The Root Social Justice Center, in collaboration with the Rutland Area Branch of the NAACP, will present the I Am Vermont Too photo-story project and panel discussion at the VTSU Castleton Bank Gallery. This exhibit includes photos featured at the Statehouse in 2022, as well as new photos of Rutland-area BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) residents. The exhibit will open Saturday, September 9, 2023, at the downtown gallery located at 104 Merchants Row in Rutland and will be on display until November 4, 2023. A panel discussion with some of the people featured in the exhibit will take place on September 30, 2023 at 1 pm at The Hub Coworks on 67 Merchants Row with a reception following at the Castleton Bank Gallery at 2:30.
The I Am Vermont Too project began in March of 2014. Modeled after the I Too, Am Harvard initiative, the I Am Vermont Too photo-story project shines a light on the diversity of identities and experiences of BIPOC all across the State of Vermont. It looks to provide an opportunity for reflection and dialogue for majority-white communities who may be unaware of their participation in perpetuating racial stereotypes and harming BIPOC.
Members of majority-white communities in Vermont often do not interact with BIPOC on a daily basis. When they do, they can be unaware of their offensive and racist acts and behaviors. Often these offensive acts and behaviors come in the form of racial microaggressions. Racial microaggressions are subtle behaviors, acts, or environmental conditions that either intentionally or unintentionally communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults towards BIPOC. These aggressions have a significant impact on one’s sense of self and place in a community.
The I Am Vermont Too project is a medium for BIPOC Vermonters to tell our own stories and convey that this type of racism has a significant impact in our lives. This is the first known statewide, multi-generation project done only by BIPOC living and attending school in the state.
About the photos
The I Am Vermont Too photos represent BIPOC – Black, Indigenous, and People of Color living and attending school in Vermont. The photos look to highlight the intersectionality of our communities of color and their many stories. The quotes in the pictures are either terms that have been conveyed to us since living in Vermont or are responses to terms, questions or statements made towards us that undermine us as a people and perpetuate racist stereotypes.
I Am Vermont Too Story/Photo exhibit at the Statehouse:
The project was unveiled at the Vermont State House on Black Lives Matter Day February 9th, 2017, and exhibited during the month of February. The exhibit returned to the State House February 2019 and 2022.
Photos by Sha’an Mouliert
Rutland Area Branch of the NAACP 