STORY AND PHOTO BY KELLY CRAIG
In this series, we offer you a little window onto life in one corner of the world or another. Enjoy peaking through the curtains with us!
Something strikes me as I look at this photo and its messaging again. It struck me that night and it strikes me now.
There are two phrases on the street art this young man is painting: “This is not racism” and “Become More.” He is painting for us the binary messaging we have seen around racism and culture in the United States.
The paint drips down the canvas as if it were bleeding. In many ways, this is a metaphor of our culture right now. We are bleeding. We are in a war, an “us versus them” war. The undertone and tide of racism has surfaced again because it never really died.
Become More.
These words are asking me to be honest. They are inviting me to a place of truth, empathy, and compassion. To rise above the fray of denial and white privilege.
Become More.
That this piece is being raffled, as if its message is cheap and unimportant, also pricks my heart (my conscience). No. This message is central. The response to it is imperative, vital, and central to our personal healing and reconciliation. It is also central to the healing, the reconciliation of a broken and bleeding nation.
Become more.
Will we answer the call? Will we become more? More of everything good and right. More humble. More honest. More loving. More kind. More gentle. More empathic. More beautiful.
Kelly Craig
CULTURE KEEPER
Kelly Craig (KC) grew up in the Akron/Cleveland area where at a young age she learned she had a penchant for travel and a passion for art and writing. Though she majored in psychology in undergrad, Kelly started her own photography business in 2010. She birthed and grew this business in the heart of Kansas City for seven years. (Friends have teased her that she moved there so her initials would match those of her new city's, KC!) In 2016, Kelly received her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She now practices as a children's therapist in Kentucky. Through the business of all of this, Kelly continues to roam the earth with her family RV and camera, Rover. You can find more of her art, travels, and writing on Instagram @justkellycraig and on Twitter @kellycraigphoto.
