In the process of writing and illustrating five children’s books about physical, emotional, and planetary well being – which came into being rooted in more than a decade of anti-racism education and activism – I dug deeper into understanding the intersecting systems of injustice and oppression that measurably and immeasurably prevent a disproportionate number of black and brown people from having physical, emotional, and planetary well being.
Systemic racism winds itself through every dimension of our society, filtering into USDA policy, school lunch programs, into the intersections of agriculture, apparel, and labor, in the racial divide of chronic disease, pollutant exposure, food access, hair care, the facts go on. The consequences can take severe physical, psychological, and environmental tolls.
That’s the irony – the illness of racism comes at a cost to everyone. But the price is paid by people of color.
So if you’ve ever heard me speak at an event, I’m not talking about my painting process. I lay out evidence – beside the fact that history screams so – that these systems of injustice and oppression are intentional, collusive, and organized. They prime our allegiance by burrowing themselves into our bodies so that even while we measure ourselves by the good that we do, we may never dismantle what is cloaked int normalcy – for many of us, an unintended loyalty to hidden and violent systems that depend on our ignorance and funding.
Though dressed in bunnies and baby chickens, my books are overtly and covertly designed to get the next generation to overhaul the insidious systems that our default choices cause us to participate in, including institutionalized racism. The books wouldn’t exist without the driving force of anti-racism that led me to turn a discerning eye on my position and effect on the public realm.
I’ve been vegan for 17 years to pull my money and consent out of systems I oppose, permanently.
Through art, I teach that change has to start with ourselves and the families, communities, workplaces, and schools into which we can bring more radicalized perspectives and practices.
But bluntly, that isn’t shit compared to the work that lies ahead. Defunding that which we oppose, working with local government, and filtering more money into communities of color is essential because it’s what we people can do immediately to balance some power.
But Wall Street, banks, private equity managers, real estate companies, departments of education … where are their reparation missions, affirmative actions, and statements of solidarity?
My statement ain’t shit. Your statement ain’t shit. The statement from the massage joint I go to ain’t shit.
Radicalizing the power we each wage will shift the pedestrian level, but systemic racial equity requires our infiltration at the top rung, and ranks above the top that we can’t even necessarily see.
I have no expertise on how to productively attack from the top down at such a scale, only the bottom up. But as a next step, I will damn well be trying to learn from people who do.
George Floyd’s murder pierced a veil unlike anything before and we are 18 days into a mass and unprecedented activation.
Nothing on Earth has ever fueled people toward mobilization this big, this fast.
I hope to see engagement continue as we understand intersecting systems and the global trajectory we’re on. I am participating mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially, and will continue to fuse my art work and social media presence with a diversity perspective and links drawn between our personal choices and the public realm.
Please stand together with actionable support, active research, active listening, and trust in black leadership to be self-determining and set forth demands for sustainable changes that lead everyone toward physical, emotional, and planetary well being.
Stay learning, stay critical.
With love,
—ruby roth
Flommist Ruby Roth is an artist, designer, creative strategist, and the author-illustrator of four leading books for kids. Her work has been featured on Today, CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC News, and other major media outlets. Copyright © 2020 Ruby Roth.
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