“People who don’t quit, eventually rise to the top”
Amy Sherald’s, rise from obscurity to global and historic acclaim is rather extraordinary. She is recognized for being the first black woman to paint the official portrait of a United States, First Lady.
Imagine my embarrassment, as I was introduced to Amy at a sit-down coffee shop, across from Central Park and made no connection to who she was. I should have realized that this was no ordinary person when people frequently glanced at our table. I remember one lady actually starring intensely.
A couple of days later, I checked in with my friend google …. and…… cried, ”earth swallow me now!”
I mean we spoke a little art among other things. But that was pretty much it. So I knew she was an artist. She even mentioned the possibility of being commissioned to do the portrait of a renowned African and global icon. (Don’t ask. sworn to secrecy) And I was like, ”yes, that could be huge for you and put you on the map”.
Again…World, Please Swallow me….now!! Thankfully, she was just cool and human.
In retrospect, it was probably a good thing as I came to know the person and not a historical figure in US history.
Looking at her life…
Amy’s love for art started at age 8, during a field trip to an art gallery. Captivated by an image of a human-being of her ethnicity for the very first time, she knew there and then, that this is what she wanted to do with her life.
Her mom who was born in Alabama in the 1930s, and was not keen on this notion of her pursuing a career in art. She had encountered a lifetime of hardships and had preferred her daughter to seek something in medicine or other. She knew her mom meant well. How do you survive as an artist, right? Nevertheless, she took it as a challenge.
“ I always say that she was the perfect mother for me, because what I needed was somebody to prove wrong. I’m a strong woman because I was raised by one, and I’m a better person for that.”~ Amy Sherald– The Cut Magazine*
At age 30, Amy’s world was turn upside down. She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and received a heart transplant at age 39. During that decade, despite what she was going through, Amy focused on portraiture and kept going.
”People who don’t quit, eventually rise to the top” ~ Amy Sherald – Time Magazine.*
In 2016, she came to prominence after she won the National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Little did she know, that this was only the overture.
In that same year, she was nominated by Michelle Obama to do her official portrait as the First Lady, of the United States. This made her the first African-American to earn such an honour.
Then boom! The rest is history.
Amy’s story as an entrepreneur in some respects, can be our story. The story of overcoming and giving ourselves a shot to living the life we were meant to live. How often do we allow, pain, suffering, fear, culture, the unknown and discouragement from reaching our full capacity?
To reach our full capacity, we must learn to overcome fear and setbacks.
In a spiritual context it reminds me of a quote from the Good Book that proclaims, ” To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne” Revelations 3 vs 21
Our world is going through turbulent times and we must find the strength, to lift our heads in hope and not in despair.
I acknowledge that rising from despair is not as simple as flipping a switch. A desperate situation such as finding your next meal, can be hard enough. From personal experience, those are the moments we could learn to let go and let God.
We fall. We Fail. We Break. But then, with God, we rise. We heal. We overcome. ~ Author Unknown
