Week 2: Progress



This week, my focus was mainly in charcoal. What I was trying to accomplish in this weeks three pieces was the complex way that slaves were brought up which translates over to how our youth are effected today.

The first piece "Born Under Another Name" is the way that some black people look at themselves calling themselves nigga. Which is only a slight change from the original collective slave name of nigger. My goal putting the baby in the womb with a stamp on its head, signifies that it has been branded in a sort of way. By branding, I mean to say that society categorizes you in such a way that even though we are born with given names by our parents sometimes this racist general word for African Americans overshadows that personal identity. The goal in making a slave was to strip one of his or her identity. In stripping them of their identity, you strip them of any sense of self and make them accustomed to any form of oppression. In many African American communities we have become accustomed to the way in which we live; in may ways at the bottom of the totem pole.

The second piece is "A.A.'s Forged History". This piece contains a child's hands holding a book, and the description of African American history is taken from a white supremacist scientist. His quote defines blacks as having a beastly nature, devoid of all intelligence whatsoever. This was how blacks were being taught in schools and before they could even attend school. In order to explain the behavior of the inner-city youth, backtracking is a must so a full perspective can come into view.

The third piece is "What Do You See". How does society see those impoverished? How do they see black youth or any troubled youth for that matter? Are we all just monsters composed of other peoples preconceived notions or are we more than what they say? This is the struggle that the man caged within the hoodie of monster fights with. This also reflects on the Travon Martin case as well. He was a young boy who was a victim of a blatant murder and yet and still the murderer got off. Many people demonized Travon Martin as a gangster or some crazy thug. They did not look at him as a young ordinary teenager, they looked at him as an aggressive villain because of who they thought he was. Preconceived notions are much different from reality.