American Violet

“We are Americans , like it or not, this is where we live, this is where our ancestors lived and died and fought and we have the same responsibility to fight for our country right in our own neighborhoods, in our lives in our children’s lives”

“We’ve tried to call ourselves black, most recently, it doesn’t feel right, it doesn’t fit. We have been named a few different times by others in this country. We are simply people. This is how we see ourselves, as people, though we were seen as something else, even documented as property, objects, not even human.  We almost believed it was all true. We act out and demonstrate what we have been trained to believe we are, based on others treatment of us. Black is a color”. 

“Let me give you the definition of black: Black is the color of coal, ebony, and of outer space. It is the darkest color, the result of the absence of or complete absorption of light. We are unique, we have something others don’t have… and we are American through and through not a color”.