You can’t unsee the truth. Maybe that’s why many fear looking too closely at things that feel hard and big- like the history of this country.
February marks the start of Black History Month and there are several books that I have recently read that elucidate the huge holes of what I was taught is Black history in America- Caste, The 1619 Project, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs everyone and how to prosper together, etc.
These books feel essential. As a white woman raising multi-racial children in the U.S. they also bring up a lot of feelings for me about my lineage and ancestors who could have done more- and speaking of- why am I not “doing more”? At times I feel urgency, and guilt, and fear and a swirl of emotions. And then I think about the artists and poets like Morgan Harper Nichols, nayyirah waheed and I read Heather McGhee’s powerful words of hope….
“Since this country’s founding, we have not allowed our diversity to be our superpower and the result is that the United States is not more than the sum of its disparate parts. But it could be. And if it were, all of us would prosper. In short, we must emerge from this crisis in our republic with a new birth of freedom. Rooted in the knowledge that we are so much more, when the we in we the people is not some of us, but all of us. We are greater than and greater for the sum of us.”
Yes! And how do we do this!? The answer lies uniquely within all of us. It’s going to take a commitment of showing up, of uncovering our own understanding of identity, and building a community of support and accountability.For me creativity is glue the that builds and holds these components together. As I work to answer these questions for myself, I’ve been making something for you all as a way to use the arts toward a “new birth of freedom.”
10 Days of Creative Practice for a Better (more inclusive, inspired, anti-racist) World is a free offering. When you sign up, a creative prompt will arrive in your inbox each day for 10 days. It’s specifically created for those who don’t identify as creatives and for those who do and all are invited to join. So get out your watercolors, or guitar, or just simply grab a pen and paper and make a time and space (even a corner of a table just 5 minutes a day). The act of simply stoping to make time for creativity and reflection is an act of revolution in itself, and after 10 days you may be surprised by what you uncover when you keep showing up.
And you can multiply the impact by spreading the word to others. So forward this on to a friend or several and gather over zoom, or Whats Ap, or email or text or however you can show up these days. I’ll be participating over the next 10 days and sharing what comes up for me as well.
What happens when we make space in our lives for dreaming a more inclusive, inspired, anti-racist world into being? Where will we end up in 10 days time?
Wherever it is, I hope to see you there.