it's okay.
I mean...it's not okay.
The world is quite literally falling apart at the seams & how do you verbalize it?
let alone, how do you make any sense of it? how do you say how you're feeling?
how can you even begin to think of making the world a better place?
When I started Emerald Creative, I was honestly terrified.
I was sitting in my home in quarantine, watching two black men being murdered in cold blood on television.
you might remember their names, at least I truly hope you do:
George floyd.
Ahmaud Arbery.
the outcry that came from my people, from my community:
I felt it in my soul.
but what really shook my world, was a small voice coming from the other side of the couch.
my son, barely three years old asking:
"Mama, what's wrong?"
& I didn't have the answers.
I didn't have the heart to tell him how cruel the world could be.
or that it was people who looked like his mother, with dark skin & kinky hair who you saw with knees on their neck & people who looked like his father, with peach skin & straight locks who were applying the pressure, shooting the guns, taking our lives. I didn't know how to tell him that the safety & validity of every member of his family varied based off of silly things like melanin & curl pattern
& the barreled shape of your nose.
or that he & his brother hold powerful privilege because they are born half white, & that someday soon, the world would need him to be a special type of person who used that privilege for good.
I didn't know how to tell him that this was a pattern that went back hundreds of years, that spiderwebbed its way across every aspect of the society we lived in, or that it was one of a thousand & one things that were wrong in our world.
so, I drew a picture.
I spoke to so many people about this. people like you who
wanted to change the world.
who understand that it starts within
that it starts with our children,
our nieces, our nephews,
our students,
our families, & our friends.
people who understand that
the way we speak to ourselves & to others matters
that our dinner tables & car rides & bedtime stories matter.
if we care about the humanity of all people, celebrate the beautiful differences of every soul to walk this earth
then & only then, will we take action to creating a world that is truly
equitable, diverse, empowered, & inclusive.
When I started Emerald Creative,
I knew this was something that every one of our children need.
what I didn't expect was, how many grown ups would find a home in my art.
how many folx would see themselves reflected back & take the opportunity to nurture their inner child & begin the healing process of
loving & empowering themselves,
so that they could further love & empower others.
I never knew how many of y'all would embark on this journey with me, to finally
show up for yourself, as yourself.
I drew a picture
& it created a community, a movement, a home for people like us.
I gave us a voice, by finally finding a way to use my own.
& when we started showing up,
magical things happened.
We formed the World Changers Program & sent out over 1000 anti-racist, anti-bias resources in less than 6 months.
we were blessed with international features that sent this art across the globe, from Portland, Oregon to Indonesia, Canada, Israel, India & South America. I drew a picture & it
changed the world.
Now, that picture has grown into a social movement, an upcoming book (the first of many many more), an educational resource for teachers everywhere & a center for empowerment & ethical enterprise.
our additions of The Little World Changers Program &
The World Changers Alliance take an active role in empowering people of all ages to make change in their every day lives so that we can be better community members, better allies, & kinder human beings.
here: we celebrate & support ourselves &
we celebrate & support others.
always.