No, I Don't Speak Swahili

This piece is about a specific incident that I experienced as a GA instructor this past spring. I was really hurt by these specific words this person spoke to me and was very uncomfortable that I was still this person’s instructor, so I took to painting my experience. This is the first piece I created that started to focus on my race and what it was like to be an African American. I wanted to show despite people’s assumptions of where I am from and what they assume I can speak, that I am still strong (surrounded by Oak tree leaves). That your ideals of me and my skin color, don’t make me who I am. I am more than that.