Spilt Milk (Don’t Cry)

Spilt Milk (Don’t Cry) is a series of works created in response to the death of George Floyd and the countless other victims of police murder and racial injustice in America, and in an effort to join in the chorus of resistance that has exploded across the nation in the wake of these most recent acts of violence against black people.

Shortly after Mr. Floyd’s murder, while watching news coverage of protests erupting across the nation, I was struck by imagery of protesters pouring milk in one another’s eyes to soothe irritation from tear gas.

The three works in this series were designed to highlight the irony of the use of a white substance (whiteness) to ease black pain - a representation of the false societal assumption of whiteness as a panacea. The notion of “white tears” doubles as a symbol of society’s need and desire to purge itself of the very toxic whiteness that is so deeply entrenched in systemic injustices that continue to breed physical and psychological damage.

The use of phrasing and imagery found in American milk brand advertising is designed to echo society’s exaltation of whiteness (i.e. whiteness = purity) as well as the oft-present trivialization and minimization of the black struggle (“glass half full”).

Finally, the title of the series references society’s desensitization to the murder of black people as a result of centuries of general inaction and frequency of incident. The old adage “don’t cry over spilt milk” suggests society’s failure to respond to the spilling of black blood and the resulting dehumanization of people of color.

*100% of proceeds were donated to the Black Art Futures Fund, a grant-making organization working to promote the elevation and preservation of black arts and culture.