Birds Lay Eggs

Daleeyah | 19 | she/her | I like to make art and make fun of The Sims 4.

[abirdegg]

Artist: Me 

Over the course of this semester, I have gained a more in-depth understanding of not only African American history, but myself. Being a part of this class has helped me develop more as a black woman and taught me important lessons about what I value and find important. I looked into a justice system that works against people that it was built to oppress and suffered at the hands of it in my own way. I faced a part of the collective fear that we have as a people, and learned what it means to value your life as a black person in this country.

I learned that while black people make up only a small percentage of the American population, but are disproportionately arrested for drug offenses. I also learned that there are people who, though they acknowledge that bias in the criminal justice system did exist in the past, somehow do not consider it to be an issue of the present. One last thing that I learned through my research into this topic is how extremely common racial profiling is, as 84% of the people pulled over via “stop and frisk” were African American or Latinx.

The challenges that I faced during this project were both educational and emotional, as this has been an extremely hard year for the Black community. Taking this class had forced me to face the issues even more than I already have, and the fact that I chose to specifically look into the criminal justice system made these issues even more prevalent in my mind than they already were. I think I struggled to complete fully in-depth work because I struggled so greatly emotionally with the subject matter. I feel like I definitely could have been more facts-based and analytical in my approach, but I think I let my feelings guide me away from poring over the facts as I should have. What I was seeing before my eyes found it’s way into my blog posts like the Black Lives Matter movement and the election, as well as my experience with racial profiling by the police. I think that even though I did not lean on my facts like I could have, my connection to the subject matter and my compassion for the community came through in what I was speaking about. As far as my final piece goes, I like the way it came out overall, though I think the message is a bit heavy-handed. That might be beneficial though; it could be clearer to an audience that isn’t very familiar with the injustices in the criminal justice system and needs to be enlightened. Other than that, my artwork could have been a bit more detailed and tidy, but I’m proud of what I accomplished in the end.

In the future, I think that the main takeaway from this semester that I will apply to my life is knowing my limits. It is important for me to evaluate my life at the time and decide what challenges I should and should not take on. During a time where I was already hyper-aware of the injustice in the criminal justice system and was hurting because of the brutality the Black community was (and still is) facing at the hands of both law enforcement and the people meant to lead our country, I think going back in time and having to walk through the events of history that led us to this point was a little bit emotionally exhausting for me. I understand how important it is for me specifically to keep this history in mind as I navigate my way through this uncertain world, but a lesson I learned is that we should take these parts of our history to heart, but not let it consume us to the point where our happiness is stolen from us. I learned that I needed to find a balance in my life in which I kept myself mentally okay while doing my best to educate myself and the people around me. I want to attempt to find the joys in life as well as the injustices, as finding those joys will give me the motivation to keep pursuing the truth and what I know is right.

As for what’s next in my life, I think I will continue to try and keep a healthy balance while continuing to further develop my growth as a Black woman. I am incredibly proud of myself for how far I’ve come in my journey; I have become a version of myself that is proud of her skin and where she comes from and isn’t afraid to confront mistreatment and injustice anymore. I am grateful to this class for being a part of my self-discovery, and I am really hopeful that I will become even better in the future. 

[abirdegg]

Artist: Stock Image

Over the last cycle, I began trying to piece together reference images for the artwork that I want to create. I am someone that likes to work from reference in order to get proportions correct, get ideas for posing and layout, or just for inspiration in general. Everything I look at is important, as it is like a puzzle piece that will help make the whole complete when I finish the project. 

For this project specifically, I think it is important that I focus on imagery with emotional weight; that will ultimately inspire me to create something with more depth than usual. I also want to use more basic images of African American men and women, who are the focus of my research into injustice in the criminal justice system. 

I think one of the challenges I will face during the first sketches is creating something that has not been done much before. There is a lot of prison and justice system related artwork out there, and I think it is really important that I try to distinguish myself and add elements like my less realistic drawing style and color palette. 

My next steps will be to start creating some thumbnail sketches or rough overall images of what I’d like the final product to look like. The goal will not be to have a completely polished and finalized piece of art, but to have a general place to start my work and a solid foundation on which to build my ideas. 

[abirdegg]

Artist: Eli Hill

Over the last cycle, I’ve been thinking hard about what I’ve read and what I’ve experienced as a Black person in America. I’ve recently had an experience with racial bias in the justice system, being pulled over by a police officer. It was incredibly scary, but I realized that I could use those feelings to make my final product for this project even better. 

I wanted to create a piece that represents what people go through when they are mistreated by the system. I feel like my drawing should make use of color to convey emotion, and symbolism to convey the message that I want to send to my audience. I want to be able to reach people through simple methods like these while telling a complex story. 

My next step is to start making a rough outline of my piece and continue to read up on statistical evidence that will help support what I’m saying through my work. A big challenge of doing a project like this one is backing up a truly emotional experience with factual evidence that can be used to show people the reality of what we are living. People are so much more inclined to believe that things are not good when there’s evidence to support it. Unfortunately when it comes to the criminal justice system, it takes numbers to convince people to see what we’ve already seen as Black people for years upon years. 

[abirdegg]

Artist: Meera Lee Patel

Over my last cycle, I have continued to study up on incarceration and arrest rates like in my last post. But I believe that this post is especially important, due to the fact that it is November 3rd--election day. This is one of the most covered and important U.S. elections in the history of our country. The results of this election will send a message, specifically to communities of people of color. With the border crisis that continues to intensify and cause more heartache by the day, and the recent civil rights movement that has swept the country, the president we elect will determine whether we have a chance to change. 

This may not seem very related to the topic of my research at first, but the truth of the matter is that the systematic oppression and destruction of Black voices has everything to do with this election. The president has proven time and time again that he does not support Black people and the Black Lives Matter Movement. He has shown that he would rather let white supremacy “stand down and stand by”, rather than denounce it completely. I have my issues with both candidates, but in my opinion performative support of the community is better than a blatant endorsement of white supremacy. 

For my next cycle, I want to challenge myself to figure out a way to create a piece of artwork that captures all of the emotions I have been feeling as a black person, specifically a black woman, in America. I want to showcase how the trauma of systematic oppression is cyclical--it gets passed down from generation to generation. I want to try and convey how this feels and make people understand, if even a little, how badly we need change. 

[abirdegg]

Artist: Tameca Cole

Over the last cycle, I read into some of the statistical facts pertaining to the racism that occurs in the criminal justice system. An article by William Quigley, Racism: The Crime in Criminal Justice, breaks down how much of the U.S. population is made up of African Americans (roughly 13%), how only 14% of drug users are Black, but how they make up 37% of the people arrested for drugs and 56% of the people in state prison for drug related offenses. This, along with much more statistical evidence that Quigley presents in this article, paints a picture of a criminal justice system that is based in discrimination and racism. 

This time, I learned that no matter what people that deny the injustice in the criminal justice system would like you to believe, there is real evidence to support the idea that we are not treated fairly by the systems that were put into place to “protect us”. I was recently in a situation in which I feared a friend and I were in danger, and realized that there was a change that if we were, the systems that are supposed to be fair and just may have not protected us like they should have just because we are black. 

I faced the challenge of realizing the reality of the world we are living in as Black people in America, and understanding that I must remember who I am and what that means for many people. I want to be able to change the narrative surrounding Black people in the justice system. I want to be able to reach people, even if it’s just a few, and educate them on these statistics and topics so they are aware and want to make a change for the better. 

[abirdegg]

Artist: Titus Kaphar

As I continue looking into the American criminal justice system, I’ve been heavily influenced by current events. Looking at articles written on the topic are one thing, but witnessing the injustice before your own eyes is another. 

During this past cycle, I learned that even if there is a huge public outcry, the injustice in the system will continue to flourish if there is not change on a foundational, fundamental level; I specifically have the Breonna Taylor case in  mind. Even though there was huge coverage of the case, the system did what it does best. 

One of the challenges I’m facing is emotional; as a black woman it is hard to constantly hear about all the injustice the the community faces day to day. I try to not let these things affect me, but sometimes it can be a struggle to not listen to the hurtful words of others. 

My next steps are to read my articles more and depth, as well as gain more statistical knowledge on the topic I’ve chosen to write about. 

[abirdegg]

Artist: Mona Chalabi

I am going to begin sharing the process of my research into the systematic racism that is present in the criminal justice system here in America. As I began this project, there are some key things I learned during the research process. 

While perusing a database for material, I discovered that there are many contributing factors that lead to biases in the courtroom, whether it be what the jury sees in the media, or preconceived notions that the judge has about certain defendants based on their background and race. What I assume to be a huge part of the problem is that the stereotypes that are perpetuated in the outside world make their way into spaces they should not be, like the minds of law enforcement and inside courtrooms.

A challenge that I faced was finding the right keywords to use when looking up articles on the subject matter that I want to cover. I had to use an advanced search that used 2-3 simple words in order to find what I was looking for.

My next step is to thoroughly read through the sources I think are most relevant to what I want to talk about, and become well-educated on the criminal justice systems and how it operates when it comes to people of color.

As an artist, I think the educational product that would suit me best for this project is a piece that highlights the different injustices that occur in the systematically racist criminal justice system that we rely on. I want to convey the lack of balance there is using symbolism and different techniques.

[abirdegg]

[abirdegg]

I worked for 4-5 hours on this line work altogether, then I colored it. I don’t like the the color enough to post it anywhere,  but I do like it black and white. I love wasting my time.

[abirdegg]

This is a house I built a while ago, but I mostly wanted to post about The Sims so I could talk about the new pack. There’s like...a lot of people pissed off, and I get it. It’s super weird that the Eco theme has been done so much, and I think it’s a bit weird that the pack is based off a vote for a stuff pack we did 3 years ago. HOWEVER, some people take it way too far by yelling at the Gurus like they have complete control over everything. Even if they did, it’s no excuse to be nasty online. At the end of the day, it’s just a game, and we can all be civil and have a discussion like adults. 

[abirdegg]

This is a piece I finished recently for someone very near and dear to me. I really like to see the very beginning compared to the final product, because it always surprises me to look back and see how bad the original sketch was.