--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And as a young black man, a lot of my…" description: "\"And as a young black man, a lot of my professors would really think that it was useful to see the work of politically oriented, positivistic, leftist c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/kehinde-wiley-1194_black_and-as-a-young-black-man-a-lot-of-my-pro_1553620.jpg" --- # And as a young black man, a lot of my professors would… ![“And as a young black man, a lot of my professors would really think that it was useful to see the work of politically oriented, positivistic, leftist creative works. And I found it incredibly useful. And I found it something that I've learned from and gained from.” quote by Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/kehinde-wiley-1194_black_and-as-a-young-black-man-a-lot-of-my-pro_1553620.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/kehinde-wiley-1194_black_and-as-a-young-black-man-a-lot-of-my-pro_1553620.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/kehinde-wiley-1194_black_and-as-a-young-black-man-a-lot-of-my-pro_1553620.jpg) > “And as a young black man, a lot of my professors would really think that it was useful to see the work of politically oriented, positivistic, leftist creative works. And I found it incredibly useful. And I found it something that I've learned from and gained from.” [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Exposure to politically charged, leftist art broadened his perspective and provided valuable insights. **In simple terms:** Learning from politically engaged art expanded his view. Key Takeaway Seek diverse, challenging art for growth. Themes art politics education growth diversity Mood thoughtful inspired Type reflective educational When to use this quote - college courses - gallery visits - personal study - discussion groups Key Concepts critical theory cultural awareness creative inspiration Questions to Reflect On - How does politically charged art shape personal worldview? - What other perspectives could complement this view? A Different Perspective May overlook other artistic traditions; not all politically oriented work is universally beneficial. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Creative work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-work/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [I've learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-ve-learned/) [Leftist Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leftist-creative-5812666/) [Leftists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leftists/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Positivistic Leftist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positivistic-leftist-5812663/) [Professors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professors/) [Professors Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professors-really-330176/) [Think Useful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-useful-548082/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Useful Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useful-work-767153/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) ## Related quotes > [You should allow professors to become really outstanding academicians, recognised worldwide, and you should reward them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/najib-razak/you-should-allow-professors-to-become-really-outstanding-academicians/) [Najib Razak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/najib-razak/) > [Have you ever heard of the book 'Freakonomics?' So there's these two economics professors, and they're really interesting guys, and they wrote these books.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-luck/have-you-ever-heard-of-the-book-freakonomics-so-there-s-these-two/) [Oliver Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-luck/) > [To think is of itself to be useful; it is always and in all cases a striving toward God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/to-think-is-of-itself-to-be-useful-it-is-always-and-in-all-cases-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Always think of what is useful and not what is beautiful. Beauty will come of its own accord.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-gogol/always-think-of-what-is-useful-and-not-what-is-beautiful-beauty-will/) [Nikolai Gogol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-gogol/) > [I don't think it's useful for somebody to argue with reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-woodward/i-don-t-think-it-s-useful-for-somebody-to-argue-with-reviews/) [Bob Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-woodward/) > [I always think it's useful to get an outside opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-julavits/i-always-think-it-s-useful-to-get-an-outside-opinion/) [Heidi Julavits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-julavits/) > [Of all the purposes of education, I think the most useful is this: It prepares you to keep yourself entertained. It gives you a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/of-all-the-purposes-of-education-i-think-the-most-useful-is-this-it/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [I don't care if you hate me now, I already know you only treat me nice when you think I am useful to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-care-if-you-hate-me-now-i-already-know-you-only-treat-me-nice/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think I am as useful as a bat is to the society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/i-don-t-think-i-am-as-useful-as-a-bat-is-to-the-society/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [In a bureaucratic system, useless work drives out useful work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/in-a-bureaucratic-system-useless-work-drives-out-useful-work/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [Don't knock procrastination. It saves lots of useful work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-knock-procrastination-it-saves-lots-of-useful-work/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have found out that though the ways in which I can make myself useful are few, yet the work open to me is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-have-found-out-that-though-the-ways-in-which-i-can-make-myself/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [On the bookshelf of life, God is a useful work of reference, always at hand but seldom consulted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/on-the-bookshelf-of-life-god-is-a-useful-work-of-reference-always-at/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Every civilization is, among other things, an arrangement for domesticating the passions and setting them to do useful work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/every-civilization-is-among-other-things-an-arrangement-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I have a website because it's an interesting tool, very - and quite unexpectedly - useful for my work. It's become an archive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-howe/i-have-a-website-because-it-s-an-interesting-tool-very-and-quite/) [John Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-howe/) ## More by Kehinde Wiley > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The erotic and the art historical imagination is something that gets very little play when people talk about my work, and when they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/the-erotic-and-the-art-historical-imagination-is-something-that-gets/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [One of the weirdest things that happened to artists and art criticism was this moment when everyone got cynical and stopped believing in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/one-of-the-weirdest-things-that-happened-to-artists-and-art-criticism/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [At its best, what art does is, it points to who we as human beings and what we as human beings value. And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/at-its-best-what-art-does-is-it-points-to-who-we-as-human-beings-and/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [My style is in the 21st century. If you look at the process, it goes from photography through Photoshop, where certain features are heightened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/my-style-is-in-the-21st-century-if-you-look-at-the-process-it-goes/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think the world that I grew up in was like being in this sort of magical artistic garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-the-world-that-i-grew-up-in-was-like-being-in-this-sort-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [It was something that came sort of matter-of-factually. Because there - it's like really - real honest engagement with the people around me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/it-was-something-that-came-sort-of-matter-of-factually-because-there/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [We're wired to be empathetic and to care about the needs of others, but also to be curious about others. And I think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/we-re-wired-to-be-empathetic-and-to-care-about-the-needs-of-others/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Painting is situational. And my particular situation exists within gender, race, class, sexuality, nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/painting-is-situational-and-my-particular-situation-exists-within/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [There were certain expectations that were assumed of me as a young black American 20th-century - then 20th-century artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/there-were-certain-expectations-that-were-assumed-of-me-as-a-young/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think, something that you might be able to locate in the work that I'm creating today: the ability to look at a black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-something-that-you-might-be-able-to-locate-in-the-work-that-i/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I remember the first time I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and saw a Kerry James Marshall painting with black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-remember-the-first-time-i-went-to-the-los-angeles-county-museum-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I believe that artists should be part of the culture. I think that my work clearly bears that out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-believe-that-artists-should-be-part-of-the-culture-i-think-that-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-guess-art-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Just physically, if you looked at the house that I grew up in, my mother created this greenhouse. And surrounded the entire property. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/just-physically-if-you-looked-at-the-house-that-i-grew-up-in-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) [Explore all 275 Kehinde Wiley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## More Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [How can you be more subject; black woman in a white man's world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/how-can-you-be-more-subject-black-woman-in-a-white-man-s-world/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Black music has always known, and not been afraid to acknowledge just how high the stakes of Black thought are. To summarize the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-b-wilderson-iii/black-music-has-always-known-and-not-been-afraid-to-acknowledge-just/) [Frank B. Wilderson III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-b-wilderson-iii/) > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) [Browse all 11,655 Black quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And as a young black man, a lot of my professors would really think that it was useful to see the work of politically oriented, positivistic, leftist creative works. And I found it incredibly useful. 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