...empathy is like a muscle it needs to be exercised by Nick Daly Lyrics
Hi, everyone!
I have always said that artists are at the forefront of social change, yet I have always hesitated to post my opinion on social media. Last night I asked myself why that is. How could my actions online juxtapose something I have always held to be a core belief? I have spent so much time trying to be palatable just so I can get into spaces where I constantly have to shift my energy so I don't appear threatening. While this behaviour has allowed me to enter the spaces I now occupy, a sad fact, it has also ingrained within myself the dangerous idea that, in order to be valued and heard, I have to leave my identity outside of the room. I am a black man. I have always been black. I will always be black. I love being black. My experience is uniquely my own. My ancestors enrich the art I create. Please see me in my entirety. I am not here to promote colour-blindness; we should be colour-aware. We should be celebrating what makes us different.
Now, with my identity in the space and my voice being heard - hopefully you're still listening - I would like to add my voice to the national conversation about the murders that have terrorised the black community since the birth of our nation. My senior year at Bradford High School, I was cast in a powerful piece entitled The Scottsboro Boys. The Scottsboro Boys was an incredibly impactful story about police brutality and racial injustice in the 1930s, 66 years after slavery "ended". The musical is based on a true story. That was only about 90 years ago, not that long. The remnants of American slavery are still prevalent in our society. One hundred and fifty-five years after slavery, we have taken so many steps forward. We can change laws, and we can change the way police officers are trained, and we can even change presidents, but what we have is an issue of empathy. There are people in this nation who, at first glance, would view me as a person of lesser value; they would look at me and not see an equal. That's the issue. How do we change that? How can we get to a place where someone who looks like me and has my aspirations can just exist without having to constantly shift their energies just to fit into a space? How can we get to a place where black people don't have to work ten times as hard to get half of the recognition that they deserve. I don't have an answer, but I know that if we continue to call things out and use words for healing we can only move forward.
But there can be no moving forward without strong allies. Being an ally does not equal simply not being racist. It means actively using your privilege to dismantle systems that have allowed racism and injustice to spread within our educational, judicial and government bodies like a rot. For information on how to be a good ally I have attached a brilliantly-worded article in my bio - please give it a read! If you can spend nothing else, spend your time educating yourself and opening up your heart to other people's experiences.
I have always said that artists are at the forefront of social change, yet I have always hesitated to post my opinion on social media. Last night I asked myself why that is. How could my actions online juxtapose something I have always held to be a core belief? I have spent so much time trying to be palatable just so I can get into spaces where I constantly have to shift my energy so I don't appear threatening. While this behaviour has allowed me to enter the spaces I now occupy, a sad fact, it has also ingrained within myself the dangerous idea that, in order to be valued and heard, I have to leave my identity outside of the room. I am a black man. I have always been black. I will always be black. I love being black. My experience is uniquely my own. My ancestors enrich the art I create. Please see me in my entirety. I am not here to promote colour-blindness; we should be colour-aware. We should be celebrating what makes us different.
Now, with my identity in the space and my voice being heard - hopefully you're still listening - I would like to add my voice to the national conversation about the murders that have terrorised the black community since the birth of our nation. My senior year at Bradford High School, I was cast in a powerful piece entitled The Scottsboro Boys. The Scottsboro Boys was an incredibly impactful story about police brutality and racial injustice in the 1930s, 66 years after slavery "ended". The musical is based on a true story. That was only about 90 years ago, not that long. The remnants of American slavery are still prevalent in our society. One hundred and fifty-five years after slavery, we have taken so many steps forward. We can change laws, and we can change the way police officers are trained, and we can even change presidents, but what we have is an issue of empathy. There are people in this nation who, at first glance, would view me as a person of lesser value; they would look at me and not see an equal. That's the issue. How do we change that? How can we get to a place where someone who looks like me and has my aspirations can just exist without having to constantly shift their energies just to fit into a space? How can we get to a place where black people don't have to work ten times as hard to get half of the recognition that they deserve. I don't have an answer, but I know that if we continue to call things out and use words for healing we can only move forward.
But there can be no moving forward without strong allies. Being an ally does not equal simply not being racist. It means actively using your privilege to dismantle systems that have allowed racism and injustice to spread within our educational, judicial and government bodies like a rot. For information on how to be a good ally I have attached a brilliantly-worded article in my bio - please give it a read! If you can spend nothing else, spend your time educating yourself and opening up your heart to other people's experiences.