On Keeping Things Separate

I wrote this as an Instagram and Facebook post in the midst of the social issues we are having in our country surrounding the election of President Biden and the people challenging the fairness of the election process. So it wasn’t really a journal entry to begin with, but this seems like a good place to reiterate my thoughts and sentiments and why.

“But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” • E. B. White

With everything torrid and vile that has been happening in my country this week, I wanted to take a moment to personally respond and clarify my position.

This is my art account and platform. It is where I showcase my crafts, art, and thoughts on (primarily) being an artist. While I make some socio-politically discursive (even controversial) art pieces, I am not a political artist.

That being said, my philosophy on life and humanity absolutely supports human rights. I am a staunch feminist, I support BLM, LGBTQIA+, and veganism. I am an ardent believer in climate change and in the power of science and STEM, as well as the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts. I think Art and Artists are powerful voices in the world who should be respected more. I am not a capitalist and I disagree with a standard view of hierarchy, preferring organized, shared leadership. I prefer discussion over lectures; round-tables over rectangular ones; and most of all, I think diversity (including that of ideas, experiences, and genetics as well as others) improves the world.

I have had these ideas since I was 4 yrs old when I watched the garbage collectors crushing the garbage in their massive trucks. Adults around me pejoratively dismissed their societal importance, but even at that age I knew better.

Later, I faced criticism in graduate school by my professors for supporting LGBTQIA+, and was called "disgusting" by colleagues for arguing in favor of feminism at a college where I taught. I was told to my face by a supervisor that she hated me on sight because I didn't "get what the school was trying to do" when, in a room full of upper administrators, I was the lone voice advocating for black students who were struggling in an unfamiliar cultural environment. When supporting Native American rights to their own hegemony, I was told Native Americans are a lost cause.

All these things hurt me. I was maligned, derided, and ostracised. But I have never once wavered in my support for people whose voices are equally important to my own.

You don't have to agree with me, nor do I have to agree with you (after all, that is part of diversity); nevertheless, this account is not what I use to discuss those thoughts or ideas unless it is in the context of an art piece I have created.

Thank you for your continued support of ArtSewDifferent, LLC.