Never mind that these portraits were taken in December. (I said I was behind, right?) This is a judgment-free zone.
Due to recent events in our world, I've been freshly reminded that a few achieved milestones in the fight for equality do not equal constant progress. Sometimes we take a few steps back. We are humans. We will mess up. There is grace for that! Still, my frustrations with the current state of the world and how it is possible to still be calling people "apes" and penalizing people for standing up (aka kneeling) to a prejudiced system compel me to action. If you’re looking for a mantra, here’s a good one: I am not the standard. There are other ways of doing life, and they are just as valid and significant as my way.
Listen to those that are different from you and choose love. Learning to appreciate and respect another way of thinking is half the battle, friends. Take time to listen to the stories of others--whether at the grocery store, in your neighborhood, or on "the other side of town." This is Antonio's story:
"I grew up in a [predominantly] Caucasian town. My best friend was biracial as well (black/white). It was crazy to grow up around people that had no exposure to culture, especially as a pre-teen and teenager.
Raised by my white grandmother, I was always different in the household. I always embraced my culture but because I wasn’t raised around it, I didn’t know a lot of things about it. The town made it so hard for me to be cultured because they were afraid of it.
People are afraid of what they don’t know.
The people that I met when I moved to a more diverse town helped me to really embrace who I was. They have helped mold me into the man I am today. There have been pastors, father figures, mentors that I have been blessed enough to look up to! Because of them, I no longer feel out of place but exactly placed in this world!
The program I am furthering my education in is school counseling. The reason I wanted to do this is because I want to make sure that the youth of our generation or the next don't grow up without anyone. I know that during my childhood as a youth, I didn’t have anyone to talk to or go to that would talk me through these things. I now believe that is my calling in life. My hope is to give back and to help youth to not go through the same mistakes I went through."