On "DNA: Diversity iN America" - My First DNA Art Quilt

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr Day: an important commemorative day, an important day for history, and an important day for our civility.

I made "DNA: DIVERSITY IN AMERICA" in 2018. It is a celebration of that which binds us and at the same time that which gives us unique cultural experiences. We are all the same species that have adapted behaviors to deal with the complexities and challenges of life.

Although we are all influenced by our hegemonic society, each of us carries our unique experiences within us. We may look the same or similar on the outside (differences being negligible and only skin deep), and in our social behaviors (we are social and emotional beings), but our inner selves - our consciousness - are determined, in large part, by the cultures that formed us in our early lives.

It is those cultural behaviors that have helped us, and sometimes hindered us, to interact with our society. We are at times at odds with it, sometimes in synch with it. Superficially, we may behave like one another. But scratch the surface and you begin to see how we differ. Sadly, in my opinion, this is where we begin to experience cultural conflict.

But if we go even a little deeper, we see we are just trying to survive our complex social interactions with the culturo-behavioral tools we were given from birth.

In other words, we are all doing our best with what we have.