My name is Anita Easterwood. I’m a visual artist and resident of Kansas City, KS. I received my Bachelors in Art From Kansas State University, and my Masters in African American Studies from the University of Kansas. The bulk of my work highlights “everyday people” in the Black community. I enjoy celebrating our culture, style, and history through my art and creating a body of work that feels like a shared story and commonality.

What I’m most proud of as a Black artist is accepting the responsibility of creating works that call out social injustices against the Black community.

In 2022, I created a powerful painting titled “Let ‘Em Play” using my son as a muse. It’s symbolic of the anxiety Black parents experience raising Black children, especially boys. Our kids don’t get to just be kids. They don’t get to just walk around parks, stores or neighborhoods without drawing suspicion. They don’t get to swim in pools, fish in lakes, or use an athletic court without being accused of trespassing. As a child I remember my parents giving my brother “the rules” every time he went out: you cannot ride in a car with more than two other Black male teens, no wearing hoodies indoors, avoid going into stores as a group… that list goes on and on. Those rules weren’t given because my brother was untrustworthy, it was a form of protection from our world for him. The rules worked to protect from drawing any unwanted attention from people who view you, a child, as a threat. Now was my brother perfect? Of course not, but no kid is. But while other kids are given the benefit of the doubt and allowed to make mistakes, Black children are adultified, criminalized, and placed in dangerous situations that can cost them their lives.

I became a mother in 2013, a year after Trayvon Martin was murdered and right before the Black Lives Matter movement exploded in 2014. I found myself inheriting that same worry my parents had over us growing up. I understood how my parents weren’t overdramatic concerning the dangers of the world. They knew that our kids had to live by a different set of rules. I began to teach those rules to my son.

I remember my son being upset with me for not letting him buy a fake rifle from the Alamo gift shop. A toy which he said “clearly looks fake” and “no one would mistake it for a real gun.” When he kept asking why he couldn’t have it, I told him about a 12-year old-named Tamir Rice who was playing with a toy that clearly didn’t even look like a real gun, and Tamir lost his life. My goal wasn’t to ruin a fun moment, but it was pertinent that I reminded my son that his safety comes first.

The purpose of Let ‘Em Play is to remind viewers of the unfair and unrealistic rules Black children are expected to live by. It’s meant to spark difficult conversations concerning the severe consequences Black children face for their wrongdoings or perceived wrongdoings. It asks the question: why do Black children receive doubt and no benefit? It’s not meant to coddle, or make anyone feel comfortable, it is meant to spark change concerning the unjust treatment of Black Children.

What do you see when you look at the piece?