Art Against Hate:

As students of color who were deeply affected by the hateful messages circulating on Yik Yak, we created this project as a way to raise awareness about the effect these comments have on marginalized communities at Colby.

Please feel free to repost and use the artwork from this project.

• About us
• Artworks

• Institutional Offices and Services
• Student Clubs and Organizations
• Support from Faculty and Staff

• Email

Thu Nguyen's email: [email protected]
Alexis Wilkerson's email: [email protected]

An art project by Thu Nguyen and Alexis Wilkerson

As students of color here at Colby, we were both deeply affected by the recent hateful messages circulating on Yik Yak. Art Against Hate is a way for us to cope with the feelings of sadness, anger, and fear we felt witnessing the violence against our bodies. We want to stand in solidarity with all of the other students who have been targeted by these hateful messages. You are not alone in this experience.We chose to use negative emotions as our source of inspiration for our art because we want to expose the bigotry that has been persisting on this campus and the harm that comes with it. We believe that emotions, even negative ones, can be a powerful tool for creating change.

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There is a distinction I am beginning to make in my living between pain and suffering. Pain is an event, an experience that must be recognized, named and then used in some way in order for the experience to change, to be transformed into something else, strength or knowledge or action. Suffering, on the other hand, is the nightmare reliving of unscrutinized and unmetabolized pain. When I live through pain without recognizing it self-consciously, I rob myself of the power that can come from using that pain, the power to fuel some movement beyond it. I condemn myself to reliving that pain over and over and over whenever something close triggers it. And that is suffering, a seemingly inescapable cycle.

- Aude Lorde, “Your Silence Will Not Protect You”

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We felt pain, but we refuse to suffer. This project is our blunt refusal to suffer. It’s about the power of recognizing pain, knowing it for what it is, and not letting ourselves be caught up in its cycle. It’s about taking that pain and turning it into strength and action.Through this project, albeit ambitious, we hope to inspire action and change.To everyone, please remember that:You are WORTHY. You are DESERVING. You are CAPABLE. You are BEAUTIFUL. And you are NOT alone.

Thu and Alexis

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Professor Breau of the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the Director of the Pugh Center Mx. Walton-Traijkovski for their invaluable support and guidance. We would also like to thank all the faculty and staff who agreed to be on our list of student resources. And lastly, we would like to thank all our friends who have given us tremendous support and encouragement. We are truly grateful for you.

Our artworks are inspired by emotions of burden, sorrow, and fear. We decided to use direct quotes from Yik Yak to bring to light the extent of hate and bigotry present in these statements.

Designed by Thu Nguyen

If you want higher-resolution images of the artworks, click here.