HURRY! Darnel Haney in Statewide Art Exhibit

Darnel Haney's work

I was wandering in Salt Lake City today and ran into an old and dear friend, Darnel Haney.

Not in person. I ran into his art, which is cooler, in a way. Darnel puts his soul into his art, so I ran into much more than his body, I ran into his beliefs and feelings.

Darnel's amazing art work is on display -- gad, only another two days? Sadly, yes -- at the Rio Grande Railroad Station in Salt Lake City, now home of the Utah Historical Society and various arts groups. The display is of art that has "a dialogue with historical and contemporary civil and human rights issue," because those were the centerpiece of Dr. Martin Luther King's work.

Darnel, who is black, has a long life history of fighting racial prejudice, not the least of which when he fell in love with, and married, a white woman in Logan, Utah, back in the 60s. They had to go to movie dates separately, couldn't even sit next to each other, if you can imagine, and she was shunned.

They're still married, of course.

Darnel's long career led him to Washington Terrace where he and Marie moved in and watched the neighbors take one look and move out. That's OK, a finer class of folks moved in again.

Darnel took up painting, with African and slave themes, which obviously fits in with this show. There are seven pieces by him showing.

A DREAM kid

There is other works from others who have struggled -- Hispanics and other immigrant populations.

I found most touching the one about DREAM kids, the children of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US by their parents, built lives and then faced deportation. Recent changes have allowed those kids to get legal residency, which is letting them lead normal lives, more or less.

Three years ago pictures of the kids were taken, not showing their faces clearly so they wouldn't get into trouble. This year new pictures were taken, showing them now bright and smiling, the typical American kids that they are, ready to build themselves new futures.

That's nice. Darnel looks at the past, the pictures of the kids look at the future.

The show is in the main lobby through the 14th. I'd have written about it sooner if I'd known about it sooner, but I miss a lot. Get down and see it if you can, the Rio Grand Station is an easy one block walk east of the FrontRunner Salt Lake Central stop.

Wear Your Official Utah State Face Mask!

OK, So Utah has a state flower (Sego Lily), a state cooking pot (Dutch oven) and a state rock, (coal). I still say coal is a mineral, not a rock, but this is the Legislature talking, so who cares?

And a state gun, of course, the Browning Automatic 1911.

So why not, these days, a state face mask? I propose the standard issue surgical mask, of which many brands exist. Some even prevent the spread of flu!

Everyone says "Oh, Utah's air has always had this problem," but I challenge you to find a copy of the Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News or Standard-Examiner dated before 1970 containing an officially issued government warning not to breathe deeply outdoors.

Sure, there were days the air was bad -- we could see the smoke plume from the copper mine in Magna steadily filling the valley -- but nothing like today.

Nothing. Sorry, I was here, it is true.

Saturday I'm going (via mass transit) to this rally (click!) in SLC to demand the Legislature do something a bit more aggressive than just handing out bumper stickers urging folks to car pool. A recent plan to take measures that won't meet federal standards is a good place to start (click) but it should not stop there.

The Legislature is fond of saying that attacking industrial pollution scares away jobs and only deals with 10 percent of the problem. Nobody ever says how many jobs Utah's foul air scares away, California seems to have no trouble attracting jobs (click)  despite strict standards, and if we can take care of 10 percent of the problem, that's a good place to start.

Yes, car pooling would help, but spending more on mass transit and less on highways would would make mass transit more convenient and shift population patterns to a healthier method of getting around. If the car is an expensive hassle, and FrontRunner/Trax/bus can do the job, people will find a way.

The real trick will be breaking Utahns' habit of wanting to live in that quiet rural subdivision (which they rapidly make noisy and non-rural by crowding in) and live close to where they work so they burn less gasoline getting to their job. Sure, big city taxes and housing costs are higher, but what is the cost of replacing your car every three years? And filling your tank once or twice a week?

The cooking pot, lily and gun are all marketing symbols, meant to show what joys the state has to offer.

A state mask will be different, a way to tell our own residents, our own lawmakers and policy makers, what sort of state we are really building here.

If that sends a bad message, well, build differently.