Claudia Rankine

Claudia Rankine and the Racial Imaginary Institute, … “a presenting space and a think tank all at once” where artists and writers can really wrestle with race. She wants it to be a “space which allows us to show art, to curate dialogues, have readings, and talk about the ways in which the structure of white supremacy in American society influences our culture.”

via The Guardian

for purposes of aggression as well as for defense

We wear the mask for purposes of aggression as well as for defense, when we are projecting the future and preserving the past. In short, the motives hidden behind the mask are as numerous as the ambiguities the mask conceals.
Ralph Ellison, from “Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke”; 1958.