Mieko Hick is one of the 55 people featured in the art installation.
House of Rebirth marks Juneteenth with art installation to highlight anti-trans violence
From Staff Reports
House of Rebirth commemorates Juneteenth this Saturday, June 19, with a series of 6-foot-by-3-foot black-and-white images men and women who are the mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, fathers, brothers, grandfathers, uncles and friends of trans women lost to violence.
The 55 images will be laid down on the parking lot beneath the Dallas Trans Mural in the parking lot in the 4000 block of Cedar Springs Road early on the morning of June 19. The installation is intended to amplify the call for an end to the brutal treatment of black trans women. There will be a rally addressing the issue of anti-transgender violence beginning at noon. After the rally, the installation will be moved to the grounds of the Cathedral of Hope, outside the Peace Chapel.
Local social justice advocate Gary Bellomy conceived of the art installation to help promote and support the work of The House of Rebirth, and he enlisted the help of internationally-acclaimed guerrilla artist JR to bring his concept to reality.
The House of Rebirth honors the history of Juneteenth, the day when — more than two years after the Emancipation Declaration was issued — slaves in Texas learned they were freed. The art installation “demonstrates how the struggle of black people is still a reality in our society,” according to Bellomy and House of Rebirth officials.
JR the Artist, through his art forum called The Inside Out Project, promotes the messages of activists worldwide with both low-cost printing and social media exposure. This installation focusing on violence against black trans women, like every other project JR works with, will be seen by Inside Out’s worldwide viewership numbering in the millions.
Thanks to the efforts of its founder, Pocahantas Duvall Crowe, House of Rebirth provides shelter for trans women in a home setting, and encourages trans women to come in off the streets to a safe place where they will be provided with basic life necessities.
Pocahantas also manages Muhlaysia’s Closet, which provides trans women with clothing to help them start new and better lives. The entire shelter was created in memory of Pocahantas’s close friend, Muhlaysia Booker, who was murdered in May of 2019.
