This is what I know about art by Kimberly Drew

 “During my meeting with Thelma, she told me about the consequences of my actions and generously taught me that my voice is a powerful one. Instead of leading with rage, she helped me understand this difficult crossroads” 

I really resonated with this quote because everyone's voice is powerful, and we all have the power to say hurtful things when we don’t mean it. Sometimes when we get mad at something it is easy to approach it with anger instead of being calm and getting your point across. This can have negative effects on your message, and in her case, it gave off the impression that she was an angry black woman and that further perpetuated the stigma that uneducated people may have about black people. It is extremely sad that as a person of color you need to be nice and walk around eggshells to get your point across or else people put you in a box of being an aggressive angry person.  

 

“The discussion began with anger and discomfort, and then a chorus of white guilt and tears erupted”

 

This phrase “white guilt” is new to me, but the general notion of the phrase is something that I am very familiar with. I've been in rooms where conversation about race has been prevalent, and I can see the look on some of these white people's faces when someone brings up police brutality or racism. Although they may not be outside waving confederate flags and , they may know that their parents, uncles & aunts, cousins, parents or grandparents may have contributed to it. When I was younger, I was very confused when learning about the civil rights movement and slavery because I didn’t see people for the color of their skin. I believed we were just all humans and couldn’t figure out why darker skin made you less valuable in society. Even typing “white people” and “Black people” feels weird to me because we are all just people. Now, I don’t believe that all white people should be condemned and held responsible for the actions of their ancestors, but they should recognize their privilege (because it does exist) and use it to help remedy the racial discrepancies that exist today. In other words; don’t cry about your privilege. You can't choose the race you are born into so just take it and use it to do good in the world.