Month: November 2020

In his piece, “Who gets to Be Afraid in America”, Ibrahim X Kendi writes a gripping piece based on the events of Ahmaud Arbery’s tragic death. He aims to bring Arbery’s death down to reality and show how his story could just as well have been any other black man. He uses the story of Arbery to focus on a larger point of prejudice towards African American men.

Kendi starts his piece with a personal take on current events in his life. Kendi sets the scene in a typical suburban area, familiarizing a large portion of his audience. He uses this introduction to relate his life with that of Arbery’s. Thus, allowing the audience to connect the life of a typical black man with that of Arbery’s. This initial establishment of a connection to Arbery intertwines Kendi’s feelings and story with that of Arbery’s. Arbery’s final thoughts are shrouded in mystery, subject to racist interpretation. His murderers – Gregory and Travis McMichael – paint the picture that Arbery was a criminal who had been “hauling ass from the scene of a crime”. Kendi’s linkage to Arbery undermines these racist interpretations as he looks to not only end biases surrounding black men but also educate the audience to be more aware of prejudice. This text helps to display how racism is very much present in society; it has come to the point where a black man being “curious” has resulted in him being shot. Personally, I do feel that Arbery’s story underscores a harsher, overarching truth in our society: people are pessimists. It is truly disheartening to see how individuals are quick to jump to nasty conclusions, “don’t see their own innocence in me. they see only their own guilt in me—their villainous fear…”. However, this bias does not translate into punishment. Part of the reason that protests erupted this summer is that minorities feel that the legal system benefits whites. Laws such as the “Stand your ground law” seen as “divinely human in white men, but bestial in the rest of us”.

Kendi also uses a range of literary techniques to draw in multiple perspectives. His seamless transition from his own perspective to Arbery’s allows for the audience to better sympathize with Arbery. Even when speaking from Arbery’s perspective, Kendi constantly relates Arbery back to himself, “peered into a half-built home, as I did”. Kendi also alludes to the imbalance of power in the United States. He criticizes how many white people “Think they know me [Kendi]” just based on his skin color. Kendi also brings up Gregory McMichael’s perspective to show how unjust it is that he is subject to different standards of treatment by the ‘system’. McMichael was only arrested 74 days after the killing and his defense was primarily focused on the unfounded claim that Arbery “had his hands down his pants (indicating a gun)”. The fact that such evidence was tolerated shows how there is a double standard in America’s justice system.

Kendi’s use of a connection between himself and the subject was a common technique used by authors and artists during the Harlem Renaissance. Likewise, the company Procter and Gamble has released several short videos (i.e. “The Look”) to show the difference in the treatment of blacks in society; they also used perspectives to allow the audience to better connect with the subject’s predicament. Kendi’s ability to connect with the audience gives greater clarity on the unjust labeling of blacks in America.

In this piece “The Racism We All Carry” by Roxanne Gray, the author addresses how everyone is inherently racist. She also delves into the issue of being a non-racist as opposed to an anti-racist and the way that American history should be looked at. Her essay includes a humorous tone and much like her last essay, “The price of black ambition”, she combines her experiences with a critical analysis of relevant events.

Gray uses her experiences and couples them with current events to forward her message about everyone’s innate racial tendencies. Gray starts her essay by alluding to the popular broadway musical “Avenue Q”, where they say in one of their songs that “Everyone’s a little bit racist”. She validates this statement and points out how as humans we are all flawed in some way and have our biases. She references the controversy surrounding popular cooking show host Paula Deen to underscore how big of an issue racism can be. Paula’s reaction to being called out for her actions seemed as if she was trying to play it down and paint herself as the victim, Gray correctly calls this out by stating that ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’. Such a response by celebrity underscores how big of an issue racism is: if a celebrity looks upon her insensitive actions with this level of normality imagine what the average individual would think. A humorous take is put forth when Gray writes “I have southern friends”, she uses this to take a stand against those who underplay their own acts of racism by saying that they have friends or family who are of that race, therefore they cannot possibly be a bigot. Gray also questions the extent to which we should view and appreciate the history of controversial periods, “carries the effects of the South’s complex and fraught racial history. On one hand, societies like that from the South introduced an array of important culinary developments, but also was one of the most oppressive societies in world history. Towards the end of the piece Gray’s experience with witnessing a person’s implicit bias shakes her. As an African-american, blacks are often the main victims of racism, but this experience ironically unites her, as a black woman, against another group. Her inability to stand up against this act stuns her and she begins to draw a distinction between actions of a non-racist against an anti-racist. She wishes that she would have taken the opportunity to educate that women and be an anti-racist, instead of being a bystander. This example allows the reader to better understand that simply not doing anything does not help to solve the problem; it takes initiative on your side.

The piece itself encourages the audience to look more into their own identities and understand the multiple perspectives on issues she talks about. Her reference to southern culture encourages people from other cultures to look more into their own histories. This idea itself brought me to question if people held prejudice because of their upbrining/culture or did their beliefs develop from life experience? Additionally, this idea linked with how African-american artists approach American history when referencing it, do they see it as more positive or negative for blacks? Gray brought up a fascinating point when expressing how everyone is a bit racist, but it is when one ‘breaks the unwritten rules about how to be racist’ that there is a uproar. But how can we coherently call out racism? Where do we make that distinction between bias and racism?

Ideas such as the ones expressed by Gray led me to several other trains of thought. Many artists during the Harlem Renassiance also grappled with the issues of racism and social cultures. In its entirety, the piece compells the audience to be more conscious about their decisions and more aware about racism that exists in their lives.

Reference:
JB Lenoir – Slow Down
What is the blues

With the advent of Reconstruction and the growing liberties for African-americans in the early 20th century, the black community experienced a rejuvenation in culture, literature and art. One of the main creations that came out of this period was the establishment of the blues music genre. A medium in which blacks could represent their emotions in a unique way, the blues gave the black community a way to connect with blacks and non-blacks through their heart-wrenching melodies and passionate voices.

In the essay ‘What is the blues’, the author clearly establishes how the blues serves as a representation of the “suffering, anguish-and hopes” of slaves and black sharecroppers during the 19th and 20th centuries. At the time of its initiation, the genre received mixed reviews from the public. Many praised the unique style it used to convey their messages, while others found the style peculiar and unnatural. A mixture of “field hollers, work songs, spirituals, and country string ballads” enabled the genre to connect to a large swathe of the African-American population. Recurring chords, an “ABAB” rhyming scheme, and frequent pauses Additionally, the stylistic revolution that the blues undertook paved the way for many of the genres that we cherish today, including, rock and pop, to form. Over time, the blues genre has kept with the times and evolved to represent the present state, allowing audiences through all time periods to connect.

The ability of the blues to connect African-Americans cannot be understated. Considering that blues music was an essential component of the oppressed black community to express their feelings and emotions shows how significant the genre was. In a sense, it represented the rich history of the blacks and included elements of realism, “I’ve been a hobo”: other lyrics help to illustrate the sorrowful state of affairs within the black community and life in general. With the invention of the radio, blues music became the first platform of mass media for the African-American community, for example, “Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith sold an outstanding figure of a million copies, a feat even more important as she was a black woman.

To conclude, the significance of the blues on the development of African-American culture is extremely profound. Although many may still find the genre strange, the music itself helped unify a fragmented community and nurture the musical revolution that would lead to the creation of rock and pop music.

In Skip James’ song “Hard Times Killin’ Floor Blues”, the artist connects the weakened state of the USA with his haunting blues music. This connection allows the audience to better understand the mood in the country during the Great Depression through a fixed meter and a continuous rhyming scheme.

James’ emphasizes the state of affairs in the United States by alluding to the past. “Times are harder than ever before”, this shows that even with the blacks’ history of suffering, present conditions are far worse than before. James reinforces his point by highlighting how he has never been “this low” before. Throughout the history of African-Americans, the entire community has always been striving to be more respected, educated and successful, however, social bias and racial stereotypes have hindered such advances. When James states “You can’t find heaven”, this relates to how the dream of African-Americans reaching equality seems like a heavenly dream in the 1930s. The artist continues the feelings of loneliness and ‘depression’ when underscoring how the song he is singing is a ‘lonesome song’.

The music of the blues is ghostly and haunting, connecting with the mood of the lyrics. A ‘swinging’ feeling is given as similar chords are repeated throughout the song, relating to how the feelings of poverty, sadness are all too familiar with early 20th century blacks. James’ humming in the background corresponds to the running commentary that he is giving, giving the story he is illustrating a more natural feel. His music and diction expresses a lot about the plight of African-Americans, showing how the Depression has exacerbated their living conditions. James’ strong, emotional voice underscores the pain that blacks have gone through and how it is through the blues that such emotions can be expressed freely. When hearing this song, it places me in the rural south of America. The sun beats down on me and I can feel the sweat coursing down, understanding the pain and oppression that blacks felt, and still feel.

This essay by Roxanne Gray expresses her feelings towards the effects of black exceptionalism, underscoring her views regarding how society views blacks in society.

Gray structures her essay by not only analyzing the current state of attitudes towards black society, but by also providing a running commentary about her experiences as a successful black author. Gray starts her essay by expressing how her body behaves in two different ways, one that embraces her success, while another is reluctant to dwell on the present and is more inclined to looks towards the future, “wanting more”. The text also connects to the stereotypical story of a hardworking immigrant family to show Gray’ studios nature and the shame she felt when not performing up to expectations, “I vowed to be better”. She uses her success to bring back the topic of discussion to modern world. She brings up the valid point that in our culture individuals and brands alike engage in political correctness, however, she questions how genuine this actually is. By separating the uniqueness of black culture from society for a month she feels that it doesn’t do black culture just, instead of ‘segregating some of history’s most significant contributors’ we should be integrating them. Gray also uses the aspect of ‘black-conciousness’ to show how systems that may seem fair at first are in fact racist; she uses Dubois support of the “Talented Tenth” as an example. Through showing how it was whites who floated this theory, Gray shows how blacks, even those as ‘exceptional’ as Dubois have come to believe it too, this allows her to reveal how systemic racism is. Such systemic racism is further exhibited through her personal experiences. She laments how she felt she always has had to prove herself even more, “being a second-class citizen and needing to claw your way toward equal consideration and some semblance of respect.” Even in areas where one may think that people there would be open (i.e. Colleges), Gray shows how she has always been one of few blacks at such institutions, thus making her feel even more isolated as there are few people she can really share experiences with. She also comments that relying on blacks who are ‘exceptional’ does not help the entire community solve their respective problems, unfortunately many will still be ‘left behind’.

The language and craft of Gray’s essay aims to encourage her readers to do more to positive change for the black community. Her use of a running commentary of her past experiences is intended to highlights how problems that existed before are still prevalent today. She also presents multiple perspectives to issues to make her argument seem more fair. Firstly, she challenges the common misconception that a ‘big break’ changes your life, while also acknowledging some merit behind that argument. When introducing the My Brother’s Keeper intiivative, Gray acknowledges that the plan is promising, but then she also points out some of its shortcomings, “does nothing to address the systematic and structural issues that young men of color…face”. Her experience with racism is further introduced when she hears her classmate at high school mutters snarkily, “Affirmative Action”, when hearing that Gray has got into a college that the classmate was rejected from. Her experiences with racism help to strengthen her resolve, but also give light to a different perspective about the negatives of introducing such policy. Texts such as this essay connect to many of the ideas foregrounded during the Harlem Renaissance. Much like Gray, the poet Langston Hughes also focused on the promotion of black culture and the condemnation of racist social structures. In relation to other artists of the Harlem Renaissance (i.e. Malvin Johnson), Gray focuses intently on the black experience, putting the audience through a simulation of such experiences. Likewise, ads by multinational corporations such as Procter & Gamble also help contextualize everyday racism by highlighting how it is unfair that blacks need to work ‘twice as hard’ (The Look).

How is this idea explored in Hughes poetry?
Look at the speaker in “I, Too” and “As I Grew Older” and analyse their voice.
What tone are they using?
How have their experiences been shaped by society?
Is there any contradictions in their conception of self?
How does Hughes create this duality?

In Hughes’ two poems “I, too (1945)” and “As I Grew Older (1926)”, he uses a direct tone and historical allusions to explore the idea of ‘double-consciousness’.

In the poem, “I, too”, the exploration of the idea of ‘double-consciousness’ is done through the use of an optimistic and hopeful tone to encourage blacks to see their society not through the eyes of the whites, but from their own perspectives. The first line, “I, too, sing America” is direct, a forceful point that leaves no room for doubt about his thoughts. With this line, Hughes aims to portray that blacks are also Americans and are therefore within their right to be treated as equals in society. The phrase “I am the darker brother” has a figurative and literal meaning, representing not only the embarrassment that the ‘family’ has towards the brother, but also represents the segregation that existed at the time of the poem’s creation. “They send me to eat in the kitchen” is not only an allusion to the segregation of society – including restaurants – but there are also no signs of resistance from the speaker to the family’s command, connecting to the topic of ‘double-consciousness’: seeing their society through the eyes of white people convinced many blacks that they ought to accept their current lives. The repetition of three-syllable lines at the end of the second stanza is aimed to convey the orderly and simplistic lifestyle that blacks live under segregation. The last three lines also serve to show the persistence of the African-American community through all the hardship they face, no specific reference is made to the speaker as Hughes wants to highlight how this is an issue that affects all blacks. An egalitarian setting is foreshadowed, “I’ll be at the table”, to express the optimism that the speaker has for the future. This optimistic tone is followed throughout the last three stanzas as Hughes aims to counter the racist narrative that whites have towards blacks. This is done on line 16, “They’ll see how beautiful I am’, as it aims to show how counter to stereotypes, blacks can be powerful contributors to society and they shouldn’t be overlooked. Simultaneously, this line further counters Dubois’ claim of ‘double-consciousness’ by showing the speaker’s wish for society to see him as the ‘beautiful’ person he is instead of the ‘darker brother’.

These points are further reinforced in the second poem, “As I Grew Older”. Similar to the first poem, the second poem uses a monologue and first-person pronouns to represent the collective black community. In this case, the “dream” that the speaker refers to are the opportunities that have been eluded from the black community. The proximity of the dream from the African-American community serves as an allusion to how close blacks were to receiving true liberties during the Reconstruction period. The nature of the speaker’s tone yearns for an opportunity to return to such days where barriers did not impede all his paths; these barriers themselves serve as symbols of segregation. The repetition of the words ‘slowly’ is used to emphasize the impact of such barriers. The description of the barriers and the initial acceptance of them by the speaker underline how blacks were made to believe by segregationists that such separation would be beneficial to them. The description of the wall ‘rising until it touches the sky’ shows how such a dream is seeming less and less unattainable, illustrating how ‘double-consciousness’ dampens the hope of blacks in their future. The shadow itself represents confinement as the speaker is trapped due to the color of his skin. The use of anaphora “Only (Line 18)”, “Only (Line 19)” emphasizes the speaker’s feeling of confinement. From line 20 there is a shift in tone from one that is reminiscent and thoughtful to passion and determination. This determination represents the will of the black community to tear down stereotypes and no longer see themselves as the second class citizens that they have been viewed as by white people. The aggressive use of language, “Smash (Line 25)” and “Break (Line 26)” represent the frustration that is felt in the black community and how some have turned to violence to survive. The last few lines return back to an optimistic tone as the speaker links the return of light to the liberation of the black community.

Hughes uses both poems to address the issue of ‘double-consciousness’ by initially showing the dejection and unfair life that the speaker is living. This is then contrasted with a change in tone where the speaker breaks free of the lens that he has used to view himself (the blacks) and finally see himself as an equal.

In the poem “Mother to Son, ” and the advert “The Talk,” Hughes and P&G both celebrate the strength of black women whilst highlighting the continued oppression that blacks have faced throughout their history.

In the poem, the mother is portrayed as a very intimate and hopeful figure, “boy, don’t you turn back”, while in the advert we are shown a series of women from different eras who are all portrayed as inspirational figures. Additionally, different camera angles in the advert put the audience into the perspective of the mothers, allowing us to empathize with them, feeling their love for their children. Such feelings relate to non-blacks as none of us would want similar situations to happen to our own children. The poem also alludes to the plight of blacks throughout their history and how life has been a “stair”, showing how blacks are always persevering through the adversary. This is illustrated more vividly in the advert with the transition between different periods of history, showing how blacks are still chasing that “crystal stair”, a life where they are free from stereotypes. Additionally, the tone of the black women in both the poem and advert highlight the hopefulness that the mothers have not only for their children, but black society in general, “Don’t you set down on the steps”, “You can do anything they can (0:45)”. It is not unusual to see single black mothers in the United States, in fact, in 2011 72% of black babies were born to unmarried mothers. Since black women play such a pivotal role in the development of their children, both Hughes and the producers of the ad look to emphasize the tight-knot relationship and the resilience of the mothers. Through showing the intimate relationship of the mother and son in the poem, “For I’se still goin’, honey”, and the supportive relationships displayed in the advert, the audience is more aware of the strength of black women to persist even in the face of isolation, oppression and hopelessness. Both the poem and the advert help to further these points by putting us into the perspective of black women, allowing us to empathize with them, as we witness the discrimination happening to their family.

During the early 20th century, the Harlem Renaissance helped nurture a growing awakening in Black society about the uniqueness of their culture. The Harlem Renaissance focused on the question of “What does it truly mean to be black?”; such lines of thinking helped produce longstanding political, artistic, social, and cultural changes to our society. To this day, ideas that started to be discussed during the Harlem Renaissance, such as institutional racism, black identity, and blacks’ transition from slavery into modern society are still discussed to this day. Often, discussions on such topics transcended their respective bubbles to become more general questions around what it means to be an American or a woman. Langston Hughes was one of the primary writers in the Harlem Renaissance. Using his unique method of combining folk culture with formal poetry, Hughes was able to effectively convey experiences of black life and justify his cause for black justice and an end to oppression. Much of his work criticized blacks who were too obsessed with replicating a white lifestyle and thus leaving behind their unique Black traditions. At the same time, some of his contemporaries felt that his work focused too much on Black themes, conversely, others said he focused too little on the ‘Black experience’. Hughes’ focus on diction, meter, structure and symbols helped shape a narrative for his audience about the need for equality and to convey to his audience his own personal feelings about the current state of America.