Dear Beautiful Black Boy, Dear World

Photo taken by Seneca Wells, Life Pieces To Masterpieces

By Life Pieces To Masterpieces. Life Pieces To Masterpieces uses artistic expression to develop character and leadership, unlock potential, and prepare African American boys and young men to transform their lives and communities. Learn more about their word at their WeSeeYou.show page. This blog post was originally distributed in an email form; it has been reposted with permission.

The priority of Life Pieces To Masterpieces has always been to create an environment of love, security, and expression for the boys and young men who we serve. The LPTM response to the murder of George Floyd, to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, and too many others to name, happened more than two decades ago when we started.  That response continues today as we fiercely love the beautiful black boys and young men around us. Today, our message is the same:

Dear Beautiful Black Boy,

We see you.  At LPTM, we have never not seen you.  We love you – a real love, a deep and profound love, an enduring love.  We will be here for you – because we always have.  You should expect that LPTM will act on our value of Shared Humanity.  We believe that Love + Security + Expression = Life.  So live, beautiful black boy. Live! Know you’re loved. Feel safe in your own expression. Fight to build communities where we all can feel safe, where we all know we’re loved, where we all have space to express ourselves.

Right now, we see that you are hurt. We’re hurt with you. We see that you don’t feel safe, and for that we are sorry. We see that you might feel powerless to the systems that do not value your gifts, your love, and your humanity. Don’t ever let someone make you believe you are powerless, unworthy, or anything other than a beautiful, powerful Masterpiece; you will always have your thoughts, your words, and your actions to guide you as you change challenges into possibilities.

To our boys and our alumni, and black boys and young men everywhere: if your innate power and leadership is bringing you to the frontlines of the fight against racism, we see you, and we love you. If you’re at home, protecting your family from COVID-19, we see you, and we love you. If you’re working, supporting yourself and your family, we see you, and we love you. If you’re creating art to express your complex emotions right now, we’re so proud of you, we see you, and we love you. If you are full of hurt and anger, and expressing it however you can, we see you, and we love you. We will always have your back.

We are committed to supporting your emotional wellbeing and providing space for you to cope with your feelings. Every one of you is already a leader in so many ways. We know you will continue to grow as a leader, to transform your life, your community, and your world. We believe in you, we see you, and we love you.

With love,
Your family at Life Pieces To Masterpieces

Dear World,

For more than two decades, Life Pieces To Masterpieces has used artistic expression to develop character and leadership, unlock potential, and prepare African American boys and young men to transform their lives and communities. At Life Pieces To Masterpieces, we are changing the way Black boys and young see themselves, we are changing the way the world sees Black boys and young men, and our Black boys and young men are helping our world to discover our Shared Humanity.

This is an enduring effort, a generational effort, and it is our boys and young men who are leading us in this effort. Right now, we have alumni raising sons in LPTM, we have alumni protesting in the streets, we have alumni educating our next generation. We deeply love every single one of our boys, past and present, and we are so proud to see so many human beings serving as the Vision of Life Pieces To Masterpieces during such a difficult time.

We are grateful to all those, of all races, religions, nationalities, sexual orientations, and gender identities, who join us in the fight for our world as we discover together our Shared Humanity. We need systemic, institutional change, and that will take absolutely everyone in this fight.

Today, and every day, our work towards a Shared Humanity follows a process, our “Four C’s”: We must Connect, Create, Contribute, and Celebrate. To Connect, we must develop an atmosphere for reflection and introspection. We must identify and share past our unique identities, our shared history, and the enduring effects of institutional racism. We must Create, by expressing our emotions and experiences in the form of visual, literary and performing arts. We must capture the imagination through art, song, dance, poetry and creative writing. We can all Contribute, and have a say in making the community and the world a better place. We must know that we all have something to offer. And finally, even in times of hardship, crisis, and injustice, we must Celebrate – embrace the uniqueness in each of us and Enjoy LIFE!!!

With love,
Life Pieces To Masterpieces