ENIGMA: Reactions to Racism

At the core of resilience is endurance; the ability to push forward despite the pain. Since the beginning of America’s history people of color have been expected to endure. Between the whispers of the civil rights movement and the glaring social justice issues revisited in the post-Obama era, there’s been a societal obsession with having conversations about racism. While the actions that arise from these conversations has been hard to track and measure, they continue to persist. One of the nuances of these conversations is the recurring focus on white intentions, pain, and confusion over their impact on people of color holding the same space. Racism can equally be awkward, perplexing, and ironic for all parties involved. ENIGMA uses mixed media installations of portraits, abstraction, and interviews to unveil some of the nuances of these experiences from the perspective of Black Millennials in Boston.