Project Description
“The day after the first protests on Friday night, I decided that I needed to close my store. My heart felt heavy over the events of the past week, and although I think that I do important work, it still didn’t seem right to sell earrings and soap when the community was hurting so much. Over the next few days I saw boards being painted to reflect the Black Lives Matter movement. Someone had already painted “Glean” on my board, but I wanted it to reflect something more relevant. I started to brainstorm and then stopped myself. I am a white woman of privilege, because of the skin I was born into. I decided to reach out to Scott Woods, a local poet and black activist in our community to put his words on the board. ”
Dawn McCombs
Scott Woods Says
ARTISTS:
Dawn McCombs
Laura Sanders
LOCATION:
Glean [815 N High Street]
TITLE:
Scott Woods Says
FULL SCOTT WOODS QUOTE
“The problem is that white people see racism as conscious hate, when racism is bigger than that. Racism is a complex system of social and political levers and pulleys set up generations ago to continue working on the behalf of whites at other people’s expense, whether whites know/like it or not. Racism is an insidious cultural disease. It is so insidious that it doesn’t care if you are a white person who likes black people; it’s still going to find a way to infect how you deal with people who don’t look like you. Yes, racism looks like hate, but hate is just one manifestation. Privilege is another. Access is another. Ignorance is another. Apathy is another. And so on. So while I agree with people who say no one is born racist, it remains a powerful system that we’re immediately born into. It’s like being born into air: you take it in as soon as you breathe. It’s not a cold that you can get over. There is no anti-racist certification class. It’s a set of socioeconomic traps and cultural values that are fired up every time we interact with the world. It is a thing you have to keep scooping out of the boat of your life to keep from drowning in it. I know it’s hard work, but it’s the price you pay for owning everything.”
– Scott Woods