Dear reader:

Please understand: although I lament the cards of inequity that institutionalized white supremacy has dealt me; as a black man I do not consider my birth inauspicious. If God has chosen to clothe my body in blackness; who am I to question his wisdom? I do not think for a moment that my delivery into this white construct is somehow assigned to a disastrous fate. I am blessed by my maker to be fashioned in this ebony patchwork; moreover, when I consider the sum-total of my 52 years on this earth, I am truly blessed. Maybe more so because I can see the ignorance of the oppressor so more clearly that he sees himself. In Art shows the same whites who would avoid me on the street by jumping quickly into their cars or crossing the street; are drawn to me like a magnate because I am not white. They consider my artistic perspective unique as coming from the other. In some circles my opinion is lauded because of the mindset that I am so different; hence I bring a fresh perspective into an age-old white group mindset.

 

Even in times when it seemed blacks enjoyed freedom less, we didn’t all commit suicide (like some whites in their position might do if they were deprived of everything) or walk around sulking, saying Woe is me. We invented- we danced, we sang songs and celebrated life; we loved and lived life as best as we were able despite white oppression. While the white man spent his entire energy keeping us down; we excelled nevertheless. We didn’t just sing, “We shall overcome,” but we also sang "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, Lift Every Voice; and Say It Loud- I'm Black and I'm Proud.

 

In his novel, Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin made this observation..

"The blacks realize that the key to surviving is unity and finding something positive in their situation. They each try to provide the others with something to be happy about and something to be grateful for. The blacks try to counter the hate and hostility that they encounter with warmth and kindness toward one another."

 

It was as if he and Jane Goodall were comparing notes. Even living in his artificial black skin he didn’t fully get it. You can’t study us from blinds or camouflaged encampments to learn about black folk. You must engage- you must descend from your lily white suburbias and know us.  I’m sure Mr. Griffin felt sorry for the pitiful condition some blacks were in. Alternately- some blacks were feeling sorry for the condition whites were in. The monsters racism had turned them into. Whites are still trying to study us like animals, or phenomena; emotionally detached from the other. By observing and jotting down notes- reading books by black authors or watching a few black guys in hip-hop videos; whites believe they can speak about blacks with authority.

 

You have to be willing to divest of these enormous (but fragile) egos, bestowed of privilege, which keeps you distant from everyone not like you.  When you do engage you approach the situation from the position of savior- or from a paternal veneer. But you must commune- associate, befriend; get to know us as human beings. Maybe then you’ll come to appreciate us as equals; as fully deserving of the same rights and privileges you so take for granted. Until you stop looking at us from the outside in (like anthropologist Jane Goodall) you’ll never truly know us or appreciate us. 

 

Below I have assembled a few clips for your consideration, and I offer up this quote.

“When we ask Negroes to abide by the law, let us also declare that the white man does not abide by law in the ghettos. Day in and day out he violates welfare laws to deprive the poor of their meager allotments; he flagrantly violates building codes and regulations; his police make a mockery of law; he violates laws on equal employment and education and the provisions of civil services. The slums are the handiwork of a vicious system of the white society; Negroes live in them, but they do not make them, any more than a prisoner makes a prison.”

Martin Luther King, Jr

 

The Soul Of Black Folk Text:

In Zipped Format