“During the course of my life, I have developed close relationships with people who at some point revealed themselves to be racist. This led me to realize that no matter how kind, caring and loving someone may be, it’s still possible for them to be blinded by ignorance. This blindness leads to hurtful language and action and to unknowing contribution to systemic racism.
We are at a critical moment where people are ready to wake up and to support each other. There are so many articles that explain what to read and how to be a good ally. But racist ideologies are so deeply ingrained in American culture that awakening is a difficult process. Doing the hard work to realize one’s own racism and to sit with that shame is very difficult. Remaining in that shame can be paralyzing and prevent action. This is a time for action, not for paralysis. We made this album for all of the people who are opening their hearts, who care so deeply about our safety and are digging deep to learn and take action.”
- Iman
“I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but a few years ago I moved to a small town in GA. It was eye opening to go from a ‘liberal’ metropolis to a rural, primarily Black community still largely segregated by train tracks with White neighbors who proudly display confederate flags on their lawns. But on multiple occasions, I was too uncomfortable to speak up when hearing racial slurs used casually in conversation. I justified my silence as shyness and fear of confrontation. Reflecting on these overt experiences made me realize that there is racism even in seemingly liberal spaces."
I have close relationships with Black people, like Iman, who have to endure the realities of racism daily. Being White, I will never understand that kind of oppression. I even have the privilege to choose to ignore it, but that is selfish, unjust and racist. If I want to be anti-racist, I have a duty to act.”
- Tori
“During the course of my life, I have developed close relationships with people who at some point revealed themselves to be racist. This led me to realize that no matter how kind, caring and loving someone may be, it’s still possible for them to be blinded by ignorance. This blindness leads to hurtful language and action and to unknowing contribution to systemic racism.
We are at a critical moment where people are ready to wake up and to support each other. There are so many articles that explain what to read and how to be a good ally. But racist ideologies are so deeply ingrained in American culture that awakening is a difficult process. Doing the hard work to realize one’s own racism and to sit with that shame is very difficult. Remaining in that shame can be paralyzing and prevent action. This is a time for action, not for paralysis. We made this album for all of the people who are opening their hearts, who care so deeply about our safety and are digging deep to learn and take action.”
- Iman
“I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but a few years ago I moved to a small town in GA. It was eye opening to go from a ‘liberal’ metropolis to a rural, primarily Black community still largely segregated by train tracks with White neighbors who proudly display confederate flags on their lawns. But on multiple occasions, I was too uncomfortable to speak up when hearing racial slurs used casually in conversation. I justified my silence as shyness and fear of confrontation. Reflecting on these overt experiences made me realize that there is racism even in seemingly liberal spaces."
I have close relationships with Black people, like Iman, who have to endure the realities of racism daily. Being White, I will never understand that kind of oppression. I even have the privilege to choose to ignore it, but that is selfish, unjust and racist. If I want to be anti-racist, I have a duty to act.”
- Tori
Why We Created This Project
“During the course of my life, I have developed close relationships with people who at some point revealed themselves to be racist. This led me to realize that no matter how kind, caring and loving someone may be, it’s still possible for them to be blinded by ignorance. This blindness leads to hurtful language and action and to unknowing contribution to systemic racism. We are at a critical moment where people are ready to wake up and to support each other. There are so many articles that explain what to read and how to be a good ally. But racist ideologies are so deeply ingrained in American culture that awakening is a difficult process. Doing the hard work to realize one’s own internalized racism and to sit with that shame is very difficult. Remaining in that shame can be paralyzing and prevent action. This is a time for action, not for paralysis. We made this album for all of the people who are opening their hearts, who care so deeply about our safety and are digging deep to learn and take action.” - Iman
“I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but a few years ago I moved to a small town in GA. It was eye opening to go from a liberal metropolis to a rural, primarily Black community, still largely segregated by train tracks, with white neighbors who proudly display confederate flags on their lawns. Because of my progressive upbringing, I assumed I was a good ally, but on multiple occasions I was too uncomfortable to speak out after hearing the N word used casually in conversation. I justified my silence as shyness and fear of confrontation, but later that morphed into guilt because I was complicit.
I have close relationships with Black people, like Iman, who have to endure the realities of racism daily. Being White, I will never understand that kind of oppression. I even have the privilege to choose to ignore it, but that is selfish, unjust and racist. If I want to be anti-racist, I have a duty to act.” - Tori
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Iman Gibson Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
