Although… Still Wish You the Best
Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell describes how the artist Romare Bearden was able to “use collage to literally piece together his memories of the past,” in the catalogue for a show she curated entitled, Images of a Turbulent Decade 1963 – 1973. His memories continue to serve as artistic historical documentation of a nation in crisis. In this issue of the Fo(u)r 4, Holly Bass presents her memories through writings, text messages sent, and text messages received on the night Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America. I present Holly’s text(s) as a collage of stories from the night of November 4, 2008 with implications for our past and future. I also take this opportunity to explicitly present the LetterToObama project itself as a collage. Look forward to more pieces every month and events in 2011.
.
.
.
.
UNTITLED (TEXT COLLAGE 04.NOV.08)
HOLLY BASS
Where to begin… Wednesday morning.
Last night America elected the first Black President of the United States.
Last night America elected to judge a man by the content of his character not the color of his skin.
Last night America became America again.
I too sing.
Right now, outside my window, a parade of school children carrying homemade poster board signs are marching down 16th Street chanting, “Help the Homeless,” and “What do we want? Help the Homeless! When do we want it? Now!”
Cars are honking their approval.
The air is crisp and pure. The rains last night washed so much away.
At 11am on Tuesday November 4th, I’m lying in bed reading….
At 9pm on Tuesday November 4th, I was sitting in front of my laptop doing work, as best I could. The television was on ABC and the results were slowly coming in. Obama’s ahead, but not by much and it seems that most of the states with early results coming in are going to McCain. Then we win New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. “We” win. I’m not much of a “we” person when it comes to things like political parties or sports teams. “We” won the World Series. My team. My party. But tonight I am all about the “we.”
Already I’ve gotten requests from Italy, L.A., New York–friends who need a place to stay on January 20th and are putting in dibs. And the election results haven’t even come in yet.
My heart is palpitating. My stomach is churning. My mind is absolutely not focused on the grant reports and calculations I’m working on. I decide to leave the house during the next commercial break and head to Marvin, a hip little restaurant/bar in my neighborhood. I hear the drums from two blocks away. Once I get to 14th Street, I see a massive grey bus with SpaceshipExcellent.Com emblazoned across its sides. It has a railed deck on its roof and a man in what looks like futuristic riot gear is stringing together red balloons and blue balloons with tiny lights. I dash over and he explains that they are a band from Seattle and this is their public performance project. Each balloon represents 10 electoral college votes. The balloons float high in the sky. People can look up and see who’s ahead. Nice.
I cross V Street. There is a line halfway down the block for Busboys & Poets, the popular activist/artist hangout. It’s a restaurant, coffeebar, bookstore, performance space. But tonight in the theater, they’ve got the election playing on a large projector screen.
.
.
SENT TXT MSGS:
We got ohio. 194 to 69
Sent 9:38pm 11/04/08
~
Yes. Was at marvin. Maybe heading to 18th. The bus is outside yr bldg w light up balloons.
Sent 10:08pm
~
YES!!!!!
Sent 11:08pm 11/04/08
~
YES!!!!!
Sent 11:15pm 11/04/08
~
We did.
Sent 11:16pm 11/04/08
~
YES!!!!!
Sent 11:36pm 11/04/08
~
It feels so damn good!
Sent 11:37pm 11/04/08
~
YES!!!!!
Sent 11:40pm 11/04/08
~
Sweetie, Lovely Day is by Bill Withers : ) I love u. DC is amazing right now. I’m at a French bar w mixed crowd dancing, crying, hugging strangers.
Sent 11:44pm 11/04/08
~
I’m on U St and baby it is one huge block party!
Sent 00:18am 11/05/08
~
Are u celebrating?
Sent 00:24am 11/05/08
~
We are dancing in the streets @ 14th & U St
Sent 1:13am 11/05/08
~
Its insane over here. U St and 16th St are blocked off. Thousands of ppl in the street. There are no strangers tnite. Truly beautiful.
Sent 1:47am 11/05/08
~
Last I checked 300 plus electoral votes
Sent 2:02am 11/05/08
~
Amazing! Where are you?
Sent 2:03am 11/05/08
~
Where are you? Its like carnival on U St
Sent 2:05am 11/05/08
~
At 14th & U, a dozen drummers beat out African, samba & gogo rhythms. Hundreds dance & chant O-bam-a. Even in Nov air the smell of sweat permeates. I am standing next to an Asian man drumming djembe who now exhausted has passed his drum to a yg blk man. And the crowds dance on.
Sent 2:17am 11/05/08
~
A kuwaiti woman proclaims her happiness to me & says maybe we can end bloodshed in my country. A Belgian man dances w me & says he is proud of america right now. The crowd chants Yes we can and Ole soccer songs.
Sent 2:24am 11/05/08
~
I lock eyes w a studious lookg yg blk man. We smile. Yes we did, he says and i repeat it in time to the drums. Yes. We. Did.
Sent 2:28am 11/05/08
.
.
RECEIVED TXT MSGS:
From: Alan Page
Obama up by 300,000 in florida
08:05pm 11/04/08
~
From: Philippa
R u watching election returns?
9:46pm 11/04/08
~
From: WilliJ
Amazing!!!
11:09pm 11/04/08
~
From: Terah
We can.
11:16pm 11/04/08
~
From: Anthony Lee
I believe! Do you believe!
11:17pm 11/04/08
~
From: Terah
Yes.
11:19pm 11/04/08
~
From: Reggie Crump
yeah!
11:25pm 11/04/08
~
From: David Rothschild
We win
11:33pm 11/04/08
~
From: Risikat
*sniff*
11:36pm 11/04/08
~
From: LauraVS
3-/:( !*9’ *( )+_!!!!
11:38pm 11/04/08
~
From: Andre Young
AMEN!
11:40pm 11/04/08
~
From: LauraVS
I am at a bar in e village w very mixed crowd, people crying and dancing to al green “lovely day”. Indeed!!!
11:40pm 11/04/08
~
From: John Murph
Yes!
11:42pm 11/04/08
~
From: AmySaid
Amen!
11:42pm 11/04/08
~
From: Chonsee
BIG THINGS111 
11:49pm 11/04/08
~
From: LauraVS
Well, I will always now associate it with this thrilling night!!!! Yayayayayayayayay!
11:50pm 11/04/08
~
From: LauraVS
I phone banked for 5 hours in last 2 days to VA IN NM!!! So great to hr all these people w various regional accents say they were voting for him!!!
11:51pm 11/04/08
~
From: Will Warren
Man-good stuff. Amazing!
11:52 11/04/08
~
From: Brian Satz
Yes We Did
11:55pm 11/04/08
~
From: Jason Bulluck
The world is very different now.
11:55pm 11/04/08
~
From: Brian Satz
Just saw the footage of the crowd outside the white house
00:04am 11/05/08
~
From: Sage
@ grant park w/ da new 1st family & thinking of u! it is so beautiful! hope ur all celebrating cause I feel hope in da air! so happy 4 change! xoxo, sage
00:05am 11/05/08
~
From: David Rothschild
Beautiful life
00:10am 11/05/08
~
From: Brian Satz
See you jan 19th!
00:24am 11/05/08
~
From: Brian Satz
Metronome!!!
00:24am 11/05/08
~
From: Katja
YEESS!!!!
01:05am 11/05/08
~
From: Don
Hope you are celebrating…
01:06am 11/05/08
~
From: Jane Jerardi
he won!
01:13am 11/05/08
~
From: Don
Wish I were there
01:17am 11/05/08
~
From: Bill Nichols
Yeeeeaaahh!
01:31am 11/05/08
~
From: Christian
Easy gurrl! Don’t pull anything… So much excitement
01:55am 11/05/08
~
From: Bill Nichols
Party for me! Just landed. What was the final count in Electoral College?
Popular vote?
01:56am 11/05/08
~
From: Alan Page
Street party on u street. Get out here
01:58am 11/05/08
~
From: Bill Nichols
This should be good for a few pieces of writing! They clapped on the plane when it was announced. I fear overly high expectations, but later for that
02:36am 11/05/08
~
From: Hank
Yes, was asleep
09:21am 11/05/08
~
From: Ashtan
Wooooooo
10:22am 11/05/08
#
.
.
.
.
ARTIST. STATEMENT.
My mission is twofold. As an artist, I create compelling work that challenges and disrupts business as usual while highlighting shared human connections. As an arts advocate, I recognize that art is often undervalued in our culture—both by those who consume it and by those who create it. This can change if we debunk the popular myth of the starving artist and simultaneously encourage artists to think beyond the “star system” to a broader economic model. My favorite quote by Marianne Williamson says, “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” As an artist in Washington, DC I have the opportunity to shine, and to inspire others to believe that it is possible to be more, give more and do more—to forge a life of beauty no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
.
.
.
.
ABOUT THE ARTSIST
HOLLY BASS is a writer, performer and director. Her most recent body of work explores the endless allure of booty – from the Venus Hottentots to video vixens. A Cave Canem fellow, her poems have appeared in Callaloo, nocturnes (re)view, Beltway, Role Call (Third World Press) and The Ringing Ear, an anthology of Black Southern poetry. Her pieces have been workshopped and presented at respected regional theaters and performance spaces such as the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, the Whitney Museum and the Experience Music Project in Seattle. She is the Cullen Poet-in-Residence for Busboys & Poets (DC) where she coordinates open mic nights and writing workshops for the public. She studied modern dance (under Viola Farber) and creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College before earning a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University. She was the first journalist to put the term “hip hop theater” into print in a 1999 American Theatre article. She was a founding member of DC WritersCorps and continues to work as a teaching artist in schools, colleges and community centers. She has received numerous grants from the DC Arts Commission and was one of twenty artists nationwide to receive 2008 Future Aesthetics grant from the Ford Foundation/Hip Hop Theater Festival.
.
.
.
.
Although… Still Wish You the Best by M. Liz Andrews, Holly Bass is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.LetterToObama.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.LetterToObama.com.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
