Do you stand for something, or fall for anything?

What's important to you? I'm not asking what you are passionate about. I don't want to know that you love making music or art or dancing. I want to know what you want to see change or happen in the world around you. If that is connected to your passion, great, tell me about it. I am curious to know what would cause you to take action, to speak up, to rally the troops. Are there issues in the world that move you enough to want to do something about them? If so, what are you doing, or what are you willing to do?

I was inspired and proud of the Egyptians, and now the Lybians for taking a stand for justice. I thought that since the Egyptians took a stand and said 'no more' that other nations would follow suit, and Lybia did. But what about the U.S.? Are we so complacent and content with the way things are in this country that we no longer feel compelled to take a stand? I say no longer because once upon a time, we protested, picketed, held sit ins against things we thought were wrong. We watched thousands march on Washington, saw Dr. King arrested a number of times, boycotted buses and restaurants, witnessed students sitting in at Universities. But now, I guess all is well in the U.S.?

I've had no success getting people to sign petitions against violence against children, or even getting a discussion started about the education system. But I've noticed a bunch of people rsvping to parties and long discussions about the Grammys. I have very intelligent and compassionate friends so this is why I ask the questions. I do allow for the possibility that it is my topics and/or the way I present them that dissuade people from at least starting a discussion. So I would like to know, what would move you to speak up?

Many, in the past have said to me 'that's not going to work' or 'it takes more than just me'. Well the Egyptians showed that it could work (even though this country has a history of proving that itself), and what about the saying that it only takes one spark to light a fire? I am not content with the status quo in this country, and so I am rubbing my two sticks together to spark a change. I hope, with this blog, to at least illicit some thoughtful conversation or some solution oriented responses. I am not Dr. King, or Malcolm X, so perhaps I don't have what it takes to motivate the masses, but one of you does. But which one of you?

Tell the Children the Truth

Working with youth, I often need to fill in the blanks left by the education system, especially during black history month. Trust me, it's a big job. I am incensed to learn that there is even less black history being taught in schools today than when I was in school. Eighth graders have never heard of Marcus Garvey, don't know who Malcolm X is, and describe the underground railroad as 'tunnels for blacks who didn't want to be slaves anymore to use to escape,' as if there were blacks who did want to be slaves. Today, a student showed me a letter she had written to her principal asking why they weren't learning black history or at least having assemblies since it was black history month. The principal scribbled a note under her photocopied letter (the original probably going into her permanent file marked "agitant") telling her "Neither I nor the teachers can change the curriculum" and "you students are too behind for assemblies."  This made me wonder, is black history month hindering African Americans?

I am convinced that people of African descent in America have settled, and for too long, for a conciliatory 28 days of recognition from a country that was built on their blood, sweat, and tears. Africans have been in America for over 400 years. Since the first settlers were either too weak or too lazy to develop the land, Africans have been here as long as them. So Africans in America are as much a part of the history of this country (maybe more) as the europeans here. Why, then, are we content with the mere mention in the one or two paragraphs of Martin Luther King Jr. and George Washington Carver in the history books? Don't take my word for it, look in your child's history book. (If he's allowed to bring it home)

Dr. Na'im Akbar is the author of a book called, Know Thyself. This book "lays out guidelines for establishing a genuine curriculum in self-knowledge and plainly identifies that the development of consciousness of oneself is a process that emerges from exposure to the fields of knowledge that help people to know their origins, their nature and their destiny. African people around the world remain in a state of semi-captivity because we have accepted a miseducation that teaches us the knowledge of other people's "self." Such a system empowers those who come out knowing themselves and handicaps those who have no knowledge of self. The miseducated are merely trained and remain under the control of the educated masters." * In other words, a euro centric education edifies and empowers europeans while leaving all others ignorant of who they are and ill prepared to succeed in a world that would have them under its thumb forever.

If our children don't know that they come from a heritage of intellectuals, scientists, philosophers, healers, and leaders, they are not likely to believe that they have within themselves what it takes to become those things. I realize that this information has been missing from the education system for so long that some of you may not even know to ask for it. But it is high time that we demand the truth and tell it to our children. The Jim Crow days are over. We no longer have to take the scraps handed to us on a dirty platter. This isn't just about African American children either. A euro centric education is just that, european centered. No Latino, Asian, Native, or any other American is adequately represented in the history books. A euro centric education robs the european child of the truth as well.

Marian Wright Edelman said, "Education is a precondition to survival in America today." Just to survive one needs education. To succeed, one needs the truth. I would gladly give up those 28 days for substantial pages of truth in the history books.






*http://www.aalbc.com/authors/naim_akbar.htm

In this great future you can't forget your past. ~ Bob Marley Part II

The Harlem Renaissance's influence spread not only across the country, but to Europe as well. When Marcus Garvey launched The Black Star Line Shipping Co., it enabled blacks to easily travel to Europe. Paris, France had its own Black Renaissance going on. African Americans who had remained there after the war, Africans who had migrated to Paris, as well as Africans born in France were creating works of art born of the same struggle to reclaim their African identity. From Martinique, another literary figure made (and still makes) history: Aimé Césaire (1913- present) . Born at Fort-de-France in 1913, he came to Paris to complete his education and meets Black students from Africa as well as Black Americans from Harlem. Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001), then a student from Senegal, welcomed Aimé Césaire as would a big brother, at the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand where they both studied. They shared their feelings of a certain loss of identity in this Parisian new cultural environment. In order to express their anguish and their efforts to regain the sense of whom they were, they searched for a term that would express just that. Aimé Césaire coined a new word, "negritude" and soon this term became synonymous of a new movement in literature, the literature written in French about the Black Man and what he represents on the world, or global scene.  Negritude is a concept that celebrates "Black is beautiful."* Langston Hughes also travelled to Paris via a freight ship and there he wrote the poem A Negro Speaks of Rivers. It is of great significance because he mentions the Congo River, expressing his consciousness and longing for his African homeland and heritage.


There are countless more artists and activists from the Harlem Renaissance that I have not mentioned. All of these men and women stirred up a consciousness within African Americans as well as left a rich heritage of creativity, intellect, and pride for future generations. I love this era because it was the beginning of an African expression that is vital to survival and success. Know thyself, I always say. When ones know who they are, where they come from, and what they are capable of and build up pride within themselves, they are sure to succeed.

This creative and intellectual effort lives on today in many communities. I know of one such movement in California that I call the Urban African Renaissance. There are young painters, writers, musicians, dancers, and creators of fine art living among us who are keeping their heritage alive and blazing trails for future generations. They are conscious and aware and most of all, knowledgeable of themselves. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a few of them. Please support them in their efforts to preserve their rich culture.

Ras Terms aka Terockatron, aka James Lightbuilder is self taught artist living in Oakland, Ca. His works are ethereal and substantial, colorful and lively, and full of philosophical subtext. You can find his murals all over the San Francisco Bay area.

Shania D aka DarShania, is a singer, rapper, producer, writer and activists living in Long Beach, CA whose life and work is devoted to service of her fellow man. Her music is conscious and lyrical, and she is currently writing a self help book. You can download her cd Hip Hop Honey on itunes. Her company Lovers Inc. does many programs and fundraisers for the community and particularly the youth. Lovers Inc.'s current project is Labor of Love Vol. 1, "a collection of inspiring artists have donated a song to help raise money for the cause of teaching youth art& music for free and to help serve in the community by preparing food for the homeless and various altruistic happenings of the sort."** 

 

Ashley-Dominique is a Booking Agent, Host, MC, Singer, Poet, Graphic Designer, Photographer, who loves to freestyle when ever a dope beat drops.*** This Renaissance woman does it all. You can find her spittin rhymes in Long Beach at the Basement. Her next show is February 12, 2011 where she will be headlining at The A.M.C. Gallery. You can also find her music at http://www.reverbnation.com/ashleydominique. Like all of these artists, Ashley Dominique is conscious not only about her heritage, but also the environment. She recycles bottle caps and makes them into earrings. You can purchase a pair or two at http://recyclethatcap.weebly.com/

Check her out at http://admuze.weebly.com/

Joseph Gell is a talented musician whose specialty is drums. He originally hails from Massachusetts and relocated to Los Angeles where he studied and performed Yoruban rhythms and songs with Nigerian Talking Drum master Francis Awe. **** He currently teaches drums to youth and frequently holds free drumming circles for all ages. He plays in the roots reggae band Jah Beloved. Find out about drum lessons from Joe at

http://joegelldrums.com/

I like Roz Kumari's self description best, "Artist, Mutha, Revolutionary, Soul Rebel, Goddess, Soul Mate, Earth!!" Roz Kumari is the owner of Kumari Visions and Kumari Universal. She is a photographer whose work captures the tribal spirit of her subjects. Her work depicts African American and urban life. She is famous (to me at least) for showing the strength and beauty of youth and families. Roz is also an accomplished jewelery designer, creating bold designs with tribal influences.

 

These artists are just a handful of the new trailblazers creating history in your community. Following in the footsteps of the Harlem Renaissance "New Negros," they are the voices of African/Caribbean Americans. I am proud to have experience their art, proud to have made their acquaintance, proud to call them friends. Take part in making history and support them. A new Renaissance is afoot!

*http://www.jcu.edu/harlem/French_Connection/page_4.htm

**http://www.facebook.com/#!/shaniad?sk=info

****http://joegelldrums.com/

In this great future you can't forget your past.~Bob Marley Part I

I have Black History (or African American History) on my mind everyday. But this month is the one chosen to celebrate so I have decided to pay homage to those who have blazed trails and made their marks on the world. The Harlem Renaissance has been my favorite era since I first learned about it in ninth grade. Let me paint a picture for you. Actually a picture alone will not do. When I think of the Harlem Renaissance and the artists, scholars, and activists who it consisted of, I see colors, I hear rhythms both musically and lyrically. I imagine the spirited intellectual debates that sprang out of the thirst for knowledge. Jazz, rhymes, philosophy, pride, negritude, and all with soul.


The Harlem Renaissance, or the New Negro Movement, as it was also called, was a cultural, literary, artistic and intellectual movement that started around 1919 and went on through 1935.  The movement brought to light many of the important issues affecting African Americans through various forms of literature, music, painting, sculpting, movies, and protests. These voices of protests inspired institutions and leaders who in turn served as mentors for aspiring writers. Though the movement started in Harlem, its influence was seen nation wide and beyond.


One of the things that I most like about the Harlem Renaissance is that it was a time when African Americans still saw education as the great equalizer. During this time, African Americans saw education to be extremely important and the key to success. Because New York prohibited segregated schools by law, African Americans looked at it an opportunity for a quality education.  Harlem attracted thousands of blacks from the south and the West Indies because of its economic and educational opportunities. Blacks in the south were also fleeing racist activities that threatened life and limb. Blacks also had a greater militancy and awareness that the promises for a better life after World War I had not been kept. West Indians who came to the U.S. seeking economic opportunity and prosperity had almost no illiteracy among them. They had great business minds and were said to have made up one third of the city's professionals, physicians, dentists, and lawyers. West Indians were not accustomed to the racial hostility and harassment found in America, and the same ethos that led some to become professionals, led others to become political radicals.


The most significant event regarding education during the Harlem Renaissance was the philosophical debate between  Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois regarding the most beneficial education for the needs of African Americans. Booker T. Washington, an educator and first leader of the Tuskegee Institute, believed that African Americans should have an industrial education, learning to be farmers, mechanics and domestics and providing much of the services and produce needed by white society. He felt history, mathematics and science was impractical for the Negro. He stressed that if African Americans wanted to be successful, there needed to be an economic foundation built from land ownership agriculture and industry. He also advocated building relations with whites and discouraged African Americans from leaving the south. W.E.B. Dubois, a scholar and a teacher, found Washington's views too narrow and economic in its objectives. He also felt Washington's views were disapproving of institutions of higher learning as well as too conciliatory of the south's destruction of African Americans political and civil rights. Dubois advocated an educational concept for African Americans labeled "The Talented Tenth." This represented a small number of educated professionals who were committed to improving race relations and civilizing, uplifting, and elevating the masses. Both ideologies had proponents, and both men certainly had many followers. Regardless of the vast differences in opinions, it was inspirational to see African Americans so spirited and engaged with educating themselves.


Renaissance means re-birth or revival. If you look up the word alone, it talks about a period in Europe from the 14th through the 17th centuries in which there was a rebirth of the arts. It was the time when Da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo emerged. I look at the Harlem Renaissance as a time when Africans in American had a rebirth or revival of the gifts from their ancestors, a re-awakening of their heritage. An unprecedented amount of creativity from black writers emerged, inspired by the anger of discrimination and the anxiety of  culture lost, left in Africa. These expressions started as literary discussions that brought young black writers and intellectuals from around the country, the Caribbean, and Africa to Harlem. This movement gave rise to the likes  of Alain Locke, Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B. Dubois who all edited magazines or papers and served as inspiration to the literary masses.


My favorites are the writers. Among the poets, fiction writers, and essayists were Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Helene Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, and Jean Toomer. These artists were the New Negro. They were assertive, racially conscious, articulate, and in control of what they produced.

Heritage by Claude McKay

Now the dead past seems vividly alive,

And in this shining moment I can trace,

Down through the vista of the vanished years,

Your faun-like form, your fond elusive face.

And suddenly some secret spring's released,

And unawares a riddle is revealed,

And I can read like large, black-lettered print,

What seemed before a thing forever sealed.

I know the magic word, the graceful thought,

The song that fills me in my lucid hours,

The spirit's wine that thrills my body through,

And makes me music-drunk, are yours, all yours.

I cannot praise, for you have passed from praise,

I have no tinted thoughts to paint you true;

But I can feel and I can write the word;

The best of me is but the least of you.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes

I've known rivers:

I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the

flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I've known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.



Aaron Douglas



Palmer C. Hayden



Visual artists played a key role in creating depictions of the New Negro. Artists Palmer C. Hayden. James Van Der Zee, and  Aaron Douglas among others created stylized portraits of  the African American lifestyle as well as African Americans during this time.



James Van Der Zee



                         

Then, of course, there was the music. Musicians like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, and Louis Armstrong took jazz to another level. They used music as a way to  express discontent with the treatment of African Americans as well as a musical expression of the soul of black people. Duke Ellington took jazz to new heights when he recorded Jazz music's' first two-sided, six-minute song in 1929 with his version of The Original Dixieland Jass Bands' "Tiger Rag" (part 1) and (part 2) in 1929 and began to push the limits of 78 rpm records (three minutes per side).