Selkie Patterns

The Content We Consume

June 5, 2020

Hello and welcome back to the blog we hope you are well and taking care of yourselves. This weeks blog post we shall be reflecting on the content that we consume day to day from books, TV shows, movies and how this can shape your view of the world. The content we consume consciously and subconsciously all shapes our world view: the films we watch as kids, the books we read, the news we watch, the art we admire, the shows we see on Netflix, the history books we read in school.

The thing about something that we’re not actively aware of, is that we often don’t know what we don’t know. Let’s take a bookcase as an example. Let’s say your bookcase is full of books written by male authors. Your view of the world has subconsciously been shaped by a male perspective. A male point of view on work, family, women, children, history, language, names. Now let’s say your bookcase is full of books written by white authors. Your view of the world has now been shaped by a white narrative. A white perspective on food, love, clothing, hair, pets, holidays, family dynamics. All the things that are part of our daily lives, regardless of who we are, but that will be subtly different.

@diverse_kids_books

A straightforward way to then change what we consume, is to change from whom we consume. In the beginning this may feel contrived, a bit forced: “Am I reading this because I want to, or because the author is female/black/from an ethnic minority?” But the beautiful thing is that after a while it becomes normal, just like it was normal before that you perhaps happened to only watch films directed by men without realising. How beautiful would your bookcase be if it was filled with different perspectives? How rich would our lives be with all these different stories? How much more would we learn about the world we inhabit?

@diverse_kids_books

Another suggestion would be to vote with your money. We have mentioned this before, as a small business: when you buy from us, you actively support us and not a big corporation. The money goes to two business owners you can name and it actively supports our business and livelihoods. So if you are feeling inspired to educate yourself and read a book on current events, it would be great if you could purchase that book from a business owner from that very same ethnic group.

We have made a short list of suggestions, in case you want to have a look this weekend:

For amazing and haunting photographs on the riots in the US, have a look at Mike Melchiot. https://www.instagram.com/mike_melchiot/

Independent, black-owned bookshops for all those book suggestions you have received: https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/june/support-black-authors-publishers-bookshops.html

A show and a documentary you can watch this weekend on Netflix by black female directors: “13th” by Ava DuVernay and “Self Made” by Kasi Lemmons.
For an inspiring costume designer and stylist and amazing art, fashion and photography, visit Derica Cole Washington. https://www.instagram.com/dericacolewash/