Seeing yourself in books

2:24

children of

2:24

color

2:25

in ways that i never got to see them

2:26

when i was growing up i didn't have any

2:28

books with

2:29

people that looked like me so i'm really

2:31

excited to kind of

2:33

open up as many different aesthetics and

2:36

and styles to young readers

2:38

[Music]

2:41

when people listen to my music i want

2:43

them to take away that

2:44

they're not isolated in their challenges

2:47

the song let go

2:48

speaks to how black men feel when

2:50

confronted

2:51

by the police even when you're selfishly

2:54

kind of

2:54

creating your own therapy in your art

2:56

you're also doing that for other people

2:58

and

2:58

by doing that song i was able to create

3:01

even closure in places where i still

3:03

held on the feelings because i placed it

3:05

in a

3:06

piece of art and i think for other

3:07

people they can connect with the honesty

3:09

there

3:11

the challenge is being in a world

3:15

where you don't see yourself i get an

3:18

email

3:19

from a black mother who has lost her son

3:22

and she says to me

3:24

that she's been looking for a way

3:28

to reflect her loss

3:32

for years and it wasn't till she saw

3:35

my painting