Claiming my colors

In Juvenile Hall I meet up with young gangsters with strong affiliations. It saddens me when middle school kids tell me of the time an older group of students confronted the youngster with a defiant, "Claim your colors!" -- and the response, red or blue, had to be stated and it better be the color of the gang doing the recruiting.

Often the kids are very proud of their gang affiliation. Recently a rather brazen high schooler informed me that her plan was to run from the treatment program a judge assigned her to and to join the Mexican Mafia. This hurts me deeply.

Color, to me, used to be a positive notion. If you asked me about my favorite color I would proudly announce Yellow. Judging from the responses I get, yellow seems to be a least favorite for most. But I like to think it suits me, that I have a particularly sunny outlook most of the time unless I've hit a dark patch of deep purple. If I knew you as an artist I would answer differently. To you I would say, New Gamboge. To me, New Gamboge is the quintessential color of fall. It's yellow, yes, but has a tinge of something dark. It's not a scary or negative dark, it's just a hint of depth that I find particularly appealing. I even like the sound of it, the way New Gamboge rolls around my mouth before I let it out. New Gamboooooooooge, with a long o and a soft French g.

Similarly with green. For the most part I don't really appreciate green very much. But I make an exception with Hooker's green, a deep, dark green with depth that Mr. Hooker himself developed a couple centuries ago. It's darker than the green surrounding this funny cow -- she's obviously remembering something amusing -- and is a shade I really like.

I'm sorry the kids have chosen to taint their world with negativity in their color choices. I dislike making announcements during their art programs, "If certain colors have particular meaning to you, please don't use them here." Colors have enormous significance to me in the depth they invite and the emotion that's aroused. But my colors, New Gamboge and Hooker's green are enlivening, not used to threaten children or invite trouble.