PAINTING TIMELAPSE || Expressive Portrait in Oil - "Layla"

I grew up (and still live) in one of the whitest cities in America. As a child I learned the whitewashed history of the US and the Civil Rights Movement, I believed that racism had been “fixed” and didn’t exist anymore because I never witnessed it overtly. Over the years I slowly realized that this was far from the truth. I have been blissfully ignorant of the racist history of the state I loved. Black people were forbidden to enter, reside in, or acquire property in Oregon when it became part of the US in 1859. In the 1920’s Oregon had the largest KKK membership per capita in the United states, and in the 1980s and 90s, the largest skinhead movement in the country started moving to Oregon in order to create a “White Homeland”.
Although there’s an idea that our city is progressive and embraces all cultures, white people continue to gentrify black neighborhoods and businesses. Landlords have a history of discriminating against black and Latino renters, giving them higher rents and adding extra fees. As our city has become more popular, housing rates have risen and the already small black communities are being displaced.
This is happening around the country. Black unemployment rates have been consistently 2x higher than that of white people for the past 60 years. Black students are more likely to be suspended, and once black children are in the criminal justice system, they are more likely to be tried as an adult than white kids. Black drivers are more likely to be pulled over by police than whites, and are more likely to be sentenced to more than 20% longer jail times than whites of similar crimes. Black people make up 13% of the nation’s population, while taking up 40% of the prison population. There is so much more. Racism is embedded in our criminal justice system, our healthcare system, our education system, and our political system.
As a result of our systemic inequality and oppression, black people have been the ones affected the most by COVID-19, both dying at higher rates and struggling financially. Then consider police brutality in the midst of it all.
The events of the last few weeks have left me with many questions. How many killings by police haven’t been caught on camera? How many black people have been attacked by police but it wasn’t terrible or gruesome enough to become headlines? How many black people have been harassed or abused and not been able to speak out due to fear of retaliation? A friend said recently that the first time a cop ever pulled a gun on him was when he was in 6th grade. HE WAS 11 YEARS OLD. Imagine how you’d feel after that experience as a child. Imagine living with that fear every day. Knowing that police are almost never held accountable. Who do you turn to when you fear the people who you’re supposed to call for help?
I’ve certainly never had to live with that fear. I’ve never been harassed or faced discrimination because of the color of my skin. In fact I’ve benefited from this racist system in ways I can’t even fathom. As a white woman with privilege and a public platform, I need to educate myself and voice my support for the Black Lives Matter Movement. Silence only perpetuates oppression. I haven’t been perfect, and I may not do everything right, but I will try. I encourage you all to do the same.

Please use your voice to support black people, call out racism where you see it, sign petitions, call lawmakers, donate to causes that help black communities, VOTE! Support black owned businesses, read books by black authors. Do SOMETHING. Educate yourself and be open to change, not just for a trend. Lives depend on it.

As a country and as a people we have to do better, because what we’ve been doing definitely isn’t working.

A huge thank you to the talented photographer Sydney Claire(instagram: @__sydneyclaire) for letting me use her beautiful photograph of Layla Synclaire (@laylasynclaire) for this painting (a study for a larger piece).

Below I've attached a link to a google doc with some anti-racism resources of where to donate, books to read, movies to watch, etc. Please note that this is not a full list - I've included links to find more resources in the document and below. If you have more resources that you think I should add, please leave them in the comments :)

Anti-Racism Resource Google Doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nd9ab5QMAooiKPkW-_btq2OqzobhYV6XlwcCU7tBeW0/edit?usp=sharing

Donate:
The Movement for Black Lives: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/movement-4-black-lives-1
Black Lives Matter Global Network: https://blacklivesmatter.com/
Reclaim the Block: https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/
Color of Change: https://colorofchange.org/
(More links in Doc)

More resources:
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
Anti-Racism Resource Document: bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES

Prints of this painting are available for purchase here:
https://www.dannikarose.com/product-page/layla-7x7in-signed-print

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