Researchers have defined empathy as the ability to sense the emotions of others and the ability to imagine what someone else is thinking, feeling, or experiencing. It’s also referred to as “being able to put oneself in another’s shoes.” I believe right now we are at time in history where empathy can help us as citizens of the United States to grow as individuals and as a people.
This collection was created in memory of the lives lost due to hate and violence - George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijiah McClain, Tamir Rice, Walter Scot and countless others. It’s also in honor and hope of those who have sought for positive changes and their continual efforts to learn and be better allies to Blacks and to continue the movement to ensure equal rights of Blacks and minorities in the United States. I believe together we can all build and create a better future for every individual in our country.
Empathy helps us build relationships, make moral decisions, and intervene when others need our help. I believe empathy can happen at the individual level and a mass level to continue to push for fundamental social changes that need to continue to progress. Although this has unfortunately become a political issue to a lot of people in our country - a “right versus left” issue, I hope we can all come together and use our empathy to help make our world better for all people despite race, ethnicity, gender, religion, views, culture.
I know we all are learning hard things together in a lot of areas that need to be reworked and reshaped. I know as humans we can stand together and be open to change when it is needed. I have hope for a better world and want to do what I can to be able to help within my realm and be an ally to all. Having conversations about race can be uncomfortable, but I hope this series will help open up more conversation about race and how we can make our world better for everyone.
We all deserve love, respect, equal rights and opportunities. Although I am not a religious person, something that has stayed with me from my christian/LDS upbringing is to “love one another.” Its something my mom always told me and its something I really believe is what we need to do as human beings or children of God (if you are a person of faith). We are all on this journey of life together and we need each other. We need to come together despite our differences to make our world better for everyone. We need to have compassion for those who are hurting and who need support. We need empathy more than ever to be able to work together to make our world a better place.
75% of the proceeds of this collection will be donated to two organizations: Black Women in Visual Art, an organization that advocates for lasting diversity in the Art World, and Color of Change, an organization that “designs campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back and champion solutions that move us all forward.”
To Blacks and people of color in our country and world - your lives matter, you matter, your words matter, your art matters.
To learn more about these organizations, feel free to click on the links below.
