I found out about the event through ATS staffer, Diamond McEachin. When we arrived to lecture, I was shocked to see that there were very few African American students present. When I excluded myself and Diamond, the numbers were less than one hand can count. It was not just strange because the artist himself was Black, but because the art focused on the black experience. Diamond, an Art History major, turned to me and said, "Do you see why I do what I do? I need to get us to appreciate these people."
By us, Diamond was not referring to she and I, rather to the immense numbers of Black people who have no clue that art of this kind is made for them. Diamond was referring to the young Black man in the audience who asked the artist why he had remained in "obscurity." Adkins' reply to this inappropriate question touched on the difference between the art that institutions have supported which focus on blackness through its stark opposition to whiteness and that which is similar to his own art, which focuses on the nuances of what being Black encompasses. Adkins' summed it up by saying, "If aliens came here, they would think that all we cared about was this skin." Art, as Adkins' has shown me, forces us to dig deeper than the surface of the American truth. Events like these, which both enlighten and confirm real truths that I have been fortunate to know, are why I created The Mag. I want to expose these real truths to my community. I implore you to dig deeper as well. Fight the obvious. Read ATS Mag.
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More About MkMk is 23 year old Chicagoan. She attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., studying English. Now back in Chicago, Mk has focused on writing her truths. Outside of ATS, she also writes on Youth Alert, a blog for young Christian believers. Mk is also a stylist at Akira Hyde Park. When she isn't working on the Mag, Youth Alert, or at Akira, Mk is with her family, she spends her time with a good book or cooking.
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