“Do Black Lives Matter?”
Created by Ben F. Locke,
with photographer Nicole Waddington
An introduction to an upcoming feature-length documentary that asks the question, “Do Black Lives Matter?” The film asks Black people from the often-ignored places of Chicago if they think Black Lives Matter, if their life matters, what do they want to be remembered for, etc. to get a sense of our own perspective on our lives.
About the Artist
Ben F. Locke is an actor, director, choreographer, teacher/coach and writer with a double degree in Theatre and Human Services from Millikin University. He’s excited to flex his artistic muscles with this new project through Abou Face Theatre. He’s an Artistic Associate with Random Acts Chicago, the Casting Director for The Passage Theatre, as well as a company dancer with Ardent Dance Company. Some of his work can be found on the New Play Exchange.
You can also connect with him on Instagram @trickyrabbit86 or Twitter @its_locke. “What we do matters. Who sees us matters. If we died today, did we horde ourselves away, did we keep our resources for ourselves or did we invest in others to take over and grow without us?”
Artist Reflection
Originally, what I wanted to do was find pictures of everyday Black people in the collection and match them with Chicago people now and kind of recreate this scene that I found in these pictures. I didn’t want to get models, I didn’t want to get actors, I wanted to get everyday people and do these photoshoots and correlate the Black lives of then to the Black lives of now. To say, “We still matter, we’re still important.
But then I went to the Stony Island Arts Bank, and I was fascinated by how much information was there. I found myself gravitating towards the collection of Jet and the Ebony magazines, seeing the Black narrative on Black life in some of the ads, how the Black narrative at the time of these magazines still seemed to cater towards European standards. You would see ads for hair relaxers or skin-lightening creams. That was really interesting to me.
Then I found this book of Black firsts, and I saw a lot of these minstrel cups, minstrel posters, minstrel advertising, seeing the white perspective on Black people. The way white people present Black people. I was interested in this idea of the difference between the Black perspective of Black life and the white perspective on Black life, and alternatively the Black perspective on white life, while keeping the white gaze in mind.
So I retriggered, and I had this new idea because Black Lives Matter has been such a controversial phrase. For some reason, there are so many people that take issue with the phrase Black Lives Matter. I retriggered my brain and I said “I really want to do something about the phrase Black Lives Matter.” Talk about Black life, talk about Black Lives Matter, and only talk to Black people, and really get the Black perspective on Black life, Black society, Black ideas. Just, you know, asking Black people to really be in charge of their own narrative, and not feel like they have to cater to the white audience or the white gaze.
