last night, i stumbled upon a website after doing some art therapy reflection exercises. the activities consisted of imagining my visual inner self vs. my outer self, thinking of the most beautiful place and drawing consistently without pre-conceived thoughts. that last one was pretty hard. its like meditation. your mind always seems to get ahead of you. one minute you're scribbling rhythmically and the next you think, "oooo, i'm going to make a bunch of pretty circles! dag, brain. stop giving me ideas." the mind has to be calmed, and when its mellow, there's an unbelievable feeling of peace. after the exercises, i was instructed to share my feelings about the words, drawings and symbols that poured out of me. i started thinking about symbolism and how it affects people subconsciously. so this is when i found...the site.
i googled "symbolism,"and came across a "dictionary of symbolism," created by someone at the university of michigan. while scrolling through the alphabet, i see the word "black." my antlers were already up because i knew where this was going (in most cases) and they proved my theory correct.
Black
Black represents a lack of color, the primordial void, emptiness. It can also mean sorrow or mourning, in the Christian tradition of wearing black to funerals. In this respect it can also symbolize death. Black is also linked to witchcraft (Black Magic), evil, and the unknown, as the predominant color worn by "evil witches" in colonial America. The stock market crash of 1929, dubbed "Black Tuesday" further links the color with loss, depression, and despair.
i knew it would say this and i was really hoping that it wouldn't. as a child, my mom always provided positive examples of "blackness," in a country where "black," is always negative.
outside of the home, my teachers and peers said; "black is ugly, evil, death."
at home, my mother said; "black is beautiful, strong, mighty."
times haven't changed much since then.
White
White may be defined either as the absence of all color or the presence of all colors of the light spectrum, and can represent either innocence or the ultimate goal of purification. White is often the heavenly, while BLACK is the underworld. It is LIGHT, AIR, life, holiness, love, redemption. The white flag is a symbol of surrender or friendship. this mentality that white is represents "the good" and black represents "the bad" (because god forbid there is an in between) is long standing.
black people are continuously represented as un-educated, athletic, tap-dancing, aggressive, chicken-eating, 40-drinking, gold-teeth-having, gold-chain wearing, rapping, baby-making, unemployed, criminals. this common representation goes along with old ideologies of categorizing people based on their appearance.
i'm aware that these are not the only ways in which we are represented but this personification is like an epidemic.
i recently read an article where several young black boys were sent home for shaving lines into their eyebrows.
i googled "symbolism,"and came across a "dictionary of symbolism," created by someone at the university of michigan. while scrolling through the alphabet, i see the word "black." my antlers were already up because i knew where this was going (in most cases) and they proved my theory correct.
Black
Black represents a lack of color, the primordial void, emptiness. It can also mean sorrow or mourning, in the Christian tradition of wearing black to funerals. In this respect it can also symbolize death. Black is also linked to witchcraft (Black Magic), evil, and the unknown, as the predominant color worn by "evil witches" in colonial America. The stock market crash of 1929, dubbed "Black Tuesday" further links the color with loss, depression, and despair.
i knew it would say this and i was really hoping that it wouldn't. as a child, my mom always provided positive examples of "blackness," in a country where "black," is always negative.
outside of the home, my teachers and peers said; "black is ugly, evil, death."
at home, my mother said; "black is beautiful, strong, mighty."
times haven't changed much since then.
White
White may be defined either as the absence of all color or the presence of all colors of the light spectrum, and can represent either innocence or the ultimate goal of purification. White is often the heavenly, while BLACK is the underworld. It is LIGHT, AIR, life, holiness, love, redemption. The white flag is a symbol of surrender or friendship. this mentality that white is represents "the good" and black represents "the bad" (because god forbid there is an in between) is long standing.
black people are continuously represented as un-educated, athletic, tap-dancing, aggressive, chicken-eating, 40-drinking, gold-teeth-having, gold-chain wearing, rapping, baby-making, unemployed, criminals. this common representation goes along with old ideologies of categorizing people based on their appearance.
i'm aware that these are not the only ways in which we are represented but this personification is like an epidemic.
i recently read an article where several young black boys were sent home for shaving lines into their eyebrows.
when i was in high school, the football team used to shave each other's heads as part of an initiation process. even though they looked like skinheads, i don't think i ever heard of them being sent home.
we need unification. positivity. hope.
so many lost youth. so many distant elders. so many locked up. so many dead. brainwashed. un-willing. un-available, emotionally.
these theories,
that were founded by the principles,
of the "founding fathers,"
need to find their way to the trash.
burn these ideas.
we need love.
we need unification. positivity. hope.
so many lost youth. so many distant elders. so many locked up. so many dead. brainwashed. un-willing. un-available, emotionally.
these theories,
that were founded by the principles,
of the "founding fathers,"
need to find their way to the trash.
burn these ideas.
we need love.
1 comment:
get ready world...
she's bacccckkkkkk!!!
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