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Contemporary Reflection – Past Vs. Today

Many things throughout history have changed, to the point where if a person from the past were to somehow travel to the future, they would be utterly loss in insane sorts of ways. The advent of technology means that the person from the past would see people talking to themselves on glowing screens, strange forms of food they’ve never heard of before, and how everything is connected to a cloud. To add on further, the products they used to use and eat would have been replaced with all sorts of food from General Mills and Kellogg’s.

But there would always be one thing they would recognize, and something that’s really stood the test to time. Frankly, it would be the infrastructure of the buildings in Harlem and even though some of the buildings have been torn down due to repair and other circumstances, the familiar brick walls and characteristic staircases would remain.

The corner piece of it all would be the parks, because even throughout the ages, it does not change beyond the addition and removal of some potentially playground equipment.

Many things have changed in Harlem, so it’s almost wonderous in a way to look at what has stayed.

Brownies Book, Childhood, Children

Blog #3: Nostalgia and Rain

What was it like to be a black child during the Harlem Renaissance?

It’s a question that seldom seemed to be asked, and only answered in retrospect by autobiographies sold about half a century afterwards.

An adult of that time would be happy to tell you how it was different, and how they got to experience so many new things that they never would’ve thought they’d get to experience when they were younger.

Unfortunately, we can’t purely look at things at the point of view of an adult, because the children in question have their own experiences. And what they say is true, they wouldn’t be able to imagine the younger experience, but to add on even further, each successive generation, the experiences they face during childhood are completely different from the last.

It’s not wrong to say that we are cagey about these divisions as each generation has their own separate childhood cultural phenomenon that help bond the generation together, and accordingly, they had their own challenges to face.

However, delving into the literature and environment the children lived through will help paint a picture of their experience.

So what were the childhood experiences for Black children that they all collectively experienced during this tumultuous time?

The previous generation was rife with a struggle to change what it meant to be black. They created magazines, gave speeches, and made an entire neighborhood their own. But even then, that generation was unable to solve the problem of the rampant racism they faced.

What was a child supposed to take from that?

Would they idealize the fighter for social justice as something that they would strive to become in the future? Or would it break them and force them down a path of despair?

This quote by W.E.B Du Bois contained in the website ‘The Magazine that Helped 1920s Kids Navigate Racism’ encapsulates it best:

This was inevitable in our role as [a] newspaper—but what effect must it have on our children? To educate them in human hatred is more disastrous to them than to the hated; to seek to raise them in ignorance of their racial identity and peculiar situation is inadvisable—impossible.

The Crisis magazine was showing the good, the bad, and the ugly of everything the Negro community was facing, but an unfortunate truth about the full truth is that the ugly tends to take in more space of a person’s mind, and in a child’s case, the cornerstone of their thoughts. If the children act on this hatred, nothing would change and the change that the previous generation had fought oh so hard for could’ve been lost. If children were to give into hatred and such, it would continue a cycle of violence and racism to the next generation and a life led by such hatred would rarely turn out to be a blessed one.

The media wasn’t kind to the neighborhoods these children lived in. But maybe the people were better.

Children have role models to base their behavior around. They are there to create an ideal image in their minds to live up to and to strive to become. It’s no secret that many pursued the fields they do as adults because there was a role model to guide them.

What did the children see? What did they learn? What did they start to believe?

Did the adults want them to continue the fight, or would they hope that it would end in their generation?

 

Hughes, L. (1925). The Weary Blues. Opportunity, 3(29), 143–143.

This poem by Langston Hughes on p.145 of Opportunity magazine, is a moving piece about the struggle and the misery that pervades the Negro community. It oozes with a feeling of being beaten down, and yet, there’s an accepting tone that they’re forgiven even in spite of their defeated figure. More importantly, it was written from the perspective of someone watching a man be so weary, and he can’t even fake being chipper.

The blues are a form of weeping for the suffering inflicted. What would a child see in this?

In the eyes of a child, they’d start to notice a pattern. A strange pattern of every kind adult empathizing with a beaten down man who looked as if he’s seen better days. The children would have a front row seat to this. They’d gain a sense of dread about the future, and the nigh-insurmountable wall of the future from their very young perspective. Maybe once they’ve grown, they’ll see the wall for what it is, but as a child, it’s frightening.

There is nothing a child understands more than their own helplessness to the world. This wall is going to block them, and it must be scaled with blood, or they would have to walk away from it entirely.

However, stories did offer a form of respite.

The Brownies’ Book was created by W. E. B. Du Bois, to educate and promote literary skills for both black and white children.

3 Covers for ‘The Brownies’ Book’ dated Jan, Feb, June, of 1920

It was a much lighter publication in comparison to Crisis magazine. It focused more on literature for children and stories that depicted black children in a much more natural way in comparison to the very ‘narrow-minded’ takes other magazines were publishing. These magazines were targeted to both white and black children, in order to foster stronger relations between the two, since if they had a common to speak about, prejudices could be broken. Children are innocent and unknowing, so they’ll treat others how they see their role models and media tell them to treat certain people. This magazine hoped to show children that hatred was a incorrect choice and that it would be better to

And the children did do something that many were screaming they couldn’t.

Education had been a raging issue at this time, with many convinced that a black child and a school were like oil and water. However, education is the cheapest way to raise one’s position in society, so having children who could advance and truly apply themselves to learn and obtain vital jobs to a society would indisputably improve the general Negro community standing. But there are barriers to education nonetheless, namely in the form of monetary payments to attend educational institutions.

Grants are a blessing in this case as they provide that monetary assistance desperately needed by students struggling to pay their debts. But it’s not as if this money from these grants are able to appear out of thin-air. This money had to be managed and appropriately awarded to the students who needed it most, and the “Go to High School-Go to College” program by Alpha Phi Alpha was a shining standout as shown in the quote below by Opportunity magazine:

Fraternities and Sororities. (1925). Opportunity, 3(26), 48–50.

They had managed to create and maintain such a well-maintained program that even political figures gave their praises onto their efforts. These programs are representative of hope, and with such advancements and the removal of economic barriers, it would mean the inspiration of scholars to be limited solely by their efforts in academia which would lead to a strengthening of their position in society.

The struggles and boons of all these children defined and shaped their course in life. Their experiences gave a base to their opinions and their beliefs. To truly understand the change that happens to a community, the one thing that should be watched above all else is the ideas the children are exposed to, the things people say about them, the adults they watch and who they are closest to, the items that they read, and the ways they improve themselves.

 

Fraternities and Sororities. (1925). Opportunity, 3(26), 48–50.

Holmes, A. (2021, February 18). The magazine that helped 1920s kids navigate racism. The Atlantic. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/02/how-w-e-b-du-bois-changed-black-childhood-america/617952/

Hughes, L. (1925). The Weary Blues. Opportunity, 3(29), 143–143.

Ideal, Reality, Survey Graphic

Blog #2: The Real Vs. The Ideal

Between fiction and non-fiction, which one is better?

Imagine, for a very literal metaphor, two different books which laid out in front of a person: a non-fiction book and a fictional book.

Which one should a person choose and read?

Generally speaking, people tend to name non-fiction as the greater of the two genres. People always speak about being realistic and staying grounded, and sure, that may work in a pure business setting, however, for true ideological change, they have to learn to embrace fiction, or ideals.

Survey Graphic itself realized this, as when they first began to publish articles about the negro community, it was all non-fiction literature, and focused on a much more analytical perspective on how to change and the accomplishments of those in the community. This is representative of the non-fiction book.

The non-fiction book, the real, would do it’s best to convey matters as they are, point to the factors that caused it, and the possible consequences of such a thing occurring. It is knowledgeable. For example, in ‘The Making of a Harlem’ by James Weldon Johnson:

 

Johnson, James. “The Making of a Harlem.” Survey Graphic, vol. 6, no. 6, 1925, p. 636.

This passage is a recounting of how housing prices in a neighborhood completely tanked after colored folk began to move in. It’s a record of the historical racism and push-back the negro community had suffered, and how it led to the formation of Harlem. It’s an issue that they want all in the negro community to learn about, and to fight against.

But after a decade after the magazine began it’s first publication, they began to shift gears and began to publish fiction, or the ideal, in the form of poetry. These poems are emotional, they warn their readers, they wish for the best but are frustrated with what reality has dealt them. In particular, ‘Like a Strong Tree’ by Claude Mckay exemplifies this best:

McKay, Claude. “Like a Strong Tree.” Survey Graphic, vol. 6, no. 6, 1925, p. 662.

The tree is an ideal of the strength of self. The strength to hold onto their beliefs and how McKay wishes to stand tall like this tree for ages to come. That through a tree’s long and extended life, in particular the beginning of the second passage ‘Touching the surface and the depth of things’, they will learn and internalize everything they can reach their roots towards. With that knowledge supporting their trunk, they won’t ever falter and they’ll endure and enjoy all things that come their way and never fall.

The non-fiction passage above made me chuckle at the absurdity of it all which a tinge sense of animosity that people could really go that far. The fictional poem inspired me with it’s imagery and depictions of tenacity. If I were to think about the changes of a century ago, a tree would sit rooted in the forefront of my mind.

Which book would you choose? No matter your choice, understand that these books are not binaries, but instead, a spectrum that is absolutely critical to our daily lives.

They represent the real vs the ideal.

Both are fundamental parts of the human condition.

The Ideal

The Real

The Real

 

Lacking either one would mean that a person completely loses perspective.

A complete realist is a robot who doesn’t strive for something greater, who will keep the status quo and never turn the world into something more.

A complete idealist is a blind lunatic who can’t see the world for what is it, only spouting ideals and never the means to achieve them.

Everyone is a mix of the two, with their perspectives leaning one way or the other. And as such, it’s important to take a step back and reevaluate where you stand.

The best answer to my earlier question is to read both books, well, if you have the time.

 

Works Cited

Johnson, James. “The Making of a Harlem.” Survey Graphic, vol. 6, no. 6

McKay, Claude. “Like a Strong Tree.” Survey Graphic, vol. 6, no. 6, 1925, p. 662

Passing (Novel)

What even is race?

Is it only passing when you’re “black” but you look “white?” Since the trope of passing has been more associated with blacks passing as whites due to the increased social privileges that they redeem, it’s been hard to understand that whites can pass for blacks. Or can they? The reality is that people who have the ability to pass are mixed blood, white and black, and usually have characteristics from both races which makes it difficult to label them (because they are a walking contradiction of what constitutes white or black). The problem with race, at least in America – has been used to group people together if they meet a certain criteria and so there are specific characteristics that define an individual within that group. After years and years of interracial mingling, there have been many “whites” with Afro-characteristics and many blacks with Caucasian characteristics. The idea of race does not consider that people of different “races” would mingle (also I believe that was prohibited at the time) and so it was believed that African Americans cannot possibly have straight hair or blonde hair or blue eyes, or fair, white skin and vice versa, a white person could not have darker skin tone, coarse hair, black hair, i.e. Even the racial construct itself in America has changed to accept more “options” as white. White immigrants weren’t white such as Jewish, Poles, Greeks, Italians, Hungarians, so in America, at least at first, what constituted whiteness also dealt with where you were born (I guess it still is but it is MUCH more broad now), along with wealth, and obviously, the color of your skin. Adding in the context of the one drop rule, if there was any African/black lineage, no matter how distant, you are considered black.  So not only does whiteness means what I had already listed, but it also meant your bloodline was “pure,” free of any “inferior-race” ancestry. Nowadays, these groups are considered to be white so there has always been an evolving definition of whiteness and race in America. According to the US Census, a person who is white is a person “who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.”

Clare Kendry in Passing plays with the idea of race by being both black and white at the same time. Her black friends know she is black (and is technically black under the One Drop rule) but her white friends and associates think she is white. Clare mentions on pg. 37, “You know, Rene, I’ve often wondered why more colored girls, girls like you and Margaret Hammer… never ‘passed’ over. It’s such a frightfully easy thing to do.” The reason why it’s probably unheard of to hear whites passing for ‘blacks’ besides social standing reasons is probably explained by the exchange between Clare and Irene… with Irene saying “What about background? …Surely you can’t drop down on people from nowhere and expect them to receive you with open arms, can you?” And Clare responding with: “Almost, You’d be surprised… ‘Rene, how much easier that is with white people than with us…” (also p. 37) Clare Kendry was able to get away with being white when she’s black (mixed) because whites assumed she was white. They assumed that she had extensive ancestry from Europe, and based on Irene’s response, I would assume that black people insist on background checks if one would claim to be black.  “You didn’t have to explain where you came from? It seems impossible.”Rachel Dolezal, in Center of Storm, Is Defiant: 'I Identify as Black' - The New York Times

Picture of Rachel Dolezal, ex Spokane NAACP President

According to this article, “white people have been passing for black for centuries.” Rachel Dolezal, former Spokane NAACP President,  has been identifying herself as “black, white, and American Indian/Alaskan Native,” but her parents say she is white and has been trying to fool everyone. But d0 people grill Rachel because she looks white trying to identify as black or because her parents say she is white? America’s one-drop policy wanted to make identifying people simple — if you were even 1/1000th black, you were black, no matter how white you appeared. Sole appearance defined your race, at least to the general public. And it shows  with the public’s reaction to Ms. Dolezal’s ‘revelation.’ Part of the equation of you identifying yourself as a certain race has to do with society’s reception to how you identify.

 

The Root Cause of America's Problem: The Creation of a Racial Caste System | by Kenadie Cobbin-Richardson | An Injustice!

picture from https://aninjusticemag.com/the-root-cause-of-americas-problem-the-creation-of-a-racial-caste-system-a9d6171dcf42

Race in America was more of a caste system than it was biological, and it ignores the heterogeneity nature of being human. At some point, not all Europeans were considered white. There was no difference in genes and ethnic background, but there was a change to their race, which allowed them to be ‘American’.  The article from Scientific American explained the use of race best “…race is to be understood as a useful tool to elucidate human genetic diversity, but on the other hand, race is also understood to be a poorly defined marker of that diversity and an imprecise proxy for the relationship between ancestry and genetics.” It is important to note that identification is two ways — you may see yourself or present yourself one way but the way it is received can be another. You may be black but the person looking at you thinks you’re white. You do not have full control over how you are identified.

 

Works cited:

Cobbin-Richardson, K. (2021, January 11). The root cause of America’s problem: The creation of a racial caste system. Medium., from https://aninjusticemag.com/the-root-cause-of-americas-problem-the-creation-of-a-racial-caste-system-a9d6171dcf42

Gannon, M. (2016, February 5). Race is a social construct, scientists argue. Scientific American.  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/

Lind, D. (2015, June 15). White people have been passing for black for centuries. A historian explains. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2015/6/15/8784327/passing-white-black

Bureau, U. S. C. (2022, March 1). About the topic of race. Census.gov. from https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html

Larsen, Nella. (1929) Passing. pp. 37-38

Survey Graphic

“Is Gentrification Bad For Harlem?”

In “The Making of Harlem,” a chapter within the Survey Graphic magazine, negroes moved from a corner of Lower Manhattan to 53rd St. Then they relocated to Harlem due to the surfacing of better houses.  As there was a shortage of labor at the time, (country is stabilizing from WW1) there was of course a hefty amount of work available and more negroes are able to work, now being able to find work easier and at higher rates than what they’ve received ever in their lives. Also, property value for some foreclosures went to its cheapest point since lending companies have been holding vacant the “handsome dwellings,” with normal selling figures such as $15,000 (around $210,000 in today’s dollars) or $20,000 (around $281,000) selling at one-third of their normal asking price, ex: 5,000 (around $70,000). It was said that negroes in Harlem had owned more than $60 million dollars of property. It was safe to say at the time, Harlem was owned by negroes.

Real estate prices in Harlem are much more expensive today than in the 1920s, if you compare the aforementioned figures, with median sales prices around $800,000, well below the median sale price in Manhattan of $1.2million. Although Harlem is relatively cheap versus the rest of Manhattan, it is still expensive to many who have lived here their whole life. You will also notice how Harlem has once again be subject to demographic change, more blacks are leaving due to expensive rent or property taxes while well-off whites and hispanics have been bargaining at Harlem’s offerings.

 

But can the Negroes keep Harlem? I’ve already mentioned that there were pockets of negro communities before, so given the pattern before could it therefore repeat again, but at a larger scale? James Weldon Johnson claims that “when colored people do leave Harlem, their homes, their churches, their investments and their businesses, it will be because the land has become so valuable they can no longer afford to live on it.” (638) Gentrification is prevalent today in Harlem, with new luxury condos being erected and raising property values, a lot of people simply cannot afford to call Harlem their home anymore, let alone New York City. Harlem not only has been a place to call home for Negroes, but Harlem has become synonymous with Negroes itself. Detaching Negroes from Harlem would seem to lose integral value to what made Harlem, Harlem.

A crowded street in Harlem, c.1920 (Taken from "The Making of Harlem" p.637)

Picture taken from “The Making of Harlem” in Survey Graphic:  Harlem Mecca of the New Negro, pp.637

 

This may be a silly question but when Johnson claimed that the land has become so valuable they can no longer afford to live on it, I question were the lower class and middle class colored people leaving and being replaced by upper-class colored? Earlier in the text it was mentioned that a lot of whites left Harlem (white flight) because it felt like they were being invaded. Given that negroes in Harlem were more exposed to individual, entrepreneurial jobs and now have more financial freedom than ever before, now buying up properties and properly managing their finances, this was their biggest chance of retaining an area (in which they own themselves) within this time of American history. Is gentrification a race related issue or is it a class related issue? Regardless, a high-society and posh Harlem  would strip away values like community,  culture, standards, and, literally, people who help construct this place. When I look at the pictures in the “Making of Harlem,” the large crowds and communities seem like they are all socializing, mingling, there is an overall feeling of togetherness. Today, at least to me, maybe it’s just a city thing, there are occasional socializing like small talk with a person on the train or hotdog stand but overall everyone is so distant and minding their own business. This is already one example of how Harlem Renaissance Harlem differs from modern-Harlem… the sense of togetherness. Maybe it is the gentrification that has made us so distant?

 

Harlem in the 1980s and the 1990s had put a stain on Harlem’s illustrious history, with the crack situation running rampant within its community. Harlem was in disarray. Crime was then at its peak. The New York Times had even stated in “Harlem Battles over Development Project,” “since 1970, an exodus of residents has left behind the poor, the uneducated, the unemployed. Nearly two-thirds of the households have incomes below $10,000 a year.” It is not just whites who were leaving, it was people who provided stability to Harlem who were leaving including financially stable coloreds.  A journal published by Columbia University, “Crack Cocaine and Harlem’s Health,” speaks about the damage drugs have done to the community: “Between 1960 and 1990, four disparate forces – suburbanization, economic decline, epidemic disease, and municipal public policy – transformed Harlem from a functional ‘urban habitat’ to a de-urbanized area with a hyper-concentration of poor people with serious health problems. Homicides, cirrhosis,  and drug-related deaths accounted for 40% of excess mortality in Harlem. Harlem had the highest rate of age-adjusted mortality from all causes, and that rate was 50% higher than U.S. blacks living in other areas.” Harlem at this time was dying. Take a look at these before and after pictures.

Note: these are not my pictures.

1988: Corner of 132nd Street and Madison Avenue

2007: Same Corner

Pictures taken by Camilo Vergara

 

1988: 116th Street and Lenox Avenue

2007:

1988: 125th Street Between Park and Lexington Aves

2007:

All of these photos were taken by Camilo Vergara, his pictures are digitized into the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=camilo%20vergara%20116th&st=gallery

Some people call it a second reconnaissance while others describe it as gentrification.

Was the second renaissance or gentrification necessary to save Harlem? The question becomes would you rather stay on your storied land but have it crumble before you due to drugs, crime and poverty, which is unrecognizable to its former glory or have your storied land taken from you (cannot afford to live on it anymore) but is being converted to a neighborhood with a fresh new personality?

Works cited:

Shipp, E. R. (1991, July 31). Harlem Battles Over Development Project. The New York Times., from https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/31/nyregion/harlem-battles-over-development-project.html

Watkins, Beverly X. and Thompson Fulilore,  Mindy. (2000). “Crack Cocaine and Harlem’s Health,” Dispatches From the Ebony Tower Intellectuals Confront the African American Experience. 

Johnson, James W. (1925)  “The Making of Harlem”, Survey Graphic: Harlem Mecca of the New Negro pp. 635-639

Harlem Real Estate Market Trends. 2022 Home Prices & Sales Trends | Harlem, New York, NY Real Estate Market. from https://www.propertyshark.com/mason/market-trends/residential/nyc/manhattan/harlem

 

 

W.E.B. DuBois

Walking Tour Of Harlem

This trip was definitely more interesting than anticipated. Given that I was born and raised in Harlem, I have walked down these streets before, but I never much stopped to think about the history of every street. I guess when something’s ordinary you just don’t really pay a lot of attention to it. But when we were on 140st and 141st street and Lenox Ave talking about the Savoy Ballroom and how dancers used to line up by skin tone from dark to light, there’s really so much history that one doesn’t realize that has happened. Matter of fact, I did not even know what a ‘Savoy Ballroom’ was before the trip! Who could have imagined that a legendary ballroom and nightclub have stood where apartments now stand?

Savoy Ballroom Harlem Archives - The Vintage Inn

taken from Google Images

Savoy Ballroom on 140-141sts Lenox Ave.

Savoy Park 620 Lenox Avenue | Apartments For Rent In Central Harlem  taken from Google Images

What stands in its place today

It was cool to visit through St Nicholas Houses again, where we saw my high school, HCZ Promise Academy I.  I used to walk through St. Nicholas Houses everyday to get to school. Honestly that was the first time in a long time where I’ve gotten that close to my school in a long time. When the school was first constructed in 2013, everyone disliked the idea that you had this nice, expensive school in the middle of the “dangerous” projects, but Geoffrey Canada envisioned that the school acted much like a community center for people in the area with a hope of providing aid to a greater disenfranchised community.

Promise Academy® High Schools | Harlem Children's Zone front of the school, picture taken from Google Images

This relates to my blog with the “Is Gentrification Bad For Harlem?” as I discussed the idea of the second Renaissance in Harlem. Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children Zone organization not only is giving back to the community but is providing a foundation to which generations of disenfranchised children can become empowered and also contribute to the community. Geoffrey Canada had the same vision that W.E.B. DuBois and other key figures of the Renaissance had, that is empowering the black community to replace the recurring associations of black and latino with poverty and inferiority. Unlike Dubois where he is creating editorials and magazines to bring a renewed black image, Geoffrey Canada aims to uplift the black and latino community through the means of quality education, making a mission for kids to go to and through college.

Geoffrey Canada stands next to Harlem Children’s Zone mural

A picture of Geoffrey Canada standing in front of the Promise Academy II (Geoffrey Canada Community Center) HCZ logo on 125th Street Madison Avenue, taken from

HCZ’s website: https://hcz.org/about-us/leadership/geoffrey-canada/

 

Charles Johnson

“Is Violence Ever the Answer?”

Articles that stood out in Opportunity Magazine were both “Gandhi” authored by Rene Maran and “Better Human Relationships” by Caroline G. Norment. The intent of  intellectual pieces like Opportunity, The Crisis, Survey Graphic was to display various capabilities and ideals of the Negro people, and ultimately record Negro history from the Negro perspective. This is a sharp divergence from the Negro narrative being created by non-Negros and it was this manufacturing of the Negro image that circulated negative stigma about Negros.

In Objectivity and Social Change, a chapter in Word, Image and the New Negro by Anne E. Carroll, the Chicago Commission of Race Relations which studied the root of the Chicago race riots concluded that “the Chicago Defender had stirred up bitterness of its black readers against whites, and that the Chicago Tribune had ‘served hatred for the Negroes with the breakfast of Chicago’s white population.’ The commission also concluded that ignorance fueled that hatred: it found that white Americans knew very little about black Americans, and their perception of African Americans were largely shaped by images ‘that cause the Negro to appear only as a criminal or a fool.’ The commission advised that if similar violence was to be avoided in the future, better understanding and attitudes between black Americans and white Americans were necessary, and it argued that the press had to play a major role in promoting these changes.” (Objectivity and Social Change, 59) Johnson felt that having “inflammatory text” in writing would fuel the race tensions and thus cause more violence, where DuBois felt that one could not remain cool and collected while fellow brothers and sisters were getting “lynched, murdered, starved.” (Social Change and Objectivity, 61) DuBois understood that in order for Blacks to be represented accurately, the authors and the one telling the stories had to been black which is partly the reason why he had a strong desire to mass-produce race-related magazines. He wanted the negro to be seen in a way never seen before, as an equal human being.

Johnson liked using facts and using less provocative imagery. DuBois felt there was a need for a call to action. He spoke his mind and used inflammatory imagery. He felt that nothing would be accomplished if he had done otherwise. I believe that Gandhi was mentioned in Johnsons’ Opportunity because he essentially fought off oppression and gain freedom without the use of violence. He had set the precedent to MLK Jr’s nonviolence campaign during the Civil Rights Movement and had shown the world that colored (albeit Indian instead of Black) can fend for themselves, be their own people, and make history too. Given that Johnson wanted a more conservative approach he valued peaceful cooperation because the root of the rift is that the two peoples were essentially divided, and forcing people to like each other given with the use of force just isn’t going to happen. Here was an opportunity to overcome oppression without the use of violence. Not only does Gandhi break the stereotype of having to use force to force out oppression, he breaks the stereotype of what people imagines as a world leader. His differences in characteristics such as his height, his health and his skin color had made him contrast the notion of world leaders. And it is because of his difference of character would inspire more and more “different” world leaders including aforementioned MLK Jr. and Nelson Mandela. And a final distinction between Gandhi and other world leaders: Nonviolence was embedded within Gandhi. Given that he was Hindu he believed that nonviolence had to start from the soul or one’s religion. He made it clear (although it was already known) that the black struggle against whites in America wasn’t only exclusive to blacks living in America, there had been black against white problems in South Africa, Indians against British in India, there was a group struggle against an oppressor force all over the world.  Violence motivates for change. British in India inspired for the Independence of India, and also inspired democracy in India. Violence against blacks inspired the Harlem Renaissance and other Renaissances across the country that proved their worth.

taken from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi

A picture of Mohandas Gandhi

When Gandhi was in South Africa, he realized that colonizers “be it French, Belgian, Dutch, Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese, or American – that brutality, pillage, death, sudden assassination, incendiarism was used as the only method of communication and understanding between them and other peoples who have committed the inexpiable crime of not belonging to the same race.” (Gandhi, Opportunity, 41) Human history has been riddled with conflict and violence, whether it is race-related, religion-related, or politically related. And Gandhi (and Mr. Johnson) are trying to break this cycle of violent behavior to solve our problems. Since when do civilians benefit from war? They hardly ever do. It is only their leaders who potentially profit the most (if they win, of course). Does using violence to solve violence ever work?

This video by NBC news provides a quick summary to Gandhi’s impact on India and India’s power struggle against the British. Notice also how important community is to Gandhi as he is seen always with a large group. He is much different than kings who believe that they are superior to their subjects and look down upon them. This person instead struggles with his people to show strength, unlike anything that we’ve seen before.

Caroline Norment in “Better Human Relationships” asserts that inter-human conflicts exists due to “Humanity, striving for place in the sun, has formed habits of selfishness, acquisitiveness and self-protection. Naturally enough, groups have formed which are antagonistic to other groups which are even slightly dissimilar.”(43) When you think of what it means to be a human, you might think we are intelligent beings, being able to reason and understand consequences for actions. We think of being friendly, or humane, open to new experiences, but yet it is said that is ‘human nature’ to have fights with one another. Do we really fight wars for survival or do we fight wars for status and belonging? When we’re in fear it’s us or them because they are not like us, and we tend to think that they are inferior to us, or even, them existing threatens our existence. We call ourselves friendly and welcoming but also don’t mind resorting to violent tendencies when we feel threatened. To be human is to be a hypocrite, we are welcoming but we form groups to isolate ourselves from others, we fight and kill each other but yet we are not animals, will we ever learn that violence leads to more violence?

Works cited:

Carroll, Anne E., (2005) “Objectivity and Social Change: Essays and News Stories in Opportunity.” Word, Image, and the New Negro pg. 59, 61

Maran, Rene, (1925) “Gandhi”, Opportunity Magazine pg. 40-41

Norment, G. Caroline, (1925) “Better Human Relationships.” Opportunity Magazine pg. 43-59

 

#blackexcellence, #blackresilence, #harlem, Author, Zora Neale Hurston

The Afrofuturism Period Room (Contemporary Parallel)

          

(from left to right) My MET entry ticket and two pictures of the Afrofuturist Period Room exhibit

Our March 17th class trip to the The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Afrofuturist Period Room was very exciting. The room did a fantastic job of showcasing and embracing the past, present, and future of African and African diasporic art. This room highlights Black creativeness, imagination, excellence, and self-determination. The exhibit includes monumental people in Black excellence such as Beyoncé, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston cup in the Afrofuturist Period Room was a pleasant surprise to view in the exhibit. She is a Harlem Renaissance legendary author who wrote the essay How It Feels To Be Colored Me that we read a few days after the MET visit. Hurston’s essay included this powerful sentence: “But I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes.”

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Plate and tea cup pieces featuring Beyoncé, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Zora Neale Hurston and others

While at the museum, a white woman posed a very important question while observing this eye catching exhibit: why is all of these amazing looking pieces in this tiny room? This question haunted me during the reminder of my time in the Afrofuturism Period Room. Was this a shady way of the museum confining Black excellence into the smallest space possible? “It does look futuristic but is it really future futuristic at this point?” I asked in my class’s Hot Take video. “Are we so far in the future that maybe we caught up and this [futuristic room] is actual modern?” Sable Gravesandy mentioned in her Hot Take (video below) that the items in the exhibit looked cultured, classy and represented wealth. I interpret Sable’s meaning of wealth to mean more than an economically reference. I view Black people/African descendants as having an energy and spirit that trumps wealth beyond what Europeans could ever obtain.

Brenika Banks with classmates at the Metropolitan Museum of Art