Identity

There are so many things in our lives that might be considered “incurable” or terrifying, why not work with them?

I’m recording stories from my life that I find most entertaining and maybe it’s at the expense of other people but I’m not using anyone’s real name. I am a bit worried how I’m portraying myself and my family reading it ’cause I think they’ll be scandalized or concerned by it.

It is a both an opportunity and a personal commitment to use my place as an artist to make art that is both visually pleasing while telling important stories about my cultural experience as a Chicana, as an environmental feminist, and as a member of the human race. My existence is my resistance.

We are close to something truly sprawling and ugly, so the big monsters are inundating us with lesser demons. In the spirit of keeping our attention on what’s really behind that flash flood, I created this Scale of Sexual Predation.

“The extreme end of showbiz would be something like American Idol where people are trying to fit into this mold, have to athletically win this competition by making themselves as appealing as possible to a very broad denominator and it’s very bizarre and it doesn’t have anything to do with feelings.”

Guest Blogger Katie Alice Greer: “OK Sadness means the machine in my head is working just fine and Not OK Sadness means, just like a runny nose, upset stomach, or a hacking cough, that I am currently sick. Plenty of factors both genetic and environmental mean I’ll always need to keep an eye on how things are going in my head.”

I get very upset thinking about our president and how he mistreats people. This whole disgusting administration makes me angry. I’ve been told that I should have compassion for him, but how is it possible to have compassion for this fascist?

Being surrounded by different indigenous people lit a spark, filled me with pride, and confirmed to me that yes, it is our time as the youth of the Native nations of America to rise up and be the generation that takes back not only our identity but our voice.

Over time, our choices start to form a theme, an overarching message to the world about us and what we stand for. I think about it like a motto on a coat of arms, or the mission of an artistic ministry. What does our work stand for?

Our modern civil rights movement needs as many people as possible to be themselves and for us to work together for change. But people “being themselves” also means that they are allowed to not talk about their private life for as long as they do not want to talk about it, maybe even forever.

Mastery means knowing in your bones what you donʼt know. It also means form is second nature—you didnʼt get up that mountain without learning how to hike. And it means youʼre free. When you come back down, youʼve been changed.

Art is not a eugenics program. We’re all mongrels with our own unique deformities, and that’s what continues to keep artists and the arts in general interesting.

Guest Blogger Meredith Graves shares: “I swim, because I would rather persist than drown, and because I know that since I am my own life raft, once in awhile, when the rapids abate, I can kick up my heels and float.”

Can’t get to the mic? Can’t make it out to shows? You still wanna be a comic? Well then, my friend, it’s time to pitch in and help out the comedy community.

Babar the elephant and Curious George are old friends. They were some of the first people we grew to know. They might not be real people, but they were some of our first ideas of people.

Guest Blogger Juli Hendren: “Artists are not insignificant trinkets that people can take or leave. Artists reflect the world. They tell our stories. They bring us together. They show us what we have done and what we can do. They empower us. They teach us.”