Sacred Rage (Deogracias)

Anger—a common negative emotion expressed with reverence. An attempt to cease violent cycles of intergenerational trauma through ancestral memory and scripture.

“Before this letter, I had not written my memoirs or about my experience as a World War II soldier. Well, to satisfy your interest, I will briefly do it now…”

This homage to the artist’s paternal great grandfather is also an interactive reference to “A time for everything” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Deogracias P. Lirio (b. 1919 - d. 2008) was First Sergeant for the United States Armed Forces in the Far East 31st Field Artillery Regiment during World War II. Lirio was captured as a Prisoner of War at the surrender of Bataan and Corregidor on April 11, 1942. Over 10,000 Americans and Filipinos died during the Bataan Death March and out of those 300 captured as POWs, Deogracias was 1 of 3 who survived.

Kateri Lirio, Mixed Media
feat. Derick Dabu Mana, Voice Over