Keyon Harrold 00:00
The first thing I see is this statute. And, you know, my question is, why is it that you can come here with some of the most incredible thought leaders on the planet and still be fighting for the most basic ideals, that, you know, my son is safe? You know, not that we should try to create a new monument, but just that my son is okay. That, you know, the person who violated him is accurately charged, and held accountable. So seeing that, you know, we ask the question, When will I ever be free to just be, to express, to love, to give to, to do anything, to just literally hang out in the hotel lobby? Like, when will that ever be just normal?
Gianofer Fields 01:00
Meet Me at the Chazen. I'm your host, Gianofer Fields. One of the mantras of the re:mancipation project is "trust the process." The first time I heard about it, this podcast wasn't even a thing. In April of 2020, I was at the Chazen and scoping out the scene and chatting with Director Amy Gilman for another project. At that time, the Thomas Ball Emancipation Group sculpture lived in Gallery IV. Artists Sanford Biggers and the MASK Consortium were in the gallery filming the responses to the sculpture. Keyon Harrold is a Grammy Award-winning trumpeter based in New York and Los Angeles. He was filming his response to the Thomas Ball sculpture when something that had nothing to do with his accomplishments as a musician was announced. Keyon Harrold Jr., his son, was attacked by Miya Ponsetto, dubbed "Soho Karen" by the media, in the lobby of a Soho hotel. She accused him of stealing her phone, which she'd left in an Uber and was eventually returned. On the date of this recording, Ponsetto pleaded guilty to a hate crime. In that moment, Harrold senior spoke to me as a father, and his extraordinarily heartfelt response to the sculpture took on a whole new meaning. I was already part of the process and didn't even know it.
Gianofer Fields 03:02
The way that I think about it is that you never know how grief and trauma is going to show up. And you can never be prepared, you can never be prepared. And it doesn't matter how strong you are, it doesn't matter how successful you are. There's always some little kernel of "am I safe right now." Am I safe talking to this woman with this machine? I don't know who that is, I don't know what she's gonna say, I don't know what she's gonna do. When it's gonna rear its ugly head and maybe even unintentionally. That could, that could be the case. My last name was Fields, because that's where my ancestors worked when they were enslaved. So it's always, even looking at the sculpture, it's always like, I have to somehow be present with that, but not let it cloud my judgment so much that I can't have a conversation with Amy or Kirstin or anybody here, anybody white for that matter about this thing. So then, do you feel like as you move through space is, you know, your son is safe? Do you feel like you're, that you're forever changed? Have you been transformed by this? Or is it unfortunately, not a common occurrence, but something that's not necessarily unexpected?
Keyon Harrold 04:21
It's not. Unfortunately, it's not an unexpected result. And it's not, you know, the situation is not not common for children who look like mine or people who look like me. And that's the thing that we're fighting for. That's the change that we're pushing for. You know, that's the reason why we're doing the work as much as possible. So people have another aspect, another vantage point too, to see that. You know what, I'm more like you than not, we have very similar goals, we have very similar ideals, we have very similar faiths and beliefs, and to the most basic belief that you know what, you should be able to be safe and free to walk around. My children should be safe and free to grow up and be just like your children, you know, and if I do something wrong to you, I should be held accountable, just like you should be held accountable if you do something to me, in the most basic sense. And again, I feel like we should be searching for much, much bigger things at this point, you know, trying to create something much bigger, broader, thoughtful than the most basic sense of, dang, we're just trying to get something to eat.
Gianofer Fields 05:42
And not to be defined in that moment, I recognized you are, you're an accomplished musician. And I know who that is. And I've probably seen you play because I go to jazz, and I go to shows all the time, but how did I recognize you? From this one instance, that some ignorant person has now put this, I don't want to say stain because I don't want it to be permanent, but that has put this mark.
Keyon Harrold 06:05
You know, I cannot let it and would never let it define me or my family. But I will use it as fuel, to bring about change, to bring about, you know, opportunity to give a platform and give voice to things that otherwise are pushed under the rug. This scenario, I mean, I have debates and talks about it all the time. But, you know, when you think about Emmett Till you think about many people going to jail and being incarcerated for far less, for going to jail for life for a third strike for marijuana, you know, for whatever, there's so many things that happen that are just not talked about, because the person doesn't have the platform. Fortunately enough, had already worked with some incredible people and had already done very important work already, that people would actually listen to me, and give me a voice, but 99% of the people don't even have that opportunity to speak. So, I don't know, dealing with it every day is one of those things that I can say, you know, what, oh my god, I'm crippled, because of this thing that happened. I'm crippled because I have to be a father and speak for my son, whatever. But now, this is a place that, you know, the next time this happens, maybe the ignorant person will think twice, because you know what, maybe you'll be charged.
Gianofer Fields 07:46
Is there anything you want to say that or any questions that you want to answer that no one has answered asked you yet? And it doesn't even have to be about the particular incident, but anything surrounding that, is there anything that you just want to get out to haven't gotten out yet? And maybe that's an impertinent question, but ...
Keyon Harrold 08:06
I don't even know if it's a question but it's more of a statement. And it is really, really, I don't know, I feel like God, universe, you know, basically puts you in positions that you don't even know you need to be in. Me being here for this symposium, this think tank is just kind of like, the verdict, not even the verdict, just the conviction, her pleading guilty, couldn't have happened at a more opportune time to me than to be walking in to see this. And to realize that, you know, we still have a long way to go.
For me, as an artist, I'd define an artist as a solutionist. To create, you know, to create a solution for somebody else, to give another perspective to somebody else. And I'm just trying to figure out what does that say to me? As I was playing, it was, I ended up playing anthems and spirituals, and I'm trying to figure out now, for me as an artist, what are the counter-anthems? For Justice? What are the counter-anthems for? For peace and understanding and, and resolution? So that's where I'm at. You know, that's vibrating with me at the moment.
Gianofer Fields 11:06
Do hugs mean more to you now? Smiles mean more to you now than they did before this?
Keyon Harrold 11:11
Of course! They, you know, yeah. They resonate. Big time.
Gianofer Fields 11:17
Thank you so much. Can I give you a hug?
Keyon Harrold 11:19
Of course!
Gianofer Fields 11:22
You've been listening to Meet Me at the Chazen and our guest, Keyon Harrold Sr., is a Grammy Award-winning trumpeter who performed in response to Thomas Ball's Emancipation Group sculpture as part of the re:mancipation project at UW–Madison's Chazen Museum of Art. Meet Me at the Chazen us a production of the Chazen Museum of Art on the campus of UW–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information about the museum, its collections and exhibitions visit chazen.wisc.edu I'm your host, Gianofer Fields, thank you for listening.
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Audio and interviews with Keyon Harrold were recorded for the Radio Chipstone series and are provided courtesy of the Chipstone Foundation, the School of Human Ecology, and the Center for Design and Material Culture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Radio Chipstone is hosted by Gianofer Fields and funded by the Chipstone Foundation, a decorative arts foundation whose mission is preserving and interpreting its collection, as well as stimulating research and education in the decorative arts.