I love being an inner-city woman. When
people act as if inner-city, especially
ghetto, life is some dreaded disease for
which a cure must be found really I pity
them. I just want to shake them up and
remind them where practically all of what
we call modern American culture came from.
music, fashion, art, comedy,
when you think about what captures the
imagination in this culture, the inner-city
is where all of the fresh new influences
are coming from. It upsets me that young
people are being deprived of their pride
in where they come from by people who
contribute nothing to society but negativity.
The people, of all colors, who make their
living race baiting and fear mongering. The
decay of the infrastructure is nothing
compared to the decay of community
when talented young people become
educated and move out of the cities to
escape the artificially created stigma of
living there. They abandon their rich
history and culture for the suburbs,
the sickness of sameness and their longing
for the bluest eye.
Living in the city, this is the stuff that I see
everyday. People who don't live in cities
sometimes think of them as ugly, grimy
wastelands. I try to show the city the way
I see it wild, colorful, and filled with brilliant
contrast.
