‘War on the Benighted’ focuses lens on public education
23rd July 2018 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) is marking the Crescent City’s 300th anniversary with its exhibit Changing Course: Reflections on New Orleans Histories, which includes a powerful photo series called War on the Benighted by New Orleans photographer L. Kasimu Harris. Those interested in the show can see it from now through September 16, and hear Harris speak about his work.
War on the Benighted is a photo series Harris started in 2015. He has added six new pictures to it for its 2018 show at NOMA. It tells the story of a group of underprivileged children who feel frustrated with the inequalities of the American educational system. They then lead a non-violent coup d’etat to educate themselves. There are now eleven total photos in the series.
One of the new photos is a picture called “Race to the Top,” which depicts students sitting at desks on a race track in a stadium. It is meant to be an indictment of the current culture of high-stakes standardized test scores, which turn education into a zero-sum game.
“I don’t think a lot of school is for the kids,” Harris said.
Education is a subject Harris is passionate about, as he worked for two years in New Orleans as a full-time teacher and an additional four years as a part-time teacher. He has also been a student and a parent in the local public educational system. He feels that education is a constitutional right for American children, but that less privileged children do not get an equal opportunity to receive a good education.
“It’s still separate and it’s still unequal,” Harris said. “I’m worried that we are not on the right track.”
Among Harris’ problems with the educational system are the mass firing of Orleans Parish Public School System teachers after Hurricane Katrina, the relentless emphasis on standardized testing and the almost prison-like atmosphere of some schools in underprivileged neighborhoods. “Sometimes, you see too many elements of prison in the system,” Harris opined.
He also remembers feeling discouraged by his meetings with guidance counselors when he was a student, who left him feeling that certain opportunities would be unavailable to minority or underprivileged students.
Harris said that he wants to add a third installment to War on the Benighted soon. In the next set of photos, he plans to give a face to the antagonistic, oppressive system the students are rebelling against. In the first two chapters, the antagonists are implied but not seen.
Harris will give two talks at NOMA this week on War on the Benighted. The first is on Wednesday, July 25 from 11-11:30 a.m. as part of the museum’s “Small Talk” series. Harris will discuss his work with Brian Piper, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Photography at NOMA. Piper is an enthusiastic fan of Harris’ art and feels like it meshes perfectly with NOMA’s goals for the Changing Course exhibition.
“His photographs are dynamic, vibrant, beautiful and really evince his careful consideration of every step, from storyboarding the concept, to composing and executing the final scene,” Piper said. “The War on the Benighted series points us towards debates about educational policy that have real impact on the daily lives of African-American students in New Orleans, but puts those issues in the context of a long history of African-American activism around public education here in New Orleans…Part of the message of Changing Course is an insistence that the inclusion of those histories is crucial to a full understanding of New Orleans’ past.”
On Friday, July 27, Harris will participate in the Artist Perspective portion of Friday Nights at NOMA. Harris will give an informative and entertaining talk on War on the Benighted. He hopes the event will be educational for both attendees and himself, as there will be a Q & A session with the audience after Harris’ presentation.
This article originally published in the July 23, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.