--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I understand blackness from the inside…" description: "\"I understand blackness from the inside out. What my goal is, is to allow the world to see the humanity that I know personally to be the truth.\" — Kehin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58f/kehinde-wiley-1194_black_i-understand-blackness-from-the-inside-o_2780628.jpg" --- # I understand blackness from the inside out. What my goal… ![“I understand blackness from the inside out. What my goal is, is to allow the world to see the humanity that I know personally to be the truth.” quote by Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58f/kehinde-wiley-1194_black_i-understand-blackness-from-the-inside-o_2780628.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58f/kehinde-wiley-1194_black_i-understand-blackness-from-the-inside-o_2780628.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58f/kehinde-wiley-1194_black_i-understand-blackness-from-the-inside-o_2780628.jpg) > “I understand blackness from the inside out. What my goal is, is to allow the world to see the humanity that I know personally to be the truth.” [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. The artist seeks to reveal humanity within blackness, sharing personal truth with the world. **In simple terms:** Show humanity in blackness through personal truth. Key Takeaway Share authentic perspectives. Themes identity humanity artistic expression Mood thoughtful hopeful Type artistic social When to use this quote - exhibitions - public talks - education Key Concepts cultural representation personal narrative Questions to Reflect On - How does personal truth impact societal views? - What platforms amplify marginalized voices? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blackness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blackness/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [And the pain is too much it's too much it's too much and my hands are on my head and I'm rearing back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/and-the-pain-is-too-much-it-s-too-much-it-s-too-much-and-my-hands-are/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [There's a little blackness inside all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassia-leo/there-s-a-little-blackness-inside-all-of-us/) [Cassia Leo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassia-leo/) > [“I came up in segregated West Baltimore. I understood black as a culture—as Etta James, jumping the broom, the Electric Slide. I understood the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/i-came-up-in-segregated-west-baltimore-i-understood-black-as-a/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-criticism-seriously-but-not-personally-if-there-is-truth-or-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. 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I know that history is simultaneously a bloody mess and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/i-know-that-everything-is-connected-like-a-worldwide-version-of-the/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [One should have humanity and should know what to speak and how to behave, and our lifestyle should be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shehnaaz-gill/one-should-have-humanity-and-should-know-what-to-speak-and-how-to/) [Shehnaaz Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shehnaaz-gill/) > [“Was that the ultimate fate of humanity? To never know uniform peace or lack of suffering, no matter how advanced they came to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-r-forbes/was-that-the-ultimate-fate-of-humanity-to-never-know-uniform-peace-or/) [M.R. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-r-forbes/) > [“What do you know about being a person?” She sniffed primly. “We have a lot to discuss. This would all be much easier if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/what-do-you-know-about-being-a-person-she-sniffed-primly-we-have-a/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [“twenty-first-century technology may enable external algorithms to ‘hack humanity’ and know me far better than I know myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/twenty-first-century-technology-may-enable-external-algorithms-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [My paintings are very much about the consumption and production of blackness. And how blackness is marketed to the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/my-paintings-are-very-much-about-the-consumption-and-production-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [“The worst fear of the race yes, the world suddenly transformed into a senseless nightmare, horrible dissolution of things. Nothing compares, even oblivion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-worst-fear-of-the-race-yes-the-world-suddenly-transformed-into-a/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## 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 > [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. 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