Our goal
The Brave Space is a platform to highlight and center underrepresented voices and stories. It is a place for expression, exploration, and writing our own histories.
We launched this blog in the wake of the tragic deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd because we wanted to amplify the voices of black immigrants during this time of pain and this fight for progress, equity, and justice. Our goal is to inspire you to share and question your thoughts on immigration, identity, and the intersectionality between race, gender, and more.
We launched this blog in the wake of the tragic deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd because we wanted to amplify the voices of black immigrants during this time of pain and this fight for progress, equity, and justice. Our goal is to inspire you to share and question your thoughts on immigration, identity, and the intersectionality between race, gender, and more.
The Brave Space |
|
February 8, 2022
Black & ... Growing up in Jamaica was…. great. In school we were taught about Racism– things I knew to be true. But also all very distant- and I was positive that I’d never EVER have to associate with it READ MORE |
|
|
|
|
January 21, 2022
School, Motherhood & Mental Health Kelsy Diaz, 22, was connected to the Brave House through her friend Pretty in the winter of 2020. They had a difficult class together, so Kelsy went to Pretty whenever she needed help. Eventually, Pretty introduced Kelsy to the Brave House, where she is now an active member, a part of the Youth Leadership Board, and was the Community Advocacy intern for 2 semesters." READ MORE |
September 24, 2021
The Power of Representation “It isn’t just about who we let come here,” said Jessenia G, 22, a community member at the Brave House who immigrated to the United States from Ecuador. “It’s much more than that It’s much more than free and cheap labor. It’s about separating families." READ MORE |
November 27, 2020
Lenses of Freedom I made this artwork with different ideas in mind. In mist of tremendous changes in our lives politically socially and individually, I want to find my place in the world. READ MORE |
September 15, 2020
De Mis Raíces Art has been a medium from which I have bridged my heritage, identity, and my emotions. My mother first introduced me to art at five years old. READ MORE |
September 12, 2020
I am a collage I consider these all collaged women alter-egos; pieces here reflect aspects of my personality that are more dominant in some cases than others. READ MORE |
August 19, 2020
Resilience in New York City The Brave House is thrilled to announce the making of a beautiful #Creative Resilience mural project that is now displayed in the Lower East Side. READ MORE |
August 4, 2020
Roots Revival I sketch with the intention of getting current state feelings onto the paper/medium. In this moment I was reflecting/feeling/thinking about ancestral trauma, my own trauma, and how we can find our healing path through investigating both. READ MORE |
July 29, 2020
Why We Should End Darkskin Invisibility When I was younger I found out quickly that there was something wrong with my skin…..Or was there something wrong with it? I thought that something was wrong with my skin because the world behaved as though when I was standing in the dark I’d disappear. READ MORE |
|
|
|
July 7, 2020
Black & _____ Racism is a term that was taught in school. It always felt distant and I was positive I'd never ever associate with it because I was a Queen who just happens to be black. The color of my skin was never the first interesting thing about me. READ MORE |
June 19, 2020
Colorism Is the First Form of Racism I Experienced My dark, 4c textured hair spirals tighter than rotini pasta boiling in a hot pan. I have dark brown skin with swirls of reddish orange undertones. Features like my big lips, wide nose, & almond eyes all come together to make another black girl. READ MORE |
|
Black & ...
By Yaniel February 8, 2022 |
|
|
Growing up in Jamaica was…. great.
In school we were taught about Racism– things I knew to be true. But also all very distant- and I was positive that I’d never EVER have to associate with it The color of my skin was never the first interesting thing about me. It was also never the first boring thing either. I was a Queen… Who, also just happened to be Black. I was everything else and then BLACK… to be specific... Well to be honest I never really used that word; I had no need. I was everything else, I was articulate, I was a bad gyal, but also a beautiful and complex young woman Then and only then, I was the girl with 4c kinky hair who society told to align her hairstyles with conservative white Eurocentric standards; I was Black. In the Caribbean, the American Dream is sold with so much glamm… And well I was sold. It can be beautiful while looking through rose colored glasses… I was hooked. Upon arrival, those glasses broke…and even left a couple splinters. BOOM, just like that, I was labeled, boxed and tightly packaged for what my American peers could tolerate and understand. I was labeled as the second Black girl in town and then, I was the girl who was not civilized enough.. When I used my native dialect…. I was asked if I write how I speak; It threw me…i was confused, my first set of microaggressions were all but small. I thought we all did though. Hmmm My supposed to be highly intellectual and “tolerant” peers became my mental Inquisition-ers. |
Slowly and aimlessly I began to change- to them at least,
Contouring and bending over backwards.
I then realized I had now become the mad Black Woman…She was seen first before anything else.
For the first time in my life I became afraid of who I was, because I believed it!
No matter how I tried to polish my “Blackness”, it just sparkles!
With the awareness came anxiety and fear, because now Racism is all I know.
As I began to mourn the losses of my fearlessness.
I looked for connection from those who looked like me-
I was then told that I am a Black Immigrant from the Caribbean and not an American descendant of Slavery; Therefore Racism and systematic oppression did not concern me.
Huh? Was that some sort of backhanded compliment?
It was supposed to detach me from Black-ness,
creating a false negative space between myself and my people
I guess it should’ve made me feel better
but Racism didn’t know the difference, to it, and to them
I was just a mad black woman.
Illustration by Carmela Caldart.
Contouring and bending over backwards.
I then realized I had now become the mad Black Woman…She was seen first before anything else.
For the first time in my life I became afraid of who I was, because I believed it!
No matter how I tried to polish my “Blackness”, it just sparkles!
With the awareness came anxiety and fear, because now Racism is all I know.
As I began to mourn the losses of my fearlessness.
I looked for connection from those who looked like me-
I was then told that I am a Black Immigrant from the Caribbean and not an American descendant of Slavery; Therefore Racism and systematic oppression did not concern me.
Huh? Was that some sort of backhanded compliment?
It was supposed to detach me from Black-ness,
creating a false negative space between myself and my people
I guess it should’ve made me feel better
but Racism didn’t know the difference, to it, and to them
I was just a mad black woman.
Illustration by Carmela Caldart.
|
School, Motherhood & Mental Health
Navigating life during a pandemic and the resiliency to keep showing up January 21, 2022 |
|
|
Kelsy Diaz, 22, was connected to the Brave House through her friend Pretty in the winter of 2020. They had a difficult class together, so Kelsy went to Pretty whenever she needed help. Eventually, Pretty introduced Kelsy to the Brave House, where she is now an active member, a part of the Youth Leadership Board, and was the Community Advocacy intern for 2 semesters.
Kelsy was born and raised in Queens, New York, where she lives today. She recently obtained her Bachelor’s degree in human services from City Tech. As a high school student, however, Kelsy anticipated going into cosmetology. But she quickly found she didn’t like working in a salon after she had graduated high school. This prompted Kelsy to enroll in college as a Liberal Arts major. On the side, she found herself working for an agency as a direct support professional (DSP) for people with disabilities. Kelsy enjoyed that type of work and realized that her college offered a major in that very field. Therefore, she began taking courses for her human services degree. Then, in December of 2019, everything became complex when Kelsy learned she was pregnant. Over the course of her first trimester, Kelsy struggled with nausea, which impacted her experience at college as she often had to leave her classes. “I like to be in school,” Kelsy said. “I like to raise my hand. I like to participate. But at this time, I felt so dead, very tired.” |
Even so, Kelsy managed to hand in her work. “My mentality is, am I going to be a failure? I have to get this done,” she said. “I just put it in my head that nobody else is going to do the work for me.” While COVID-19 had been overwhelmingly challenging, Kelsy said that in some respects, the onset of the pandemic was a blessing in disguise. She was able to take her classes remotely, so she could more easily cope with her nausea and other side effects of pregnancy.
However, Kelsy struggled with depression because of matters with her son’s father on top of isolating from COVID-19. “I felt like nobody understood me,” said Kelsy.
When September 2020 came, Kelsy gave birth to her son, coinciding with the start of her college’s semester. She struggled to sleep while caring for her son and initially, had difficulty walking because she had a C section. Adding onto that, Kelsy’s mother had spinal surgery, so she couldn’t walk properly either.
Kelsy had to balance caring for her son as well as herself while taking four courses. This culminated in a period of postpartum depression. “I felt like I couldn’t do anything,” Kelsy said. “I couldn’t even put my own clothes on.” This meant she also struggled to eat and in turn, lost 20 pounds. And since she couldn’t eat anything, she wasn’t able to work. With all of these challenges in place, Kelsy said she found herself crying at random times throughout the day.
When Kelsy began struggling with suicidal ideations, she decided to receive psychiatric assistance and treatment. Through speaking to other mothers, Kelsy learned they too had felt depressed after giving birth. This is where the Brave House came in.
While Pretty had mentioned the Brave House to Kelsy before, Kelsy decided to join when she learned that the Brave House could connect her with a therapist. Kelsy also started to engage with the Brave House as an intern. Part of her role was speaking with new members and welcoming them into the community. When Kelsy conducts intakes, she emphasizes her experience with the Brave House and how the Brave House can be of help. She aims to build rapport so that they feel welcome, at ease and comfortable enough to join.
In addition to intakes, Kelsy has hosted individual English tutoring sessions for Spanish-speaking immigrant women to help them from falling behind in school during the pandemic. Kelsy’s mother is an immigrant herself, and came to the United States 30 years ago from the Dominican Republic.
While Kelsy sees a therapist, she also uses writing to heal. “I remembered when I was little, I used to write down everything I was feeling,” said Kelsy. “So doing that actually helped me feel better. I would read it out loud.”
Though she has a therapist and writing as a tool, Kelsy sometimes asks herself, “What’s the point of being in the school? What’s the point of doing all of this?” Support from her family and her friends helps her through this self-doubt and hopelessness.
“I had a lot of people tell me, ‘You have to continue to strive. You have to grow. You have to show your son everything that you’ve been doing,’” said Kelsy.
Something Kelsy recently pushed herself to accomplish was getting a driver’s license. For her, practical tasks take her a longer time to learn, so she had put off driving. But she was determined. “I have to do this. I don’t care how many classes. I’m going to get my license,” Kelsy said.
After her third class with a driving instructor, she received a text from an unknown number with a link to a video on self-confidence. She started crying when she finished viewing the video. Kelsy called the number on her screen and that’s when her driving instructor answered on the other end. He told her she needed to start having confidence in herself.
“He said, ‘I know you’re going to pass this test. I know you’re going to do it. I need you to forget everything else and put your mind into this one thing,” said Kelsy.
While this caught her by surprise, her instructor was correct. Kelsy later passed her test and received her driver’s license.
Since the beginning of this pandemic, Kelsy has taken a full-course load while either pregnant or taking care of her son and suffering from postpartum depression. And through seeking a therapist through the Brave House, reflective writing and leaning on her family and friends, she has managed to begin to heal and challenge her own self-doubts. She has since graduated from college and is now working full time as an intake specialist at YAI - a New York based organization supporting children and adults with intellectual and developmental difficulties.
Kelsy is a beacon of resiliency, inspiration, and bravery for us all.
Written by Kathryn Augustine (intern), edited by The Brave House team
However, Kelsy struggled with depression because of matters with her son’s father on top of isolating from COVID-19. “I felt like nobody understood me,” said Kelsy.
When September 2020 came, Kelsy gave birth to her son, coinciding with the start of her college’s semester. She struggled to sleep while caring for her son and initially, had difficulty walking because she had a C section. Adding onto that, Kelsy’s mother had spinal surgery, so she couldn’t walk properly either.
Kelsy had to balance caring for her son as well as herself while taking four courses. This culminated in a period of postpartum depression. “I felt like I couldn’t do anything,” Kelsy said. “I couldn’t even put my own clothes on.” This meant she also struggled to eat and in turn, lost 20 pounds. And since she couldn’t eat anything, she wasn’t able to work. With all of these challenges in place, Kelsy said she found herself crying at random times throughout the day.
When Kelsy began struggling with suicidal ideations, she decided to receive psychiatric assistance and treatment. Through speaking to other mothers, Kelsy learned they too had felt depressed after giving birth. This is where the Brave House came in.
While Pretty had mentioned the Brave House to Kelsy before, Kelsy decided to join when she learned that the Brave House could connect her with a therapist. Kelsy also started to engage with the Brave House as an intern. Part of her role was speaking with new members and welcoming them into the community. When Kelsy conducts intakes, she emphasizes her experience with the Brave House and how the Brave House can be of help. She aims to build rapport so that they feel welcome, at ease and comfortable enough to join.
In addition to intakes, Kelsy has hosted individual English tutoring sessions for Spanish-speaking immigrant women to help them from falling behind in school during the pandemic. Kelsy’s mother is an immigrant herself, and came to the United States 30 years ago from the Dominican Republic.
While Kelsy sees a therapist, she also uses writing to heal. “I remembered when I was little, I used to write down everything I was feeling,” said Kelsy. “So doing that actually helped me feel better. I would read it out loud.”
Though she has a therapist and writing as a tool, Kelsy sometimes asks herself, “What’s the point of being in the school? What’s the point of doing all of this?” Support from her family and her friends helps her through this self-doubt and hopelessness.
“I had a lot of people tell me, ‘You have to continue to strive. You have to grow. You have to show your son everything that you’ve been doing,’” said Kelsy.
Something Kelsy recently pushed herself to accomplish was getting a driver’s license. For her, practical tasks take her a longer time to learn, so she had put off driving. But she was determined. “I have to do this. I don’t care how many classes. I’m going to get my license,” Kelsy said.
After her third class with a driving instructor, she received a text from an unknown number with a link to a video on self-confidence. She started crying when she finished viewing the video. Kelsy called the number on her screen and that’s when her driving instructor answered on the other end. He told her she needed to start having confidence in herself.
“He said, ‘I know you’re going to pass this test. I know you’re going to do it. I need you to forget everything else and put your mind into this one thing,” said Kelsy.
While this caught her by surprise, her instructor was correct. Kelsy later passed her test and received her driver’s license.
Since the beginning of this pandemic, Kelsy has taken a full-course load while either pregnant or taking care of her son and suffering from postpartum depression. And through seeking a therapist through the Brave House, reflective writing and leaning on her family and friends, she has managed to begin to heal and challenge her own self-doubts. She has since graduated from college and is now working full time as an intake specialist at YAI - a New York based organization supporting children and adults with intellectual and developmental difficulties.
Kelsy is a beacon of resiliency, inspiration, and bravery for us all.
Written by Kathryn Augustine (intern), edited by The Brave House team
|
The Power of Representation
The Intersection of Immigration, Trauma, & Child Psychology September 24, 2021 |
|
|
“It isn’t just about who we let come here,” said Jessenia G, 22, a community member at the Brave House who immigrated to the United States from Ecuador. “It’s much more than that. It’s much more than free and cheap labor. It’s about separating families. On each side of the border, it’s the people who are left behind and the people who are here.” When Jessenia was just one year old, her parents left Ecuador to immigrate to New York City, leaving Jessenia to live with grandparents. Jessenia did not join her parents in NYC for another 14 years, which resulted in many challenges for her throughout her childhood. At a very young age, Jessenia started receiving therapy to help her cope. At the time, however, she didn’t understand that the kind lady that came to her house each week to talk to her was actually her therapist. Because of her early life experiences as a young immigrant woman, Jessenia became very interested in the study of the mind and how the mind stores memories. When Jessenia came to the United States at age fourteen and started high school, however, there were not any psychology programs offered. She began college, excited to study psychology, but was discouraged by people who told her not to go for what she wanted. As a result, Jessenia studied programming for two years but was not happy with it. Jessenia realized: “if I’m going to college, which is a privilege, I should be doing something I like and something I’m passionate about.” |
She transferred to Brooklyn College to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, where she has just finished her last semester as an undergraduate student. While at Brooklyn College, Jessenia said, she became particularly fascinated by her child development courses. She learned that what happens in someone’s childhood can have a significant impact on them into adulthood. Jessenia said she doesn't think that this is something widely known or discussed by people outside of the field of psychology.
In the childhood development courses, she also gained insight into herself. “I was learning and learning and unfolding my own trauma.” When Jessenia visited her school’s mental health center, they initially did not know how to diagnose her. She exhibited many different symptoms at once, which she now sees in her parents too. The two diagnoses that stood out, though, were Post-Traumatic Disorder (PTSD) and panic disorder.
After learning more about psychology, especially through her own experiences, Jessenia wants to help children with experiences like hers, whether that be in a school setting, at a non-profit, or even in a detention center.
Jessenia said her interest in working in a school setting with minorities comes from her awareness that people can fall behind as early as elementary school, which limits their ability to access higher education.
While she has done a lot of non-profit work centered on the immigrant community, she has only worked with youth and adults. As a native Spanish speaker who identifies at Latinx, she said she is particularly interested in working with children who came from South America, just as she did.
During Jessenia’s time at Brooklyn College, she said she also saw inequality and injustice within the field. Her classes were filled with white students and the intersection of trauma with immigration was not spoken about. “There were so many classes with child development, abnormal psychology, cultural psychology, learning psychology. I didn’t see we were represented in any aspect,” said Jessenia. “It drove me to be in the field even more.”
On top of that, Jessenia, who also identifies as Indigenous, said that the field of psychology has a lot of decolonization to do. She said the techniques used and those who have been studied do not reflect the experiences of people of color, people of Indigenous descent, and minorities. They have had to create their own means of serving their communities that are not written down in books, Jessenia said.
This has to do with who takes psychology courses and has access to earning a Master’s degree or PhD. In addition to the absence of non-white persons in psychological research, Jessenia said she also does not see a lot of therapists of color or LGBTQ+ people practicing in the field.
“Representation matters a lot,” said Jessenia, who now works with a Peruvian therapist.
Written by Kathryn Augustine, edited by The Brave House team
In the childhood development courses, she also gained insight into herself. “I was learning and learning and unfolding my own trauma.” When Jessenia visited her school’s mental health center, they initially did not know how to diagnose her. She exhibited many different symptoms at once, which she now sees in her parents too. The two diagnoses that stood out, though, were Post-Traumatic Disorder (PTSD) and panic disorder.
After learning more about psychology, especially through her own experiences, Jessenia wants to help children with experiences like hers, whether that be in a school setting, at a non-profit, or even in a detention center.
Jessenia said her interest in working in a school setting with minorities comes from her awareness that people can fall behind as early as elementary school, which limits their ability to access higher education.
While she has done a lot of non-profit work centered on the immigrant community, she has only worked with youth and adults. As a native Spanish speaker who identifies at Latinx, she said she is particularly interested in working with children who came from South America, just as she did.
During Jessenia’s time at Brooklyn College, she said she also saw inequality and injustice within the field. Her classes were filled with white students and the intersection of trauma with immigration was not spoken about. “There were so many classes with child development, abnormal psychology, cultural psychology, learning psychology. I didn’t see we were represented in any aspect,” said Jessenia. “It drove me to be in the field even more.”
On top of that, Jessenia, who also identifies as Indigenous, said that the field of psychology has a lot of decolonization to do. She said the techniques used and those who have been studied do not reflect the experiences of people of color, people of Indigenous descent, and minorities. They have had to create their own means of serving their communities that are not written down in books, Jessenia said.
This has to do with who takes psychology courses and has access to earning a Master’s degree or PhD. In addition to the absence of non-white persons in psychological research, Jessenia said she also does not see a lot of therapists of color or LGBTQ+ people practicing in the field.
“Representation matters a lot,” said Jessenia, who now works with a Peruvian therapist.
Written by Kathryn Augustine, edited by The Brave House team
|
Lenses of Freedom
By Jessenia November 27, 2020 |
|
|
I made this artwork with different ideas in my mind. In mist of tremendous changes in our lives politically, socially and individually, I want to find my place in the world. While the butterflies also mean migration, I want to see myself beyond my story of migration and legal status. To see the world and self-image through the lenses of freedom which is why the butterflies are on top of the eyes. I want to feel normal, like everyone else. I want to see more of the beauty of our struggle rather than all the barriers. I long the feeling of belongingness and to calm my mind and soul from running.
|
|
De Mis Raíces
By Candi September 17, 2020 |
|
Mis Raíces
Art has been a medium from which I have bridged my heritage, identity, and my emotions. My mother first introduced me to art at five years old. I remember my first drawing being a contour line drawing of the number two which slowly transformed into a beautiful swan. From that day the essence of art and its practice became a part of my life. My passion for drawing and painting was strengthened when I attended high school, where I became exposed to other art mediums I was not yet familiar with. When I was first introduced to ceramics I was so excited to explore the many ways I could morph clay and create beautiful things, this practice reconnected me with the earth. In my works I am often inspired and allured by the organic, nature, culture and colors.
Remembering the techniques and art projects I have created and have been a part of bring me to a state of thought. After deciding not to pursue an art career, It was still important for me to keep art and its practice alive. I have used art as a form of expression, one that invoked thought, beauty and that reminds me of my raíces. Art has been a form of speech, that is centered in my beliefs, and makes a part of who I am.
Today I look back, and ponder of the ways art has shaped my life, has filled my home with color and has sparked initiative in matters of importance. I have found the connection with art therapeutic and in many ways empowering. Integrating art in my life was a choice that occurred spontaneously as I grew, learning of the history of art and its use in different societies and at different points in time inspired me to further create art and explore other ways in which to use art as a medium of expression. I will never stop creating, recreating and calling for its never ending practice!
These are some of my recent works both paintings and photographs inspired by Mis Raíces.
Art has been a medium from which I have bridged my heritage, identity, and my emotions. My mother first introduced me to art at five years old. I remember my first drawing being a contour line drawing of the number two which slowly transformed into a beautiful swan. From that day the essence of art and its practice became a part of my life. My passion for drawing and painting was strengthened when I attended high school, where I became exposed to other art mediums I was not yet familiar with. When I was first introduced to ceramics I was so excited to explore the many ways I could morph clay and create beautiful things, this practice reconnected me with the earth. In my works I am often inspired and allured by the organic, nature, culture and colors.
Remembering the techniques and art projects I have created and have been a part of bring me to a state of thought. After deciding not to pursue an art career, It was still important for me to keep art and its practice alive. I have used art as a form of expression, one that invoked thought, beauty and that reminds me of my raíces. Art has been a form of speech, that is centered in my beliefs, and makes a part of who I am.
Today I look back, and ponder of the ways art has shaped my life, has filled my home with color and has sparked initiative in matters of importance. I have found the connection with art therapeutic and in many ways empowering. Integrating art in my life was a choice that occurred spontaneously as I grew, learning of the history of art and its use in different societies and at different points in time inspired me to further create art and explore other ways in which to use art as a medium of expression. I will never stop creating, recreating and calling for its never ending practice!
These are some of my recent works both paintings and photographs inspired by Mis Raíces.
Title: El Maguey
Medium: Acrylic on canvas 
Title: Monstera ll
Medium: Photograph |
Title : Xoloitzcuintli
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas 
Title: Gallo
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas |
Title: Monstera
Medium: Photograph 
Title: Salsa de Molcajete
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas |
|
I am a collage
By Sam September 12, 2020 |
|
I consider these all collaged women alter-egos; pieces here reflect aspects of my personality that are more dominant in some cases than others. Art helps me visualize who I am and who I can be. As long as I put it to paper.
|
Resilience in New York City
By Candi August 19, 2020 |
|
Lower East Side Creative Resilience Mural!
The Brave House is thrilled to announce the making of a beautiful #Creative Resilience mural project that is now displayed in the Lower East Side in Manhattan. Several of our Brave House members have worked diligently to make this mural project possible. With the guidance and support of crucial artists and mentors such as Danielle, Angela Del Sol, Dreemy, and Sam, the mural project encompasses resilience amidst Covid-19. The creation of this project brought together a vast majority of women and cultivated creativity, inspiration, support and unity all throughout the project.
Members Nicole, Coco, Angela, Diana and Candi have been committed to the project for over three months, between virtual zoom meetings and team discussions they have been able to incorporate feelings of hope, resilience, empowerment and unity. We invite you to read and learn more about the project and members' involvement. We asked three Brave House members what this mural project meant to them.
What inspired your creativity and how did you incorporate that into the mural?
Nicole: "My inspiration was from my experiences and the things that happen around me. For example, nature represents the recovering of the world through quarantine. The mask is the representation of the pandemic which is history, and the ways it is affecting the world in different ways such as economically and the passing of people."
What are your two favorite elements/ parts of the mural project and why?
Angela: "The first was when we had the meetings and when each gave our ideas. It gave harmony between us; it allowed us to learn a lot about others and about art."
What did you like the most about your involvement with this project?
Coco: "I liked when we mixed the profile pictures into one person - merging our faces was the favorite part of the project. I felt inspired when we started the meetings and then when Angela asked us to provide music during the questions (brainstorming process)."
Members were involved in the creation of the mural design from beginning to end and were thrilled to work on it hands on! The mural was finished in a little over a week. Below are some of the members' sketches that went into the brainstorming and final design of the mural! Brave House members created mood boards that inspired them. Taking inspiration from their mood boards and sharing thoughts with one another via zoom meetings, they created the preliminary sketches shown below which later lead to a final design incorporating everyone's visions and ideas.
The Brave House is thrilled to announce the making of a beautiful #Creative Resilience mural project that is now displayed in the Lower East Side in Manhattan. Several of our Brave House members have worked diligently to make this mural project possible. With the guidance and support of crucial artists and mentors such as Danielle, Angela Del Sol, Dreemy, and Sam, the mural project encompasses resilience amidst Covid-19. The creation of this project brought together a vast majority of women and cultivated creativity, inspiration, support and unity all throughout the project.
Members Nicole, Coco, Angela, Diana and Candi have been committed to the project for over three months, between virtual zoom meetings and team discussions they have been able to incorporate feelings of hope, resilience, empowerment and unity. We invite you to read and learn more about the project and members' involvement. We asked three Brave House members what this mural project meant to them.
What inspired your creativity and how did you incorporate that into the mural?
Nicole: "My inspiration was from my experiences and the things that happen around me. For example, nature represents the recovering of the world through quarantine. The mask is the representation of the pandemic which is history, and the ways it is affecting the world in different ways such as economically and the passing of people."
What are your two favorite elements/ parts of the mural project and why?
Angela: "The first was when we had the meetings and when each gave our ideas. It gave harmony between us; it allowed us to learn a lot about others and about art."
What did you like the most about your involvement with this project?
Coco: "I liked when we mixed the profile pictures into one person - merging our faces was the favorite part of the project. I felt inspired when we started the meetings and then when Angela asked us to provide music during the questions (brainstorming process)."
Members were involved in the creation of the mural design from beginning to end and were thrilled to work on it hands on! The mural was finished in a little over a week. Below are some of the members' sketches that went into the brainstorming and final design of the mural! Brave House members created mood boards that inspired them. Taking inspiration from their mood boards and sharing thoughts with one another via zoom meetings, they created the preliminary sketches shown below which later lead to a final design incorporating everyone's visions and ideas.
|
|
|
Roots Revival
By Mikelina Yonas Belaineh August 4, 2020 |
|
|
I sketch with the intention of getting current state feelings onto the paper/medium. In this moment I was reflecting/feeling/thinking about ancestral trauma, my own trauma, and how we can find our healing path through investigating both. |
|
Why We Should End Darkskin Invisibility
By S. Thompson July 29, 2020 |
|
When I was younger I found out quickly that there was something wrong with my skin…..
Or was there something wrong with it?
I thought that something was wrong with my skin because the world behaved as though when I was standing in the dark I’d disappear.
They seemed to think that being very black was very funny.
I could NEVER see myself in the world.
NOT EVEN my mother shared my shade
So how was I so different, so abnormal that God singled me out and painted me this Black?
Why was I the only one around me this dark,
and why was I so sensitive?
As if God gave me twice the color and twice the heart.
My peers looked down on my skin,
As if it was a sin
They scorned me like I had leprosy
I stared at myself in the mirror and only saw Black Beauty
But It got me thinking hard when someone would call me “Black as tar” as a joke,
but it wasn’t funny to me.
So much pain in my skin,
Because I was in mental chains being whipped by their words because they were in mental slavery
And they thought that light and white was superior,
And I was abnormal to them because they couldn’t see me on their T.V.
Most times they were watching the same T.V. shows that I was watching and none of the actors ever looked like me
So there must have been something different about my skin
Was it a rare skin condition to be this black?
Pitch black
They said I was too Black for them to date me
Too dark for them to rate me,
10/10
So tell me again when will I be too dark for them to
Hate me
Again and again?
I was invisible when I liked a boy and wanted to be seen by him
and it was NEVER ladylike to seek attention from a man
I was invisible when I wrote love notes in class to my crush
I was a couple shades too dark to be his type
I turned on the T.V. and I couldn’t see me. I looked in magazines and couldn’t see me
No one saw me unless they were drawing attention to how dark I was
And I’d hide from those people.
I was actually Black and beautiful when Colorism made me out to be abnormal and called me ugly.
I wish I was stronger then.
I tried to cope with colorism at the age of 10, I sucked my thumb and cried myself to sleep every night and my teeth became crooked.
I got scholarships to go to High School after having the highest grades in my school and then went into the class with the smartest kids
Colorism rose again with jeers and taunting and ostracizing me and my grades dropped
The hate I got for my skin affected my life drastically but I still achieved multiple awards in High School and in Primary School.
Now I realized how damaging colorism was and how hypocritical it was
Let a light skin woman wear the exact dress I’m in and she would get praised and some of the same “Black men” would dismiss me
I grew up invisible and only seen when my skin was the subject of a joke
I was made to feel inferior in classrooms that I was supposed to learn in and it affected my grades
I’d stand by the Whiteboard and they’d say I was “BLACKing” the board but a lighter girl would stand there for hours with no jokes made or anything
I have no privilege and I could not see myself in the people around me because they went out to buy skin-lightening products when I was struggling to find myself and even before that they were lighter than me.
They had joked that I’d look like a yin-yang in a wedding dress and it was racist to me even if the person who said it was “Black” but I laughed. Not wanting them to say I couldn’t take a joke and then I started thinking of all the other colors I could wear to my wedding just to avoid wearing white
Soon I’d remember that I was just 19 at the time and wasn’t planning to get married anytime soon
Most guys were attracted to lighter-skinned women and didn’t even acknowledge my presence and ever so often these men would get bored and flirt with me as if they could possibly like me
And as soon as I attempt to talk to them they would behave as if I was a ghost.
They looked through me because I didn’t match the beauty standards of our society and I was then demonized and made out to be the threat.
As a woman, I was never treated like the prize yet still my light-skinned counselor had a lot to say when I, a dark-skinned woman, decided to reach out to the boy I like first
That’s not ladylike to seek attention from a man but why don’t they just see me?
She should have known that I was invisible.
She should have known that I was a different type of woman but they continued to judge me as if I was light-skinned with long hair and light eyes.
When I came to New York for the first time I wasn’t looking for myself.
I was looking for an opportunity and I was loving everything about my skin.
I used to train with Pulse Caribbean Model Search and thought about being a model when I came here I quickly realized that there was virtually no diversity in beauty. The billboards spoke on this, as well as the number of white models to black ones. My type of beauty was not validated in our society and just by just my skin tone I was already seen as unconventional beauty by the society.
I have chosen to validate myself and look within myself
I have more to offer than my beauty and then my blackness is my beauty
Because one can not exist in me without the other.
There is more to me than the way I look but still I REFUSE to remain invisible
because I have so much to offer
I am a gift
All that is within me is valuable and the world NEEDS to see the beauty in blackness and that Black Skin is also worthy of praise and adoration.
How can the World even realize that I have so much value If seeing me the WORLD become BLIND and hearing my cries for equality the WORLD BECOMES DEAF?
There is beauty to be seen within me RIGHT NOW!
I am fresh and new and just starting to bloom.
I am a WOMAN and a different model, a different design completely, created with DARK SKIN, carved with gentle curves, completed with short hair,
I WAS MADE EQUAL.
Or was there something wrong with it?
I thought that something was wrong with my skin because the world behaved as though when I was standing in the dark I’d disappear.
They seemed to think that being very black was very funny.
I could NEVER see myself in the world.
NOT EVEN my mother shared my shade
So how was I so different, so abnormal that God singled me out and painted me this Black?
Why was I the only one around me this dark,
and why was I so sensitive?
As if God gave me twice the color and twice the heart.
My peers looked down on my skin,
As if it was a sin
They scorned me like I had leprosy
I stared at myself in the mirror and only saw Black Beauty
But It got me thinking hard when someone would call me “Black as tar” as a joke,
but it wasn’t funny to me.
So much pain in my skin,
Because I was in mental chains being whipped by their words because they were in mental slavery
And they thought that light and white was superior,
And I was abnormal to them because they couldn’t see me on their T.V.
Most times they were watching the same T.V. shows that I was watching and none of the actors ever looked like me
So there must have been something different about my skin
Was it a rare skin condition to be this black?
Pitch black
They said I was too Black for them to date me
Too dark for them to rate me,
10/10
So tell me again when will I be too dark for them to
Hate me
Again and again?
I was invisible when I liked a boy and wanted to be seen by him
and it was NEVER ladylike to seek attention from a man
I was invisible when I wrote love notes in class to my crush
I was a couple shades too dark to be his type
I turned on the T.V. and I couldn’t see me. I looked in magazines and couldn’t see me
No one saw me unless they were drawing attention to how dark I was
And I’d hide from those people.
I was actually Black and beautiful when Colorism made me out to be abnormal and called me ugly.
I wish I was stronger then.
I tried to cope with colorism at the age of 10, I sucked my thumb and cried myself to sleep every night and my teeth became crooked.
I got scholarships to go to High School after having the highest grades in my school and then went into the class with the smartest kids
Colorism rose again with jeers and taunting and ostracizing me and my grades dropped
The hate I got for my skin affected my life drastically but I still achieved multiple awards in High School and in Primary School.
Now I realized how damaging colorism was and how hypocritical it was
Let a light skin woman wear the exact dress I’m in and she would get praised and some of the same “Black men” would dismiss me
I grew up invisible and only seen when my skin was the subject of a joke
I was made to feel inferior in classrooms that I was supposed to learn in and it affected my grades
I’d stand by the Whiteboard and they’d say I was “BLACKing” the board but a lighter girl would stand there for hours with no jokes made or anything
I have no privilege and I could not see myself in the people around me because they went out to buy skin-lightening products when I was struggling to find myself and even before that they were lighter than me.
They had joked that I’d look like a yin-yang in a wedding dress and it was racist to me even if the person who said it was “Black” but I laughed. Not wanting them to say I couldn’t take a joke and then I started thinking of all the other colors I could wear to my wedding just to avoid wearing white
Soon I’d remember that I was just 19 at the time and wasn’t planning to get married anytime soon
Most guys were attracted to lighter-skinned women and didn’t even acknowledge my presence and ever so often these men would get bored and flirt with me as if they could possibly like me
And as soon as I attempt to talk to them they would behave as if I was a ghost.
They looked through me because I didn’t match the beauty standards of our society and I was then demonized and made out to be the threat.
As a woman, I was never treated like the prize yet still my light-skinned counselor had a lot to say when I, a dark-skinned woman, decided to reach out to the boy I like first
That’s not ladylike to seek attention from a man but why don’t they just see me?
She should have known that I was invisible.
She should have known that I was a different type of woman but they continued to judge me as if I was light-skinned with long hair and light eyes.
When I came to New York for the first time I wasn’t looking for myself.
I was looking for an opportunity and I was loving everything about my skin.
I used to train with Pulse Caribbean Model Search and thought about being a model when I came here I quickly realized that there was virtually no diversity in beauty. The billboards spoke on this, as well as the number of white models to black ones. My type of beauty was not validated in our society and just by just my skin tone I was already seen as unconventional beauty by the society.
I have chosen to validate myself and look within myself
I have more to offer than my beauty and then my blackness is my beauty
Because one can not exist in me without the other.
There is more to me than the way I look but still I REFUSE to remain invisible
because I have so much to offer
I am a gift
All that is within me is valuable and the world NEEDS to see the beauty in blackness and that Black Skin is also worthy of praise and adoration.
How can the World even realize that I have so much value If seeing me the WORLD become BLIND and hearing my cries for equality the WORLD BECOMES DEAF?
There is beauty to be seen within me RIGHT NOW!
I am fresh and new and just starting to bloom.
I am a WOMAN and a different model, a different design completely, created with DARK SKIN, carved with gentle curves, completed with short hair,
I WAS MADE EQUAL.
|
Black & ______
By Yaniel W. July 7, 2020 |
|
The following piece is a form of spoken word poetry.
Racism is a term that was taught in school.
It always felt distant and I was positive I’d never ever associate with it because I knew I was a Queen who just happens to be black. The color of my skin was never the first interesting thing about me. I was everything else and then BLACK. Well to be honest I didn’t really use that word. I was everything else, then, I was the girl with 4c kinky hair who felt as if my hairstyles should align more with conservative standards. Funny right!? Was I even happy to be “everything else then BLACK” as I describe it?? Nevertheless I was at peace with that one. “Knowledge is power and ignorance is bliss,” they say.
The American Dream is beautiful when you’re looking through rose colored glasses. I was labeled as the second Black girl in town and I was the girl who was not civilized. When I used my native language, I was asked if I write how I speak; I thought we all did though. I then realized I was now a Mad Black Woman first before I was anything else. For the first time in my life I became afraid of who I was because I believed it. No matter how I tried to polish the Blackness, it just sparkles!
With the awareness came anxiety and fear, because now Racism is all I know. As I mourn these experiences, I was then told that I am a Black Immigrant and not an American descendant of Slavery. I guess it should’ve made me feel better but Racism didn’t know the difference.
Racism is a term that was taught in school.
It always felt distant and I was positive I’d never ever associate with it because I knew I was a Queen who just happens to be black. The color of my skin was never the first interesting thing about me. I was everything else and then BLACK. Well to be honest I didn’t really use that word. I was everything else, then, I was the girl with 4c kinky hair who felt as if my hairstyles should align more with conservative standards. Funny right!? Was I even happy to be “everything else then BLACK” as I describe it?? Nevertheless I was at peace with that one. “Knowledge is power and ignorance is bliss,” they say.
The American Dream is beautiful when you’re looking through rose colored glasses. I was labeled as the second Black girl in town and I was the girl who was not civilized. When I used my native language, I was asked if I write how I speak; I thought we all did though. I then realized I was now a Mad Black Woman first before I was anything else. For the first time in my life I became afraid of who I was because I believed it. No matter how I tried to polish the Blackness, it just sparkles!
With the awareness came anxiety and fear, because now Racism is all I know. As I mourn these experiences, I was then told that I am a Black Immigrant and not an American descendant of Slavery. I guess it should’ve made me feel better but Racism didn’t know the difference.
|
Colorism is the First Form of Racism I Experienced
By Ketia J. June 19, 2020 |
|
My dark, 4c textured hair spirals tighter than rotini pasta boiling in a hot pan. I have dark brown skin with swirls of reddish orange undertones. Features like my big lips, wide nose, and almond eyes all come together to make another black girl.
I can’t remember the exact day, or time. I can’t tell you what color clothes I wore. All I remember is being about six years old, and my mom took me to visit her friend who was from Haiti. It was my first time meeting her and when she laid her eyes on me she said, “Wow you have beautiful brown skin." I smiled kindly, and hid behind my mother’s thighs.
In the fourth grade, I attended a magnet elementary school and was in the music program. I loved to sing, but the program insisted we played instruments like the flute, saxophone, or clarinet. Then one day, there was an opportunity to sing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" from the play Annie. I sang that song all around the classroom until my music teacher noticed, and gave me the role.
I was so excited until one of the lighter black girls told me the character Annie was white, so only a light skinned girl should sing the song. As the words spilled from her lips, I wished I could slip away from the gaze in her eyes. My skin immediately felt hot as the pit of my stomach boiled with embarrassment. Later that night, I asked my mom “Why do people comment on my skin tone?” She said, “The lighter you are, the more beautiful you are perceived to be, and you are right in the middle.” That’s the day I started to pour massive amounts of cocoa butter on my skin in hopes to maintain its beauty.
I finally understood why I saw rows of skin lightening creams in Haitian boutiques, why carrot soap seemed to be perfectly placed in most Haitian families' bathrooms. In many of our black communities, we are taught to fetishize over the literal color of our skins. This obsession is the foundation of colorism, the discrimination against those with darker skin from people within the same ethnic group. Colorism is one of the products of systematic racial oppression; it taught black people to value their specific features, instead of themselves as a whole. Many experiences, like not being casted for a role or dating someone based on skin-tone, are all examples of colorism.
Colorism can also be defined as internalized racism which exists on a spectrum. If my two anecdotes aren’t enough to convince you, here are a few facts. Research has shown that dark skinned girls are three times more likely to be suspended from school than their light skinned classmates. If you think that's shocking, another study found light skinned black people and Hispanic people look smarter to white people. And lastly, this one should be less surprising, the darker you are the more likely you are to go to jail.
Colorism is learned behavior and unfortunately, some black people treat their own brothers and sisters worse than their oppressors. We hate ourselves because for some reason, they hate us as well. So although it's not African Americans’ job to fix systemic racism, it is our job to identify our own biases and unlearn the behavior that stems from racism.
I can’t remember the exact day, or time. I can’t tell you what color clothes I wore. All I remember is being about six years old, and my mom took me to visit her friend who was from Haiti. It was my first time meeting her and when she laid her eyes on me she said, “Wow you have beautiful brown skin." I smiled kindly, and hid behind my mother’s thighs.
In the fourth grade, I attended a magnet elementary school and was in the music program. I loved to sing, but the program insisted we played instruments like the flute, saxophone, or clarinet. Then one day, there was an opportunity to sing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" from the play Annie. I sang that song all around the classroom until my music teacher noticed, and gave me the role.
I was so excited until one of the lighter black girls told me the character Annie was white, so only a light skinned girl should sing the song. As the words spilled from her lips, I wished I could slip away from the gaze in her eyes. My skin immediately felt hot as the pit of my stomach boiled with embarrassment. Later that night, I asked my mom “Why do people comment on my skin tone?” She said, “The lighter you are, the more beautiful you are perceived to be, and you are right in the middle.” That’s the day I started to pour massive amounts of cocoa butter on my skin in hopes to maintain its beauty.
I finally understood why I saw rows of skin lightening creams in Haitian boutiques, why carrot soap seemed to be perfectly placed in most Haitian families' bathrooms. In many of our black communities, we are taught to fetishize over the literal color of our skins. This obsession is the foundation of colorism, the discrimination against those with darker skin from people within the same ethnic group. Colorism is one of the products of systematic racial oppression; it taught black people to value their specific features, instead of themselves as a whole. Many experiences, like not being casted for a role or dating someone based on skin-tone, are all examples of colorism.
Colorism can also be defined as internalized racism which exists on a spectrum. If my two anecdotes aren’t enough to convince you, here are a few facts. Research has shown that dark skinned girls are three times more likely to be suspended from school than their light skinned classmates. If you think that's shocking, another study found light skinned black people and Hispanic people look smarter to white people. And lastly, this one should be less surprising, the darker you are the more likely you are to go to jail.
Colorism is learned behavior and unfortunately, some black people treat their own brothers and sisters worse than their oppressors. We hate ourselves because for some reason, they hate us as well. So although it's not African Americans’ job to fix systemic racism, it is our job to identify our own biases and unlearn the behavior that stems from racism.
