Berta Cáceres was a leader of the Lenca people. Recently she spoke out against the damming of the Gualcarque River, and everyone -- including the ten families that run Honduras -- knew it. Two days ago "thieves" broke into her home and "robbed" and killed her.
Cáceres, who would have turned 43 yesterday, was on my mind during Dana Claxton's Friday afternoon performance of Follow the Red Sinew, where, among the things that I could see, the artist unspooled a length of red string around the Belkin Art Gallery (to consecrate it and its contents? to protect herself from the building and what's inside?), before leading us indoors where she tossed down some bells, wrapped and unwrapped herself in and from approximately 15 yards of red cloth, cut and folded the cloth into nine sections, then distributed its sections amongst those gathered.
I was among those to receive a section of that cloth. And although I offered it to a friend who has worked closely with Dana, I was told by my friend to keep it with me because it was given to me, not her. So yes, I will keep this cloth with me -- in memory of Dana's performance, in memory of my friend's insistence, and in memory of the great Berta Cáceres.
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