A book of photography and personal testimonies of the Mainers on their relationship to social justice, isn't it a nice idea? "Taking a Knee for Change" is a book publishing project featuring photographs (taken months after the murder of George Floyd by 10 Maine photographers) of white, Black and other people of color, students, business owners, workers, artists, retirees, doctors, activists, immigrants and LGBTQ people who live in Maine and work to end racism and achieve social justice locally and nationally. The book will combine both photographs of the Mainers taking a knee and interviews about their personal relationship and experience with social justice.

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My idea for this project arose from a simple question: “What does it mean to take a knee?” Soon after fleeing my home country of Gabon for asylum in Portland in 2015, I saw a man get down on bent knee to propose marriage to his girlfriend. Bubbling up from deep in my soul was a question – this gesture that the American culture uses as a powerful expression of love, how could it also be used as a weapon? We all know that George Floyd was killed when the police officer put his knee on his neck. I couldn't understand how these images – kneeling for love, kneeling for murder, and kneeling for protest – could coexist.

 

The three main goals that we want to explore through the "Taking a Knee for Change" book and our workshops in schools, institutions and other venues are:
- How human values can be strengthened through humanistic and social action in Maine communities in response to local issues of racism and injustice.
- How to promote and intensify the tradition of solidarity that exists in Maine through the commitment of communities for justice and equality alongside minorities.
- How to highlight inspiring stories of commitment to justice and equality from Mainers to serve as role models of leadership and civic engagement that contemporary and future generations can relate to.

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The audiences we are targeting in our project are Maine residents who want to bring about change through social action and civic engagement, activists and organizations advocating for justice, diversity, equity and inclusion, students, readers and Maine political institutions.

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 We are very happy to see beautiful energies following one another and mobilizing around this work of conception and publication of the book. This enthusiasm and the support of the community is a powerful leitmotif that pushes us so far to overcome the many challenges we encounter along the way.

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It is with great pleasure that we introduce you to the team that is working hard to bring Maine communities a high-quality coffee table book that educates, challenges viewpoints and promotes tolerance. A book that will inspire people to move from thought to action, to self-activism, to feeling compassion and to committing to justice and equality alongside minorities. 

 

Our beautiful team is composed of Mark Evan Chimsky, Christine Sullivan, Morgana Warner, Jacqui Deveneu, Susan deGranpre, Randy Shaeffer, Rose Barboza, Stephanie Natale, Shiva Darbani, Kirsten Fisher Price, John Ripton, Cayce Anne Parker, Haley Malm, Heather Anne and Dave Wade, Erin Thomas, Veronica Pounds.

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We have successfully completed the first step, which consists of having the photos that will be part of the book selected by a rigorous and professional team set up by Creative Portland, to whom we express our gratitude.

We have also successfully completed the second step of collecting interviews, transcripts and edits.

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