Our Lives Matter
Digital painting in Clip Studio Pro, June 2020
The murder of many at the hands of police—George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, and Tamir Rice to name only a few—and the institutions that shield officers from due punishment has been in place for too long, and many of us live in real fear of a routine traffic stop, an honest mistake, or standing up for ourselves carries a death sentence. For days I have been unable to sleep or eat properly, and definitely unable to properly express myself via words or the creation of an image. But today, I was finally able to put into a picture how I feel.
These times have shaken me awake, and I support the revolution to change the systems, the people in power who abuse it, and the way people see black people with all my heart. Educate yourselves on the history of slavery, colonization, fetishization of black men and women, and the black experience in America today. Reevaluate your own thoughts, perceptions, and actions, and contribute to a much-needed fight that’s been centuries overdue. All lives do not matter until black lives matter.