Short Essay

 Lateef Solomon Acts of Resistance SP

Professor Cacoilo Febuary 23, 2021

The journey of self-exploration

After reading Kimberly Drew’s This is what I know about Art, it is clear that Drew wanted to share her experiences and journey of her life to inspire others to follow their hearts about what they truly want to do in life. Growing up an artist and activist, she has had many tribulations before she accepted who she really was and what her life consisted of. “ I’m not your typical art historian, I’m not your typical activist, I am still learning what art and protest mean to me”. This quote exemplifies how Drew began her journey to self-discovery of who she really is and what paths she took to get to where she is now. She had the guidance of her family especially her mother and aunts who gave her the drive to pursue what her heart desired. They gave her the courage to follow and accomplish everything that she wanted to ever since she was a child. Her approach to today’s culture shows us that there are many concepts that are presented that showed many that the world isn’t what it seems to be in today’s society. She unravels how the world can be seen as art and still have many views but also many controversial thoughts that displays the diverse culture amongst society and its norms. With the controversies of today's day and age, Drew set the example of what it is like to have an opinion on how she views society and its actions that have made a major impact on the people of America. Their intellectual thought and actions are what makes everyone different from each other, that separates people that have the same beliefs as each other and dissects the truth behind their beliefs. “Art and self-expression were essential pillars in my childhood, but even with early exposure to art and art spaces. I would have never dreamed about working at the capacity I do now”. Being able to relate to Drew’s words and experiences, can be like lessons that were passed down throughout generations, especially being able to see how specific events can feel like deja vu. For instance, the Black Lives Matter movement can be a mere imitation of what Martin Luther King and other Civil rights leaders went through to achieve freedom from the racial ties of the white man. There have been many instances where racial equality and equal rights as citizens of the united states. Growing as an African American male, you are looked at differently from others who are a different race and skin color. I had to accept who I am, where I came from, and my heritage. Being able to accept myself for who I am, helped me realize that it doesn’t matter how I looked or who I was associated with; I had t understand that I was born this way and I should have pride in what I am connected with, I will always be a proud African American who appreciates where he comes from.

Short Essay Luke Andaya

        Kimberly Drew, a new upcoming author, and activist published her autobiography book titled This is What I Know About Art which talks about the importance of activism and art and how it all ties in together. Her journey and experiences have a sense of inspiration and allow us as the readers to really catch a glimpse of how she views everything. Throughout the whole entirety of her story, at one point that she talks about how art allows her and others to express themselves and help spread a message across. And just like another reading article that we have discussed so far in class, Susan Sontag's book, On Photography, also discusses how influential photography is and how it can be seen as a form of expression.    

        In the excerpt from On Photography, Susan Sontag talks about the history of photography of how it is used to prove something happened and how it can even be manipulated into someone's favor. "Photographs furnish evidence. Something we hear about, but doubt, seems proven when we're shown a photograph of it. In one version of its utility, the camera record incriminates. Starting with their use by the Paris police in the murderous roundup of Communards in June 1871, photographs became a useful tool of modern states in the surveillance and control of their increasingly mobile populations. In another version of its utility, the camera record justifies. A photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened. The picture may distort; but there is always a presumption that something exists, or did exist, which is like what's in the picture." Sontag goes on to say that even though these photos may set up a certain agenda, these photos are powerful and meaningful, as they hold value and carries a message as it shows the world that something happened at that certain moment in time; almost the same thing as art because art also holds meaning and shows the world that message, though one person may interpret it differently than the next.

        

    Even if someone interprets the photograph differently than someone else, it still holds value as it influences everybody differently. Sontag writes, "Photographs really are experience captured, and the camera is the ideal arm of consciousness in its acquisitive mood. To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge -- and, therefore, like power." which basically means as said before, that every photograph is powerful as it holds a message and knowledge of events transpiring.  

        

    Kimberly Drew even begins to talk about photography as well. Both Sontag and Drew relatively have similar opinions of the power of photography and how it can be used to express messages and capture moments of time. Drew talks about police brutality back in 2014 when it started to ramp up in danger towards the African American community. "In the days following the deaths, images by photographers and other witnesses began to define a resurfacing justice movement for Black victims of police brutality..." In this quote, Drew is basically telling the readers that these photographs were being taken to spread acknowledgment around the whole world that police brutality against the black community was real and that something needed to happen. Change needed to happen and the African American community needed to rally together and to try and spread the message, and sharing the photographs of what's happening to the internet was the first step. But while these photographs were being shared throughout social media as a form of art to help spread the message, Drew also talks about how sharing these images online has allowed her to connect with others to also mourn and heal with and also to share their voices with as well. "I posted a call for art in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement...the page...was developed as a space for collective healing and mourning."

    Personally, the moment that really spoke to me when reading What I Know About Art is about Drew's feelings about how she felt with Black people's art was not really being represented enough in America, and how it felt like it was another form of oppression. While growing up and going to school, she has seen many pieces of art as she goes to art galleries to look at them. However, she did notice one common thing between all of these pieces; they were all created by white artists. She had never seen one piece of art in those galleries that were created by a black artist. She felt as if these people were trying to take away the spotlight away from black creators, despite being as skilled as white artists. Drew writes, "There have been black people since the beginning of time, but I was not seeing any of their art in any of my classes.”. This event has really made her question the things around her and had really sparked her interest in activism and putting herself out there to speak about problems about the community, which again really did speak to me. 

    To wrap up, both Sontag and Drew talk about how photography is a form of art and how it ties into activism as it has the power to capture something at the moment, to create and show a message of what is happening so it can be spread across the world to influence or even unite a community of people. Drew's autobiography had really inspired me because initially, she had spotted the problem within her community when she was younger, and how she wanted to put the spotlight on it, which had eventually lead her into becoming interested in activism and then into a successful person she is today.

Works Cited

Drew, K. (2020). This is What I know about Art.
Sontag, S. (2008). On photography. London: Penguin Books.

Short Essay (Ian)

 

    Kimberly Drew’s story relates to the theme of photography discussed by Susan Sontag. Susan Sontag quotes in her article; “to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed”. As described in her book, Kimberly Drew’s passion to discover and showcase brilliant black artists began with a black-and-white photograph of the artist Andy Warhol and Jean-Michael Basquait. Susan Sontag further expands on this quote by mentioning how a photograph brings you into the moment of the photograph. Kimberly Drew was able to discover her passion for exploring Black artists through the photograph, by being curious about the man wearing boxing gear, living in that moment, and wanting to know more about that man which led her to discover his works of art and her own passion.

Kimberly Drew is an advocate of the BlackLivesMatter movement. Her passion for the lives of her fellow men and women can be seen in her book. Kimberly Drew's activism wasn't something she knew right away, but something that was built up from past experiences and research. She experienced and saw the discrimination and injustices spoken about and decided to speak up. Racism is and has been a long-standing issue in America (Mineo, 2015).  Kimberly Drew's activism is rooted in her own experience and in the history of the black community. 

A moment in the book that I found important, is the moment when she saw a photograph of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat (p.18).  Kimberly Drew describes this moment as a simple moment that happened on break. What I find amazing about this moment is its mediocrity, where a simple look at a photo while on break and the curiosity to find out more about the photo impacted her life in such a way that changed the course of her life. That simple moment instilled in her a passion to find new black artists and gave her a new ambition. It is because of that moment, where she looks and discovers Jean- Michel Basquiat, is where I believe to be such a pivotal moment in the book and in her life. 

    A quote that stuck out to me in the book was by Carter G. Woodson, founder of Negro History Week (p.21). The quote Drew mentions is “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” This quote, as I interpret it, tells us that if history and tradition are not remembered or practiced they will be forgotten. The quote is impactful to me because as a Filipino I value my own culture and traditions, and in a similar way to how Kimberly Drew felt, I do not wish to see them disappear. 

    As of now, I am currently taking psychology as my major. Due to the nature of my course, an open mind and understanding are critical. Empathy and compassion are one of the desired traits when pursuing the course. Empathy is often referred to as putting oneself in another’s shoes but is truly reflecting on your own similar experiences to understand and comfort the other person. Empathizing with another and connecting with people is part of what makes us human as humans by nature are social creatures. As I am now, I believe that I am in a similar situation as Kimberly Drew, where there are still things that I have yet to discover that will truly make an impact on my life. As I continue to grow into the field, learning and hearing stories about other people’s experiences, only then will I discover for myself the things that I am truly passionate about.

Activism as I understood it, is bringing awareness to certain political and social issues to change or eliminate these issues. Activism can be a meaningful part of my journey as it helps bring a voice to people. Kimberly Drew states that activism is an action done by many that impacts all individuals on a much bigger scale than perceived “small actions foster change”. Activism is meaningful in my life because it not only affects my professional journey but my entire way of life. I understand activism as performing actions because you care so much.

Works cited:

Drew, K. (2020). What I know about art. Penguin Workshop. ISBN: 978-0-593-09518-8. 

Mineo, L. (2015). Background on Black Lives Matter. 

Sontag, S. (n.d.). On Photography. Retrieved from: http://www.susansontag.com/SusanSontag/books/onPhotographyExerpt.shtml

“This is what I know about art” - Short essay

 What do I know about art? Art can be appreciated in many different ways, music, paintings, poetry, and even fashion; art is what we love and what we do with passion. Also, it is a way of expressing our feelings and emotions. Art represents us; we can show the world who we are by doing art, it defines the kind of person we are. In the book, “what I know about art” by Kimberly Drew, Kimberly tells her story of her love for art and how art has contributed to her life since a very young age. To her, art became a lifestyle and a way to introduce Life to others. Growing up in a world where society minimizes and discriminates against African American people could get as frustrating as it is, this is why she created a blog, to illustrate and demonstrate admiration towards African Americans; she created this blog so she could show the world black people’s talent and their artistic contributions to the world. She was inspired by many talented black artists to instill in people some of her cultures. As she quoted in her book, “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. A country without a history is like a person without memory. One should never forget our history and our past, where we came from, Kimberly created this blog to remind people of the beauty within their culture. It is so important to educate ourselves with our country’s history because we should always know the lands that saw us grow and to know the value of our people we must know our history. Kimberly believes in the potential of her people, and so she decides to support them by posting their works for the world to see it.

        Art has a lot to do with photographs because just like art photography captures unique and real moments. I can relate this book to the article “photography” by Sontag because both are ways of self-expression. As it is mentioned in the article, “ Although there is a sense in which the camera does indeed capture reality, not just interpret it, photographs are as much an interpretation of the world as paintings and drawings are.” I identify with this quote because I’ve seen and I have felt the way art makes people feel, the happiness and all the sentiments that music causes in me, and the amusement every time I see a drawing. I can completely understand Kimberly Drew and the purpose of this book and the blog. She wants people to feel what she feels by seeing all these people’s work, her people’s work. I feel her angriness to see how her people are being mistreated and how they are not receiving the value that they deserve. Thanks to her work, her voice is being heard, and that’s the meaning of art, to be heard. 

Short essay (ana)

The idea that everyone is equal has not been accurate throughout history, and Kimberly Drew has brought it to light. “For so many young people of color, we feel like we don’t have the luxury of exploring the liberal arts-society tells us that we have to take coursework to become high earners to make valuable contributions to the world.” (Drew 14) This perfectly depicts how people of color are pressured to be one way or another, or they are not useful in society. Instead of expressing the skills they excel at; they have to change themselves to be something they don’t want to be. When they go for what they want to be, they also face inequality of how companies and others see their works; let’s say that a black artist makes an art piece that is as good as a white artist piece. Still, the white artist won’t only be recognized more, but will also be put out more than the black artist to be appressed because of it. This will demotivate the artist and strain how they would make as the exposer isn’t there, so fewer opportunities would occur.

When Kimberly drew spoke about how there is no representation of the black artist in any classes or promoted in media, It was a shock which said to me. This makes me think about black creators’ representation on Instagram, Youtube, Twitch, Twitter, or any other media site. This is widely happening because whitewashing is a thing in both books and media, but if there were a black creator, they would not get the same exposure as a white creator. And since there is such a small collection of these creators that are to the likes of Ninja, or any other person, they would learn more than the same people with the same skill level as them. The popular excuses are that they are famous and it brings the platform better watch time, which interns make the company more money. But by diverse the pool of creators, this would pull more revenue in, but making more people feel included, and this would reach out to a bigger audience because of it. So what did Drew do when she learned about this? Well, she made her on a blog that would promote black creators and what they make. What happens by this is more people get exposed to a new art style and creators that they wouldn’t have beforehand, as other white creators buried them. Other companies should do this, not only for black history month because it’s good marketing, but year-round, exposing people that wouldn’t have beforehand by the mass of white creators taking the spotlight.


Now some people would say that this is unfair, and I tell why? They have been continuously pushed to the bottom of so many places, so why not have a dedicated section and not just for black history month. And this isn’t white guilt, which people circle jerk about to “feel bad” that past people have done and the privilege they get from being white. Instead of helping the Black creators promote and motivate them to continue forward with what they are doing, they make it a point for them to cry about and feel wrong about. And when Drew was to complain about this on her Facebook, showing how frustrated it is to be a person of color and hear these things, then the next day having that same professor saying Think about if I was an African American, but why would you? Why don’t you just think that it was wrong for these people to use it as an excuse to put it on them, instead of those affected by this every day? Then when she complained about this as well, she gets called in for the post, saying that she ‘misunderstood and said that if she can’t handle that, then why to join art history?”. Just because you wanna say that saying sorry is enough and acting like “pitty me” is better then just owning up to it and just shutting down everyone that tries to twist it, but instead he did the exact opposite and made it worse.


The takeaway I see from this book is to just be better than what we are doing now, give these creative people the outlet they need to grow because the system isn’t going to do that themselves, we the people have to do it. To move forward in life we have to first be equal to one another, get along with one another, and live without hate, with a superiority complex, because that is what racism is, think that the genetics that determined how much of a chemical goes into our skin cells to make it lighter or darker, that one is superior to the other is stupid. And it starts from us, from Gen z and Gen x to finally stomp out this hate, this dumb thing that survived for too long.

Short Essay (Nashelly Molina)

The way that her autobiographical story illustrated some of the themes that was discussed in class was about the lack of diversity that she sees and hears about. She was angry about that because there has been so much hatred against black people and the black community; especially when she found out that Eric Garner got murdered by chocking by detectives. Later on after his death she also find out about the death of Michael Brown's death by execution and she believes that it was caused by the same reason. She felt like it was unfair because polices were murdering and killing off unarmed black people for no reason. A lot of people were protesting for justice and to stop police brutality. They started to kills off people of color and sometimes they were killed in front of their own children; in which Drew hash tagged the BLM movement for support. The reading that connects to her journey is the Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History. The quote from this reading that connects to Drew's journey is "These figures would make the recent protests the largest movement in the country's history." (Buchanan, Bui, Patel 3rd paragraph of 1st page) This quote relates to her because in both readings they talk about how the police officers chocked and killed an unarmed black male so that's when they started the BLM movement to protest so police brutality can stop. A moment in this book that felt meaningful to me was when she said "I wanted to have a voice in the art world. Only this time, I wanted it on my own terms." (Drew 58) This quote was meaningful to me because when we do something we deserve to have our own voices heard and it should never come from anyone but you. You should be your own voice and when you want to do something you have to do what you really want to do; not what others expect you to do, want you to do or copy and try to be like other people. You should be your own person and do what you are really passionate about. In this world people are always going to criticize you so you should just follow your own path and show them that you are capable of anything. This is why this particular quote from Drew was important to me and meaningful. A quote that stuck out to me was when she says "I did not want to be like everyone else at the museum. I loved wearing glitter- covered sneakers and letting my locs bounce around as I went from meeting to meeting. I didn't want to fit in. I also didn't want the museum to be monolithic in that way." (Drew 53-54) This quote stuck out to me because what she says is the reality. We should always be ourselves and not copy or try to be and look like somebody else. If you have a special style that makes you, you then wear it. It doesn't matter if you don't look like everyone else and you don't have to fit in as long as it makes you happy and feel proud and comfortable wearing them then do it. Nobody should ever feel like they can't be who they are simply because you're not like the rest of them or because someone says so. The only person who can make the choice is you; do and wear what makes you happy and comfortable and be yourself and not somebody else. This is why this quote stuck out to me because I felt like it was very important to realize that; because it does happen often and problems like this do exist. A way that I can insert or use activism and art in my own professional aspiration is by advocating and speaking up for what I believe is important to me. I can use posters and put it around my neighborhood, I can also make a post and put it on my social media platform and make the post public, lastly, I can also protest with signs that states the issue. By doing so I am advocation and trying to make a change around the world and that seems to be activism. For example, the BLM movement it's important because many black people are getting murdered for doing nothing wrong even if they appeared to be unarmed. Police brutality has been known around the globe and people are currently fighting to end police brutality and for racism to end as well. They protest and hold on signs and march around their neighborhood; it's a part of activism because they are standing up for what they believe in and want to make a change on how white people view the people of color. The way that activism can become a meaningful part of my own professional journey is because there's going to come a time where there's going to be something that is disturbing or something that I would like to make a change in our society. By using activism we can encourage others to help us out to fight for change and stand up for what we would want to change. Doing this we can start our own movement and advocate for those who can't do it for themselves. So, activism can be a meaningful thing in my journey because you may never know when you are going to end up protesting in the streets to fight for what you believe; without it, it's just going to be a loss cause because then there's going to be no protestors and people are going to be doing whatever they want to others. It's definitely not right so we have to protest so we can make our own voices heard and other people's as well and this is how activism will make a meaningful part of my professional journey.

Work Cited:

This Is What I Know About Art by Kimberly Drew, Penguin Workshop, New York 2020

Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History | NYTimes | July 3, 2020

Short Essay - Brianna Prince

 

 

        I am not great with words, public speaking, or large crowds. When I started this class I had the mindset that i will just keep my camera off, do the work, and listen to my professor teach. It was a major step for just turning on my camera. As we get into the subject of art and activism and the different ways people use it my interest grew and my mind started to turn. Out of the classes i take now this is the only one where I feel there are no wrong answers. It is taking what you see and making it your own. Developing your own interpretations. As I saw that my other classmates had different views on what we discussed and it was not considered as wrong I found the courage to speak.

                        

    
        To tie my story to Kimberly Drew’s autobiography throughout the book she was experiencing growth and learning from her events and the people around her. It took this one class to help me actually start participating in my others. I am not all the way there with public speaking but I feel when it comes to activism my creations can speak for themselve and relay my stand on a topic.


        “I am not your typical activist. I am still learning what art and protest mean to me. And so, this book is more about my journey through art toward activism. This book is about discovery, confusion, and progress.” Kimberly Drew stated this in her autobiography. Everyday art is evolving. Art provides a way for people to express what they feel, how they think, and a different interpretation of what they see. In her book she touched on a few topics like racism and police brutality, life events where art has brought more attention from places we did not see.


        To get her thoughts out she used social media. The different forms of social media have grown to a platform of pictures, videos, and sharing. Drew posted a status on Facebook of what professor said, a statement that caught her off guard. Like many others going to facebook, instagram, blogs to post a meme, voice how you feel, is nothing new now. “As a byproduct of social media, memes and protest art act as a way to gauge a country’s political temperature.” (Fison). There are so many ways people are getting their art out; social media is the fastest way especially when there is a possibility millions of people can see it and tell how they feel about the subject.


There was a moment in the story where Kimberly uses her Twitter to tell her audience about the lack of diversity in a particular art exhibition. Her angry tweets caused her to be called up by the director. Now as i continue to read i thought she was going to be fired and out looking for a job but her director took the time to mentor her and give other options of communicating what she has to say. It is ok to be angry and passionate about a subject people will only listen if what is said is planned and strategic. Not coming off angry and aggressive.


        The quote that sticks out to me is “Blues is about anticipation” (Drew 36).When I think of the blues I think of storytelling. A story that happened in the past that made the artist feel deeply about a situation to put it in a song in the present time. I would like to believe the anticipation of what is to come and why might happen next because of what is going now. With this quote I am still working on my explanation. Hopefully I will have another chance to explain.


        Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to work with computers. Always interested in how they work, what they need to operate, how they are able to produce vibrant and interesting graphics. I have my associates in Electrical Engineering and want to keep exploring the different ways I can continue learning about technology. I feel like I can relate to Kimberly Drew because of her love for art and the fact she wants to keep learning about what she loves.


        The major that I am pursuing at the moment is Computer Science. A field where there is not a lot of women and the ones that are in it work even harder to be seen as equal then the men in this field. Using social media can help spread the word on equality in the workplace. Making sure that more women are recognized for the work they do in this particular field. Kimberly Drew is relatable and inspiring

Bibliography

Drew, Kimberly. This Is What I Know About Art. Listening Library, 2020.

Fison, Lizzie. “How Memes Are Making Protest Art More Powerful.” Artsy, 2017, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-memes-making-protest-art-powerful.

800 word essay evan brown

 Kimberly Drew's book 'What I think About Art', teaches that we experience unfortunate events that many disregard, yet a few do not. These few cannot push it aside, so they stand up, spreading mindfulness on a specific matter or a subject. Kimberly portrays this towards the ending, when she was upset by the released new film of Mr. Michael Brown’s stunning passing, that lead to her leaving her work site in a hurry, as she was balling and was befuddled when she saw that everybody outside was going on with their day as usual. These Individuals like her are viewed as activists focusing on a matter while others are simply aimlessly overlooking it. Activism can be set up in many ways. Thusly, Kimberly  demonstrates activism by recognizing black artists work and spreading them via web-based media including her Instagram and her blog, where they have all the more a possibility of being seen or heard. It is difficult to spread your word when it's you against the world. Kimberly however knows that there are a ton of Black craftsmen neglected on account of their present circumstance yet Drew chooses to introduce their work for what it's worth as well as clarifying and supplementing the importance or the quality  of their work. I was promptly dependent on her self-portraying story as she begins her book with a word so straightforward yet so meaningful. She utilizes this word all through the start of her book to show that as she fizzled, she just acquired information from it by giving her different entryways that can just push her nearer to turning into the extremist she is currently. Nonetheless, developing into it, she wasn't constantly intrigued by craftsmanship, she was a previous math major. However she felt like a "Fake" she expressed. at the point when she was chosen to be in the workmanship program at the studio Museum. In the interim, she ends up being utilized by that Museum later in her life. This actually identifies with me, since she had an attribute that is normally acquired by the vast majority of us, which is obliviousness to a promising circumstance. She was intellectually setting herself up for disappointment, yet she was going from a neglected temporary position at this astounding historical center to have a paid occupation there. I created 3 images about clarifying the significance of the importance behind pictures. However willfully Kimberly chooses to bring up these photos and appreciate their excellence to general society. This has fabricated her a fan base and a group that causes her keep track with her Blog, while she handles the remainder of her web-based media. 

Through her work, I was propelled. I was propelled to be left, thinking about what my motivation could be in the event that I was later to be an individual lobbyist. I would prefer not to maintain a strategic distance from such a chance regardless of whether it is outlandish, in light of the fact that despite the fact that she has done this blog individually intentionally, she actually created fans that she motivated like me to begin their very own activism demonstration. Activism intends to me as of now is a demonstration that can leave an effect and could help spread mindfulness not exclusively to bring up a reason, however to motivate others to call attention to their own motivation and push them to pursue everything they could ever hope for and trusts rather than other people who question them Selfs, as Kimberly did when she asserted she was a 'fake' prior to realizing what was in her future. Through that, she instructed me that, regardless of whether you accept all chances are against you, finish what you've begun. Since you never lost until you surrender, and she won't ever surrender. Her blog went from something excessively little to something that came to media acquiring consideration, trailed by interviews, for example, being met by this neighborhood blog "The Huffington". Thusly, I wish to begin my own establishment one day, yet not an establishment to just provide for poor people, however to offer a chance to the individuals who will acknowledge a demand, to acknowledge this chance regardless of whether disappointment is very nearly a specific chance. I need to utilize this establishment to similarly spread attention to our impending future pioneers. Having somebody to give them a possibility is beyond what I could with respect to, since very few individuals will reward this world. A world loaded with insatiability and jealousy. Along these lines, we can't free the universe of them, however I can in any event attempt to set my motivation to be seriously enabling, stronger, and penetrating than them all. Having the turned tables brought about by Kimberly's activities in her day to day existence that profited her over the long haul, for example, fizzling, just pushed her to "progress" and sprout into a superior form of herself.

This is What I Know About Art- ESSAY

This is What I Know About Art by Kimberly Drew illustrates much of what we have covered in class in regards to art, and activism. In her book, Kimberly Drew becomes aware of the lack of representation in her art history classes and uses her life experience as a college student to begin a blog that highlights black artists. In doing this she creates a space for herself as a curator, and a place where inclusion, and visibility for black artists exist. This is Kimberly Drew’s artistic and activist intervention.

As a figure in the art world Kimberly draws attention to this critical issue of erasing black history by never including it in academia. A concept well illustrated by the Carter G Woodson quote in the book "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition. It becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” This lack of visibility, and representation exists in black communities, but also in many minority communities. Cultures that stray or vary from that of western ideals and traditions become obsolete and are something risking extermination. For this reason, the blog Kimberly Drew created countered this erasing of history by establishing a place where it was important and visible.

This concept of being denied visibility and denied credit for the enrichment an entire population brings to existence is something that strikes me deeply. Much like Kimberly Drew most of us did not learn about the great historical people of color that reshaped history, in a traditional education system. Instead, we were all taught a white washed version of history of what and who was important. This simultaneously neglected so many important historical figures of color. When attention is not given to a diverse group of people, they are not only forgotten, but unappreciated and undesired. I believe this relates to John Berger's “Ways of Seeing” in that, until recently people of diverse backgrounds and races were not idealized and made to be beautiful in mainstream media. I can recall as a child wishing I had blonde hair, green eyes and lighter skin. I was always called “La negrita” (little black girl) in my family because I am the darkest. When I looked at my peers, toys, books, and television I did not see those who looked like me and therefore wanted to look like them instead. In the quote by John Berger “Publicity needs to turn to its own advantage the traditional education of the average spectator buyer. What he has learnt at school of history, mythology, poetry can be used in the manufacturing of glamour.” This quote encompasses the point of manufacturing culture, in the past culture has been very exclusive in glamorizing whiteness while completely overlooking beauty elsewhere. By creating spaces where other forms of beauty including black women of color, Latinx, LGBTQ, and placing them in media, and depicting them as beautiful, valuable, and accepted manufactures a changing culture.

The idea of giving people back credit, and helping them in acknowledging their own beauty is something I value and see as a form of activism. All too often people are oppressed by being made to feel powerless, and undervalued. As a nurse I hope to one day use my skills in healthcare and my passion for art to create campaigns, initiatives ,and inclusion programs to help those people feel valued and provide a sense of worth. I don’t believe my professional journey will be complete unless I continue to take an activist role in addressing systemic oppression and becoming involved in the implementation of policies and interventions that will continue to uplift underserved and underrepresented populations. 

Unlike Kimberly Drew I have not yet discovered how I will accomplish this goal. Presently I am trying to increase my knowledge base, doing the work of reading, learning, and getting to know the people and populations I wish to advocate for. This class is also part of that, I enrolled with the hope of seeing how others take activist roles and to brainstorm and ultimately be influenced and inspired by their efforts.   



Works Cited

Drew, Kimberly. This Is What I Know About Art. Penguin Workshop, 2020.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. Penguin Books, 1972.

 

(Karen Vega , The first Oaxacan Model on the cover of VOGUE)

(Film by Beyonce depicting Black Beauty)

Short Essay (Allem)

     

    Kimberly Drew is an activist that in her book she made the reader caught an idea about how they have to connect themselves with the art. As shown in the book Kimberly Drew is an activist artist. She connects her art with the activism in a form as the social currency. She made people caught the meaning of the activism and how an activist may act. The reading “this is what I know about art” by Kimberly drew is an amazing book. This book is good because it connects the needs of the space that we need. It also connects me to me in a way that I can identify with a lot of things. That’s one thing that caught my attention in the reading. In the reading she started talking about her family raised her to be the best version of her. She was so grateful for her family and her friends because they help her to be a better person. In the reading, she said, “I have known my lane”, which’s something that connects with the discussion that we had before in the class. It connects with the activist people that they all know their lane and knows what they want from the beginning. It also connects to me because I have known my lane since I was a little kid and that’s something important because everyone has to have a purpose in their lives and something that they have to follow. It connects to one project that I made where I said that “this artwork definition is one of the reasons if my inspiration. one thing I studying to be a police officer and after that to be a detective. it inspires me because of the success that Napoleon had been the military. I want to be as big as he was being a police officer and being a detective”. At first in the reading, she traded her lunch for artwork from made by her classmates just because they used to do it better than her. At the end of that, she didn’t feel happy about that because trading her food for the artwork was something that she didn’t enjoy because she didn’t make the artwork. The reading made by Kimberly Drew connects the art and activism in a way that it will help us to learn new things and to be curious about what it is. It opens extra space in our lives that let us know we also can do more and more. Some people share activism art in a way to be heard by a particular amount of people.  Artistic activism is the practice of combining art to move of emotionally with the strategic planning of activism, but art and activism are to different words that have different works. According to the center for artistic activism: “the activism is the activity of challenging power relations” and “art tends not to have a clear target.” Activism it’s one for a cause while art is something that creates feelings or emotions while we are doing it. (The Center for Artistic Activism 2020).  Based on that, Kimberly created art and activism to create a way to express herself. According to this definition, I want to link it with the creator of the reading because that’s how Kimberly wants to be known for. Not only Kimberly, but a lot activist expresses their feeling with art because that’s something that doesn’t offend anybody because it is art, and a lot of people express their feelings by “art”. Sometimes artist activist promote art for a bad purpose. For example: when the black lives matter movement started some activists promote artwork in negative forms because they used it in some way to create controversy with other people. also, what happened too was the rioting in a lot of stores like in sneaker stores and grocery stores

    While reading the book something connects me to it which was “When assigned art projects, I would trade my lunch for artwork made by my classmates who I knew had better art skills (Drew 11)”. I grew up like that. When I was younger I didn’t like to some of my art assignments because I thought that the professor was going to give me a 0. I used to pay to anyone just to do my art assignments. I used to do it for 3 years straight. Once I decided to do it by myself and I dedicated time to it and for that assignment a received a 90 which is not a bad grade. After that I read a book and I took a quote that says, “if they can do it, why can’t you do it?”. that changed my life and after that, I always try to do the most in everything I do.

 

 

 

 

 

Work cited

 

Drew, K. (2020). This Is What I Know About Art. Penguin USA.

 

Posted byThe Center for Artistic Activism. “Why Artistic Activism?” The Center for Artistic Activism, 15 Dec. 2020, c4aa.org/2018/04/why-artistic-activism. 

Essay(Rudolf Akaho)

Kimberly Drew while a more up-to-date lobbyist and writer in this world has truly set an establishment of motivation and force inside her messages of expectation and battles through her book This is What I Know About Art. She permits peruses to typify themselves inside her vision of how the world ought to be and truly makes a feeling of closeness to her perspective as she strolls us through the universe of workmanship is communicated through her viewpoint. The primary concerns that had significant importance to me managed her response to the absence of dark specialists being commended in this culture, just as her contemplations on how temporary jobs and work encounters for youthful understudies ought to be established, making a superior stage for progress, and in a similar time decreasing monetary weights.

Growing up inside the minority race of a culture of mistreatment and prejudice is harsh, Kimberly Drew has felt those sentiments inside America in a couple of various ways, one predominantly being the manner in which we commend craftsmen locally. As Kimberly went into the tremendous universe of workmanship through visiting exhibitions and her school classes, she saw that most artworks and articulations in plain view and reachable for the public reference book were white craftsmen. This is an intense encounter to experience being confounded concerning why individuals of your comparable foundation are by and large avoided with regards to the spotlight. She writes in her book " There have been individuals of color since forever ago, however, I was not seeing any of their specialty in any of my classes." (8, Drew) This occasion in which she addresses why there haven't been any points on dark craftsmen is urgent in her development as an individual of solidarity just as her development as an extremist. I accept that through this acknowledgment of her conditions, she permits herself to open up to the world and chooses to stand firm for her local area. 

Peter Saul at Mary Boone 

Facilitating the topic of acknowledgment and ordering change through activism comes the point where Kimberly examines in her book about the advanced proficient world and how stale it is. The stagnation she alludes to explicitly addresses the issue that entry-level positions for understudies do not have the push to offer compensation to soothe the monetary weights on understudies. Fundamentally, this thought gets down on organizations utilizing understudies as modest work or not exactly a representative, this didn't agree with Kimberly and she tended to this issue as the primary malignancy inside our work culture. She composes   " It's crazy to consider the number of temporary positions is as yet neglected, and how elitist and ethically degenerate it is to enlist neglected or come up short on work." This point is valid in our advanced universe of temporary jobs, while Kimberly Drew experienced this cycle right around 5-6 years prior, this interaction has remained the equivalent. By shouting out about these issues through her book she has not stayed uninvolved, through the force of the pen Kimberly Drew took to activism to gain ground for future understudies like myself to have a superior future to come. 

Activism is vital to guarantee cultural development, we should consistently scrutinize the standard and consistently attempt to gain ground forward to guarantee we are putting forth a valiant effort to live the best. Everybody should live under the extent of being really free and regarded inside a local area. I feel through her activism by composing this book and communicating her suppositions on craftsmanship Kimberly Drew has flushed our limits as a general public and gained ground for our future. I feel a feeling of holding with her thoughts and glad activism as I also have taken to pushing standards to make a superior future. In my own encounters, I pushed for understudies in my secondary school to include more subjects inside history class to examine matters of our social variety and how we as a whole have effects on our general public. I feel social variety is vital and commending that variety is urgent to our advancement as a society.  I accept my activities of activism resound with Kimberly Drews' and truly help connect my thoughts with hers. To me that is the significant snapshot of this book, having the option to resound with your peruses is vital and essential for broadening your message. Through this thought of incorporation and activism, we would all be able to develop as people hence helping our future selves in having beneficial outcomes for organizations we work for and the families we will raise. I feel this book and its message have made our future splendid and rousing. These messages can likewise be seen through different craftsmen and pioneers inside our general public like Sontag. She permits us to see the world through the viewpoint of expressionism, one of her statements that I float towards manages the message of this paper and the voice of Kimberly Drew, it's Sontag's 

Works Cited 

Drew, K. (2020). This is What I think about Art. 

Sontag, S. (2008). On photography. London: Penguin Books.

Kimberly Drew’s book ‘What I know About Art’ essay

 Kimberly Drew’s book ‘What I know About Art’, showed us that we go through times that some people might overlook, but there are others. Other individuals that can’t push it to the side, so they stand up, spreading awareness on a certain matter or a subject. Kimberly shows us this towards the end of her book, when she was disturbed by the leaked new footage of Mr. Michael Brown (may he rest in peace) horrifying death, that lead to her leaving her work site in a bombshell; crying and was confused as soon as she noticed that everyone outside was going on with their day like nothing happened “I looked around and it was still just a regular Saturday for everyone else” she said. These Individuals like her are considered activists bringing attention to a matter while others are just blindly ignoring it. However, activism can be established in multiple ways. Therefore, Kimberly inspires the act of activism by acknowledging colored artists’ work and spreading them on social media including her Instagram and her blog, where they have more of a chance of being noticed or heard. It is not easy to spread your content when it’s you against the world. Nevertheless, Kimberly also understands that there are a lot of Colored artists overlooked because of their current situation but Drew decides to present their work not only as it is but explaining and complementing the meaning or the essence of their work. I was immediately addicted to her autobiographical story as she starts her book with a word so simple yet so empowering. The word is “progressing”. She uses this word throughout the beginning of her book to show that as she failed, she only gained knowledge from it by giving her other doors that can only push her closer to becoming the activist she is now. However, growing into it, she wasn’t always interested in art, she was a former math major. Yet she felt like a “Fraud” she stated. when she was selected to be in the art program at the studio Museum. Meanwhile, she winds up being employed by that Museum later in her life. This personally relates to me, because she had a trait that is commonly obtained by most of us, which is ignorance to opportunity. She was mentally preparing herself for failure, yet she was going from an unpaid internship at this amazing museum to have a paid job there. I developed 3 memes about explaining the importance of the meaning behind pictures. Yet voluntarily Kimberly decides to point out these pictures and admire their beauty to the public. This has built her a fan base and a crew that helps her keep track with her Blog, while she handles the rest of her social media.  
Through her work, I was inspired. I was inspired to be left, wondering what my inspiration could be if I was later to be a fellow activist. I don’t want to avoid such a possibility even if it is farfetched, because even though she has done this blog on her own time voluntarily, she still developed fans that she inspired like me to start an activism act of their own. Activism means to me as of now is an act that can leave an impact and could help spread awareness not only to point out a cause, but to inspire others to point out their own cause and push them to chase after all their dreams and hopes instead of others who doubt them Selfs, as Kimberly did when she claimed she was a ‘fraud’ before knowing what was in her future. Through that, she taught me that, even if you believe all odds are against you, finish what you’ve started. Since you never lost until you give up, and she never gave up. Her blog went from something too small to something that reached media gaining attention, followed by interviews, such as being interviewed by this local blog “The Huffington". Consequently, I wish to start my own foundation one day, but not a foundation to only give to the poor, but to give an opportunity to those who are willing to accept a challenge, to accept this opportunity even if failure is almost a certain possibility. I want to use this foundation to equally spread awareness to our upcoming future leaders. Having someone to give them a chance is more than I could as for, since not many people are willing to give back to this world. A world full of greed and envy. Thus, we can’t rid the world of them, but I can at least try to set my cause to be more empowering, louder, and piercing than them all. Having the turned tables caused by Kimberly’s actions in her life that benefited her in the long run; such as failing, only pushed her to “progress” and bloom into a better version of herself. 

    

Work Cited 

Drew, Kimberly. This Is What I Know About Art. Penguin Workshop, 2020. 

Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York Review of Books, 1977.