THE MACHINE
⋆
THE MACHINE ⋆
“There is a reason, after all, that some people wish to colonize the moon, and others dance before it as before an ancient friend.” - James Baldwin
WORK IN PROGRESS
MFA in Dance Thesis | Spring 2026 | Florida State University
This is a research collection of media based material for my proposed MFA in Dance Thesis Project that will premier in Spring 2026.
“The Machine” = The United States Government, specifically its two arms of the Police and the Military Industrial Complex (MIC).
In the context of my proposed MFA Thesis project, currently titled, “The Machine”, I am speaking specifically to and about two arms of The Machine (The United States Government), who act in tandem, and who I would argue exist mainly to control and eliminate the body: The Police State and The Military. The Machine acts and manifests in many violent ways that pose a direct threat to the body in terms of systemic oppression, and they are all rooted in the ideology of white supremacy, like Colonization, Imperialism, settler ideology, and Gentrification. For the purposes of this MFA project, I am focusing on the act of policing and Militarism. I aim to create a world where the body, the Black and Brown body in specific, is more powerful than the gun. The Machine will take the form of a multidisciplinary performance including movement, media, music, and film, and explore what US-American policing tactics, overall policing-culture, and militarism have done to bodies on US-soil as well as the Global South. As resistance is a key component of the conversation about oppression and liberation, it is a key component of the work. Resisting stereotypes, preconceived notions, systemic oppression, unjust and illegal occupation, and tying resistance movements around the world together are all a part of the research. In the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, “Nobody is free, until everybody is free.”
“In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none, has none.” -Kwame Ture
“We knew that the role of the police was to protect white supremacy.”
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
- Angela Davis
Bisan Owda (b. 1998) Influencer and Journalist from Beit Hanoun, Gaza, Palestine
Diane Nash (b. 1938) Black Power Activist from Chicago Illinois
Black Panther Party leader Huey P. Newton (1942-1989) in Lebanese refugee camp with Palestinian resistance fighters, 1980.
Malcolm X
Kwame Ture, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael
James Baldwin
Angela Davis
Fatima Bernawi (1939-2022) First woman to stage an operation against the Israeli-Zionist forces. Bernawi was Afro-Arab (Nigerian, Jordanian, and Palestinian), and fought in the Palestinian Resistance movement.
Lama Abu Jamous (b. 2015), Afro Palestinian journalist documenting the destruction and hope in Gaza.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO US? WHAT WILL WE DO?
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO US? WHAT WILL WE DO?
Trayvon Martin
February 5, 1995 - February 26, 2012
Sanford, Florida
“R-I-P Trayvon… that n***a look like just like me.”
- Frank Ocean, Nikes, 2017
I was in eighth grade, 13 years old, when Trayvon Martin’s murder trial was on National Television. George Zimmerman shot a young, scared boy on the streets of his own neighborhood, just two weeks after turning 17 years old, and served absolutely zero time in jail. This was the first time I realized how Black men, Black people, are truly viewed in America. Trayvon was coming home from the corner store, a bag of skittles and an Arizona tea in his hands, with his hood up on his head. Profiled and interrogated by an overzealous “neighborhood watch” racist fool, and then murdered in cold blood, or what the jury likes to call in Florida “self-defense”. Unfortunately, Trayvon was not there to tell his side of the story. I will never forget Trayvon’s name or his story, it is very integral to the beginnings of my journey as a person who believes in Black power and justice.
إِنَّا ِلِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
(transliteration: inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi raj’un)
Sonya Massey
February 12, 1988 - July 6, 2024 Springfield, Illinois
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
- Sonya Massey, seconds before losing her life via the police, 2024
The end of Sonya Massey’s story is incredibly sad and haunting. The body cam footage from one of the officers involved in this unjust, racist, sick fatality is available to view online.
After experiencing a panic and calling the police twice to help and alleviate her worries, Massey was ridiculed, screamed at, and shot in the head in her own kitchen, after multiple conversations with the officers and proceeding to follow directions to remove a pot of boiling water from her stove. Rest in power to Sonya Massey, the Police State completely failed her, as they have several others who called 911 for help. Sonya Massey’s story was buried for nearly a month before making it to mainstream news, all the more a testament to the way “Blue Lives” are deemed as more important than Black lives.
Alton Sterling, 37 years old
Sandra Bland, 28 years old
Rayshard Brooks, 27 years old
Breonna Taylor, 26 years old
Walter Scott (February 9, 1965 - April 4, 2015) was shot in the back as he was running away from Officer Michael Slater after being wrongfully arrested over a broken tail light. Slater lied on Scott saying he reached for his taser, and even planted the taser next to Scott's body after murdering him. Slater is serving a 20 year prison sentence.
Tamir Rice, 12 years old
Oscar Grant III (February 27, 1986 – January 1, 2009) murdered by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Grant's story was adapted into a movie "Fruitvale Station" starring Michael B. Jordan in 2013. Proceeding a fight in the station, Mehserle believed Grant had a gun on him, and all that was found was his phone. Grant was restrained with his hands behind his back and on the ground when he was shot in the back. Mehserle served 11 months in private custody in jail.
Michael Brown Jr. (May 20, 1996 - August 9, 2014) was murdered by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was shot six times with his hands up. The death of Michael Brown sparked important protests about Black life vs. Police Brutality in America. Michael Brown's graduation photo lives in my mind, as does his name, for I was just two years away from my own high school graduation. Darren Wilson served no time, his case ruled "self defense".
Stephon Clark (August 10, 1995 – March 18, 2018) was murdered by multiple officers in the backyard of his grandmother's house who "mistook his phone for a gun", in Sacramento, California. My first self choreographed solo "12" was heavily influenced by Stephon Clark's story. None of the officers involved in Clark's death were charged.
Rekia Boyd
Elijah McClain (February 25, 1996 – August 30, 2019) was an autistic young man who was profiled as "sketchy" while walking home in Aurora, Colorado. He was wrongfully arrested and illegally injected with 500mg of ketamine by EMT officers. His last words are devastating. All perpetrators either served no time or at least 5 years in prison.
Daunte Wright (October 27, 2000 - April 11, 2021) was shot by officer Kimberly Potter in Minneapolis, Minnesota in his car during a traffic stop for an "illegal" air freshener. Potter yelled "Taser! Taser!" as she grabbed her gun and proceeded to shoot Wright in his chest. Potter served 16 out of her sentenced 24 months in prison.
Emmett Till
Freddie Grey
Atatiana Jefferson (November 28, 1990 – October 12, 2019) was shot in her home when police responded to a call that her front door was open in Fort Worth, Texas. Officer Aaron Dean was sentenced to 11 years in prison where he remains.
Jordan Neely
Akira Ross
Eric Garner
Botham Jean
RAMPANT GUN VIOLENCE AND POLICE BRUTALITY IN AMERICA
According to the Gun Violence Archive, which determines a “mass shooting” as four or more people injured or killed, there have been 384 mass shootings in America in 2024 alone.
This article shows that unarmed civilian shootings done by police officers are still rising and still showing a disproportionate rate amongst Black individuals. This data is of the 6th of August 2024.
FREE CONGO FREE PALESTINE FREE SUDAN FREE TIGRAY FREE HAITI
FREE [ ]
FREE AMERICA FROM ITSELF
FREE EVERYONE FROM THE VIOLENT HEGEMONIC REGIMES
On February 25, 2024, 25 year old Aaron Bushnell, an active duty US Air Force serviceman, self immolated (to light oneself on fire) in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. Bushnell live streamed this “extreme act of protest”, which is what the quote to the right depicts in text. Bushnell was consistently outspoken in his progressive views and fight for justice and ultimately sacrificed his life in rejection to the American and Israeli Zionist Empire. I think of Aaron often, a young adult, the same age as me, with humanity at the front of his heart, who refused to be further “complicit in genocide” (Bushnell). His last words were “Free Palestine.” Rest in peace to Aaron Bushnell; Inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi raj’un.
This political art piece is from KRIME, who’s art will be referenced quite a bit in terms of research and aesthetic for this work. As Bushnell was burning to death, clearly not a threat, an officer faced a loaded gun to his body. The protesting body is a direct threat to The State, even when it is on fire at their feet.
Aaron Bushnell is honored in Pro-Palestinian protests in Yemen to this day.
KRIME
KRIME (he/him) is a neo-radical political artist. Besides the aesthetics of his refreshing art style, the work is fantastically blunt, haunting, and leaves no room for interpretation. Sometimes KRIME points out our sick reality with a little humor, a tonality that leaves chills in my spine. This is one strategy of confrontation that I want to be able to pull off in the work of “The Machines”. A lot of the pieces are directly inspired by real photos of resistance fighters / protestors.
All photos are grabbed straight from KRIME’s Instagram profiles. Main | Backup
Palestinian resistance fighters in West Beirut, Lebanon outside of a refugee camp in July 1988.
Black Panthers outside of the Capitol building in Oakland, California, 1967
A'ed Abu Amro in Gaza, protesting the Israeli Occupation. Photo by Mustafa Hassouna, October 22, 2024
