Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Salma Djalal

When you create something tied to a collective identity, it’s incredibly important to be intentional. Being Muslim and being part of something so beautiful is deeply rewarding. At the same time, there’s a responsibility to challenge the many misconceptions surrounding our faith and the diverse identities within our community. It can feel heavy to witness how often we’re misunderstood; what we represent, what we believe, what we deserve. Read more>>

Miss Pretty Brown

Yes! Coming from an education that trained us to fit into corporate spaces, often times I’ve been stereotyped or misjudged based on how I choose to express myself. Whether it’s in the way that I carry myself or dress, many people take one look at me and/or my work and assume they just have me all figured out. This actually happens in more way than one by my own people–which sometimes saddens me BUT it also motivates me to keep going so I can find my own community of supporters. Read more>>

Rebekka Ling

First off, thank you for having me! Grateful for our connection and happy to be back on here.

Interest topic, have I or has my work ever been misunderstood.

I think, as a female artist and songwriter you can easily be mischaracterized by the business as well as the audience.
Often we get asked about our cultural and musical background. Being a European indonesianwoman makes it already a significant difference, when performing in the genre of soul music. On top of that I am singing in a niche of jazz crossover that is also still quite rare. Often when people hear my voice they don’t expect a petite Asian lady behind it haha. Read more>>

Sorika Wolf

I think that anyone who navigates the artistic world as a career is often misunderstood. People who don’t know me are surprised when they discover how hard I hustle, how serious and steadfast I am, and how grounded and business-oriented I am. They are shocked I love science! LOVE IT! But ultimately, when it came the time to choose between science and acting, acting was what lit a fire in me – to the dismay of every science teacher I’ve ever had, as well as my leaning traditional Filipino mother. Don’t worry. I definitely broke her…In.  Read more>>

R.M. Engelhardt

Poets, in America at least, have always been thought of, or characterized as people who wear puffy shirts or turtlenecks or berets. Maybe even seen in these times as out of date or out of time. Maybe old professors in glasses or as just slam poets. But the truth is that there are wide varieties of writers & poets out there from all walks of life, different ethnicities and backgrounds with their own styles and own authentic voices. It’s not all performance based or an entertainment. Poetry is much like a calling to each individual to share their lives, moments and experiences with you. It’s not a contest but more like a faith or a religion to the writer, poet themselves that becomes a part of who they are and their life. So for the last thirty years or so of my life has been shared upon stages, in magazines and in the books which I’ve created. Read more>>

John Thomas

People think they get my creative life. They catch a snippet—a poem shared, a track I played on, an open mic night where the mic almost worked—and figure, “Ah, yes, the artist’s life! Just floating around, waiting for inspiration to strike like lightning or possibly Uber Eats.” Read more>>

Sabeeha Dhillon

As human beings, we all crave to be understood—to feel like someone gets us. For most of my life, I shape-shifted in hopes that I’d be more accepted and feel less alone inside my own mind. At the same time, I wanted to escape myself—maybe because I never really felt like me. Read more>>

Purplepops

Being an independent band from a small town in California has taught us a lot. There has been lots of comparisons and negative narratives about our tunes, that we really don’t care about nor do we take into consideration. We started making music because it’s fun and we didn’t start doing this because we wanted to be “famous” or “celebrities” or any of that nonsense. We just really love it! One thing we took away from doing this for so long is that there’s going to be a lot of criticism and weird feedback from people. All we can say is, if you’re doing this music thing, do it for you, because at the end of the day if you’re doing what you love nothing else matters. Read more>>

Michael Certo

I believe the role of the artist has largely been misunderstood in America. Personally, I was never too interested in art as a commodity, but rather as a process, a creative and intellectual pursuit. The “Ivory Tower” paradigm taught in art schools still pushes the idea that the quality of your art will ensure commercial success. Any mature visual artist will tell you that material success from visual art has more to do with business acumen, marketing, and connections with dealers and art collectors. I learned a long time ago that I would need to work a second or third job in order to continue my creative process. Read more>>