A Tribute To A Fearless Artist, Sinéad O'Connor.

“Truthfulness offended power”
(Aiweiwei, "1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows").

Sinéad O’Connor died yesterday.

I loved her and always have.

I remember when she tore the photo of the Pope.  You should read her autobiography “Rememberings” to comprehend the layers of meaning beneath that passionate and prophetic act.

Here I've drawn a cartoon where I've replace the Pope with the Church... which is what it all meant for me. 

And I… being deep inside the bowels of the Church…
I admired her for it. I was in awe of her courage.
But I knew she was going to get blowback.

When I heard the news yesterday,
first I felt deep sadness.
Then anger.

Anger at the Church.
Anger at the Music Industry.
Anger at Society.
Anger at all the Principalities and Powers
that intend to dehumanize us
and try to crush us.

She rose to stardom and used her platform to address abuses.
She was severely chastised for it.

Her truthfulness offended power. So she suffered.

She lost her son Shane last year to suicide.
I can’t imagine how a parent gets over that.
I lost a brother to suicide a few years ago.
I miss Mark every day and have to process grief and anger over what might have lead him to it.

Sinéad struggled with mental health.
She went to therapy.

In her book, she wrote about one of her therapists:

“What I liked about Dr. Schatzman was he said you come to therapy to find out there’s nothing wrong with you.”

I agree.

And I think she had to wrestle with that truth because the Church, Society, and Industry told her otherwise… that there was something deeply wrong with her.

Many people know me as a critic of the Church. If they’re right, they have Sinéad to thank for inspiring me.

I loved knowing she was in the world.

Good-bye Sinéad.