96: “Growing up I had not met a black person…”

Growing up I had not met a black person until I studied at foundation, a really nice, kind and sensitive guy who went on to study graphics at CSM. He was the only black person in a course of 400, I often think of him. To me at 18 it didn’t really mean anything but for him I can't imagine how he must have felt. If we can open up conversations about race and class through artwork then we can identify it, name it, talk about it. I am ashamed to say I often feel ill equipped to do so. I understand this is simply not enough. I have to act on this, to name my white privilege and work to challenge it and the systems it is part of.