Last month I started a series on Promoting Racial Equality Through Art, or as I like to call it, P.R.E.T.A. because everything is cooler when the name is abbreviated.
I plan on alternating between writers and artists, which means that next month I will profile a writer. Please comment below any writers you think use their craft to promote racial equality.
Without further ado . . .
Adrian Brandon was born in Seattle, Washington but is based in Brooklyn, New York. He paints ordinary scenes of the black community as a way to raise awareness for the injustices committed against black people.
He is most well-known for his series called Stolen, in which he painted black people who died at the hands of the police. For each victim’s life, he spent one minute coloring in the painting. He dares you to look, really look, at the empty space and think about all the time that was stolen from each person.
He has done other projects too – his most recent being Brooklyn Windows, which illustrates the isolation felt during the coronavirus lockdown in Brooklyn.
I love what he told Variety about raising awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement.
It’s okay to be uncomfortable and it’s okay to mess up. If you’re an artist, then you try to find a way to use your art to connect people in another way. If you’re a dancer, try to find ways to connect with the Black community in ways to highlight their experience. And I think that just use your strengths as a starting point, whatever it is, and then go from there.
Adrian Brandon
Adrian Brandon uses his artwork to promote racial equality and you can to. Whether it be a poem or a painting, your art can start conversations that create real change.
Art isn’t the only way to promote racial equality. Check out these change.org petitions that are fighting for an end to injustice.
- Justice for Breonna Taylor Petition
- Justice for Elijah McClain Petition
- Petition to charge the cops who shot Jacob Blake
- Justice for Daniel Prude Petition
- Justice for Aiyana Stanley-Jones Petition
- Justice for Tamir Rice
Thanks for reading, friend!
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