i am afraid Series

It began with a book by Ta-Nehisi Coates I was asked to read for work.

The book was Between the World and Me and was written as a letter to his 15-year-old son. Coates writes a personal, searing and visceral account addressing what it means to inhabit an African American male body in today’s America. I read the book and was undone by this black man’s experience, which was so radically different from my own as a privileged white woman.

i am afraid Series 1

So I set out to try and understand Coates’ experience. I did this by reading and re-reading the book many times. And then over the course of a year, I cut out and glued words, painted, pondered and reflected. By the end of the project, I had an altered book, 14 panels, a tiny book and two scrolls, all produced from one copy of the book. More than that though, I came away with more understanding about what it would feel like to live in fear just because of the color of my skin.