota this election.  They didn't start with a push from those who have been dis-empowered.  And they have no bipartisan support.  None.  It started with those who have power, and in both cases, it is an attempt to take power away, from people, especially those in the margins. In the backyard.
     As for me and my house, we're going to be hanging out in the backyard.  Drop by and have a bite with us.  If you live in an apartment and really miss the fall experience of raking leaves, you'd be welcome!

Be Beauty. Be Justice.

Patrick

P.S. If you're interested in our art program, see and like "Semilla Project" on Face Bookhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Semilla-Project/148670385198684?ref=ts&fref=ts