The majority of my education, I looked outside myself to other cultures to understand the truth and I’m finding that this has been an ongoing tactic within imperialism and slavery towards black people. To not see yourself as great. To not see yourself as worthy. To doubt that you have the potential to be what you were born to be. Self doubt…we have been brainwashed to not accept that we are creators of our existence. Dominant culture has colonized history, information about history, image, expression, and every system we enter into within society and it was all by design…..
Once you loose track of your heritage, you loose track of your liberty in this world. – John Henrik Clark
Today I’m choosing liberation thru relearning who my people were and are every moment within the day and building space thru design to make this a reality. Last year, I decided to take the risk to attend graduate school much later in life. I got married extremely young thinking that it was apart of the “American dream” and it was more of a nightmare to my soul than anything. Yet I’m learning to thrive beyond it.
Faith has not spared me for idle reasons. – John Henrik Clark
So what has made me strong enough to make this leap with all the challenges that come before me as a black woman living in America? All throughout my life, I’ve worked within emerging technology fields such as technology, telecommunications, project management, .com companies, learning design, serious game design and research, digital credentialing, and design management. So it was only right to find a graduate program that was just as unique, different, and one of a kind so I applied to the University of Michigan Penny Stamps School of Art and Design Master of Integrative Design Program. It is one of the top Art and Design schools in the country and I will soon become the first black woman in the world to graduate from UM within this program. I’m here to enter into a practice of deep listening and humility, as I help define the field of integrative design. My end goal: to give the restoration of confidence within myself and my people as we build sustainable communities through design.
So a master shall now appear…
Today as a people, we are living in the time of great creation and conceptualization we live in a pluriverse where the unseen is revealed for what it is and what it is not…It is now time to build new systems and give the world its last humanity. We must rule the state again. We must work across various domains looking at ourselves for problems as we work towards our solutions as design becomes the connective tissue. John Henrik Clark once said that “culture fertilizes culture. People fertilize culture” so in this new world today…if we are not comprehending the very nature of ourselves and others from a divine perspective then we’re still living in the haphazardness of 20th century industrial thinking which is a product of the insecurities of colonialism.
It’s time for DESIGN to bring forth a new beginning….
Resources: You have no friends – Dr. John Henrik Clarke, Designs the Pluriverse by Arturo Escobar, image remixed from Photo by NASA on Unsplash
My Life as a Learning Designer 