Liberation for All Children
By Erin M. Stephens, Co-Executive Director
At The Beautiful Project (TBP) we know just how important narratives are. To control the narrative is to control popular opinion, definitions of right/wrong, knowledge construction, resources, institutions, decision-making, people's lives — it is to shape reality. When we are young, it’s when we are the most curious about the stories we’ve been told, the least accepting of the reality we’ve been given, the most ambitious about our own needs, and the most imaginative about what else can be. It is no mistake that social movements are most often led by the young. When youth harness the power of narratives they make their lives meaningful to themselves and to others. This is incredibly important for Black girls and nonbinary youth who navigate pervasive narratives and social realities that tell them their lives are insignificant. And if a life that a society deems as insignificant is one that is also discardable, then producing images of one’s life that are pleasurable, dignified, nuanced, and beautiful is a tool for liberation.
We have all been witness at minimum, participants at most, of the narrative battle that has been taking place on social media and in the streets regarding Palestine. At the center of it is a horrific pattern wherein images of death are required to be seen as human. To make suffering untenable it is necessary to document what is, to capture images that are so painful and infuriating that they compel action; it is as if we cannot have dignity until our suffering is witnessed. Black folks know this. It was the images of Bloody Sunday, George Floyd, Emmett Till …(we can go on, for too long) that made our deaths untenable and pushed the hands of politicians.
But there also is the necessity to document what we believe must be; to create images that bear witness to life, possibility, and healing. At TBP this looks like storytelling and image-making that harnesses an insurrectionary imagination to bring us collectively toward a world where we are well and where we are free. As we continue to push for Black liberation at TBP by supporting Black youth in rendering their full humanity and dignity through pens and lenses, we are clear — the liberation of Black children is bound up in the liberation of all children. This includes those who are sacrificed to war, forced displacement, oppressive resource control, racial/ethnic discipline, and gender violence. This includes Palestinian children.
We envision a world in which youth are able to dismantle narratives that impact their safety and to create authentic self-defined narratives that support their wellness and possibilities. And we long for the day when the dominant images of Palestinian youth, of all children, are self-produced, pleasurable, and full of nuance and beauty. We join the global call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
