BEING HUMAN
Being human can be quite a complicated thing in this world, especially in the year we currently exist in. As intelligent creatures, we find ourselves riddled with emotion being subject to or indicative of the weaknesses, imperfections, and fragility associated with humans. In other words, we aren't perfect. Each and every one of us grows up in a different life garden having an altered experience from the next. One garden can be rich in nutrients while the next sits in decay, but life still finds a way of growing from both. "Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" - A.A. Milne.
All of these imperfections and differences between us make us to be the beautiful humans we are. We all have a desire to feel loved, accepted and to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. With this desire we build ourselves into communities. These have become our safe spaces of fellowship while sharing an undeniable connection with like-minded people who have the same goals, interests and attitudes as we do in ourselves. Now with that being said, every community is different. Some we find are made up of loving progressive humans who want to make a positive difference in the world around them. On the other hand, we find that some of these communities are made up of those sharing a common hatred in turn wishing and in some cases doing harm onto others. But even though our differences make us human, it's when those differences start to make us feel superior to our neighbors that it truly starts to induce harm onto humanity.
Equality has been a hot topic of conversation and of much needed action throughout 2020. This is the year that has cleared our vision with the differences we have the ability to make towards the fight for equality for all human kind. Now with I AM HUMAN being made of 2 members of the LGBTQ+ community, we've had our fair share of being treated as less than. At the same time I can't sit back and pretend to understand the suffering of others because I am a privileged white woman in this country. I've never experienced what it's like to live in this world as a member of the Trans community, to be a Person of Color, or even to be a POC within the Trans community. So how can I say "I'm human, you're human, let's be human together" if we don't treat all humans with the same equality.
This is why we as a company are pivoting our actions and motivations towards connecting with the community around us and in turn give back to where it matters most. Now as we move forward in 2020, I AM HUMAN will now be donating 10% of all sales to a featured organization that we feel needs the support of the community around them. As life happens and new conversations spark within us, we will communicate that dialogue back with our community and shift our donations where it is needed the most. We want our art and design to be influential but to also speak on a topic that is in dire need of a spotlight.
I AM HUMAN stands in declaring "Black Lives Matter". We also stand in declaring "Black Trans Lives Matter" because Black Lives Matter only applies when ALL Black lives matter. That is why we have proudly decided to partner with The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI) as our 1st featured organization in an effort to give back. Here at I AM HUMAN we strongly stand with those among the Trans community and in this time we feel it is extremely important to shine a beacon of light on POC within that beautiful community. The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI) is dedicated to protect and defend the human rights of Black Trans people while fighting to abolish systemic, community, and physical violence within their communities. This is a fight we proudly choose to stand behind here at I AM HUMAN and hope that you choose to stand with us. To learn more about the Marsha P Johnson Institute please visit their website at https://marshap.org/ .