Like Dahir, Joelle Bond is a woman of color who has faced racism. Originally from North Carolina and now a Bay Area resident, Bond studied abroad in Florence in 2013. For her fashion illustration program, she and her classmates students went to an art supply store to shop for equipment. “Looking through all the paints, markers, pencils, shades—we were like kids in a candy store,” Bond says. While she couldn’t help but notice that she was the only Black student in the class, that was hardly a new feeling for Bond.
“I just remember how our professor went through, in great detail, how she uses shades and colors for different skin tones; but her ‘range’ was just various fair and pinkish tones,” says Bond. “One student, who was white, actually asked what if she wanted to illustrate someone with a darker skin tone. The professor just kind of looked at her and carelessly pointed over to the one section of brown markers, paints, etc., and walked away. It illustrated to me the focus on Euro-centric beauty and the exclusivity and power dynamics that emerge from that.”
“I was grateful for that student who decided to speak up, because a lot of times in those spaces when you are the only person of color, you want to blend in as much as possible and not be that Black girl always trying to bring race into the conversation. But that stuck with me. I’m now trying to less concerned about being ‘too’ vocal when things clearly aren’t right.”