* This is a migrated post from my old blog, while I have grown even since then- I believe in transparency and sharing my process. Old and new. There will be an updated post coming soon with how I'm moving forward with inclusivity and equity, anti-racism and more in 2021. *
June 2020.
There’s an awful heavy air all around. There has been for communities all around, but eyes and ears are open now more than ever it would seem. You would have to be living quite literally under a rock to not see the global civil rights movement that is happening.
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Ahmad Aubrey, Atatiana Jefferson, Philando Castille… These are only some of the thousands of names of Black lives lost to police brutality. This list could continue, it would never end.
If you follow me on my social media, you may have noticed– “Wow, Jessica really won’t shut up about anti-racism”, “Why is she so political on her business profiles?” “Gosh, that’s exhausting, unprofessional” Let me first say, that human rights... Stem far beyond Political Views.
As a white person, raised as a woman- I was raised to love and appreciate everyone, queer, black, brown, beyond… I can no longer sit in my white privilege and stay silent on what’s happening. It is okay and even NECESSARY to use your platform, especially if you have multiple to speak up and let people know where you stand and what you will not stand for. Silence speaks violence and volumes to anybody of marginalized communities. If anything, your clients NEED to know where your beliefs lie. Human lives and rights are far more important that any number of clients, followers or likes that I could lose.
This year, marks a new chapter for me and my work but that new chapter also comes with accountability and admitting that younger Jessica did not take certain initiatives to make her work more inclusive. If you look through my portfolio, unless looking at my event work, a lot of my work is stereotypically ‘modelesque’ white women, and while a lot of these folks are very dear friends of mine (some are also queer/non-binary, but that's a conversation for another time) and they’ve worked their skills whether circus or dance… I need to acknowledge that for whatever reason, I haven’t made the true reach to include more people of colour, Black, Indigenous, Asian, lives of all types in my work.
You may have seen more recently that I’ve began to speak my truth about body activism and body liberation, including more ‘fat’ bodies, older bodies, mom bodies but, this movement wouldn’t at all be possible without Black women & Trans-Black lives. (that is also another blog for another day)
Our racially oppressive systems have instilled a cloudy way of thinking (in my white opinion, maybe you feel similarly). I have always been an advocate of HUMAN rights. I was raised to think that you shouldn’t be treated poorly because of the colour of your skin, the gender that you love, because you celebrate a different way of living… Even if you're a "bad" person, to be given the chance to be better and do better. However, when I went from living in a beautiful mosaic; The suburbs of Montreal, to a very rural part of Nova Scotia. Everything changed.
All of these kids were white. Racist slurs were regularly used around me. We were 11!!! It was normalized in this small community at such a young age that if you were different that it was bad. I was mocked my first day on the bus for being French just because I had moved from Quebec. I was told I was too sensitive because I didn’t like hearing racial and homophobic slurs… at ELEVEN.
What I’m getting at here is that, society conditions you no matter where you are to make it harder to reach out to BIPOC. Society creates a divide. I let this divide eat me up and tell me that I can’t ask BIPOC to work with me. That I would be judged, either by them or other white folk. Excuse me? What the FUCK kind of thinking is that? I can’t make a difference or have stories of marginalized communities heard if subconsciously I re-enforce the societal conditions that we've been given.
So, this is me. Admitting that I failed but that I am LEARNING and owning up to my failures and that I can do better by the communities. I am here to lift people up. Lift femmes of all types up. Queers of all types. BIPOC OF ALL TYPES! And another thing I need to add here that it is not acceptable to use this time now as a space for ‘white-self-improvement’ … I’m even learning more AS I WRITE THIS. It has taken me hours, days, to put together my thoughts. I feel there may be other creatives out there that could use this and hopefully Black and Indigenous folks out there that can feel how genuinely sorry I am for not speaking out of my own experiences sooner. I’ve been asking myself WHY is there a lack of diversity in my work. HOW can I fix this? HOW can I do better going forward?
I did compile a Google Doc of Anti-Racism resources, both American and Canadian, I do plan on updating it as I find more. If you would like to add to it, please contact me.
Please have a look here: https://tinyurl.com/ybxh94f8
To summarize... Black and indigenous people of colour: Your stories and faces deserve to be seen. You deserve creativity, collaboration and justice. My door is always open. You deserve to share your stories, show the world that you exist and that you’re not fucking going anywhere! Please, have a look at these images that are some of my first REAL photos taken fresh out of quarantine. Santina and I had planned to work together in the winter just after her run in with racial profiling here in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Also featured are images of my dear friend and powerhouse of an entrepreneur: Rocks from my Bra (@rocksfrommybra) & Tiny Elephant Tarot (@tinyelephanttarot)
