At the Selma march of 1965, a little known historical detail was the while carnation leis that were sent from a Hawaiian clergyman as a gesture of solidarity. This is a contemporary recreation of that “March for Love”, as John Lewis called the moment, inspired by photographer Omar Viktor Diop of Senegal.

All hand painted raw edge applique, machine free motion stitched, cottons, polyester brocade, bamboo batting, Jacquard Textile paints.

Joan Kantor is a fellow artist and ekphrastic poet. With her permission, I would love to share her poem with all of you.

“March for Love” *

to the memory of John Lewis

If they’d only had the courage
to look
with open eyes
into the hopeful ones
of each earnest young man
silently asking why,
his black face resplendently shining
with dignity
and the possibility
of offering forgiveness,
his head held high
above a sea of peaceful protest,
before he was beaten,
before he chose
to get into “good trouble”,**
they might have found themselves
tossing those billy clubs aside
and reaching instead
for the open hands
of the future

*words that John Lewis used to describe the Selma to Montgomery march
**a John Lewis term that describes following one’s own moral compass despite the trouble it might cause