We all carry emotional baggage—it weighs on us in different ways. Some push shopping carts overflowing with pain, while others carry a compact backpack of burdens. How we choose to handle this weight defines our path. We can let it consume us, or we can release it, moving forward as an act of resistance.
My Emotional Baggage Carts are vessels for shedding racial trauma inflicted by Karens and Kens. The act of making is my release—each knot, weave, and wrap absorbs the sting of macro and microaggressions, transforming pain into something tangible, something I can let go.
Each recovered shopping cart has its own history, but all are adorned with upcycled materials—rope, paracord, grocery bags, rope lights, beads, fabric, and bottle caps—woven into its frame. A protective zip-tie blanket encases the cart, trapping trauma, ensuring it cannot seep back into my being.
For me, these carts offer catharsis. For you, they invite reflection—an opportunity to examine the emotional baggage you carry and consider the weight you may be ready to release.
