the rural space remains part of the equation

I am in Miami, Florida, my hometown, conducting research on black migration across time in this city and Miami-Dade County. In just two days of interviewing individuals who were born or migrated here, I have learned more than I thought I would. I will share more in the coming months as research continues. For now, I was reminded again of the ways in which black life continues to reflects the tensions between urban and rural spaces. Before I left Alabama, I saw two videos that showcase as much. Those videos - one by gospel singers Bebe and Cece Winans and the other by Arrested Develoment are presented above. I will leave it there for now. I look forward to discussing this topic and more with the students enrolled in Black Urban Culture next semester at the University of Alabama. Until then, happy holidays and happy new year.

connections between "AlabamaNorth" and Brazil

Page from Kimberley Phillips' study on black urban Cleveland.

As I prepped for this coming Monday's class, I was struck by Kimberley Phillips' thoughts about an image appearing in her study on African Americans in Cleveland. In her book, which is this Monday's reading, Phillips captures how the image tells a story about the migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North during the first half of the twentieth century. She was especially drawn to the African American man who surfaces as a sort of pedestal in this image, and thus this story (as if the accomplishment of the militant African American working class she describes was entirely dependent on masculine strength). This drawing, which is housed at Cleveland's Western Reserve Historical Society, made me think of the Afro-Brazilian civil rights posters recently critiqued by the students in this class for an April 23 exhibit at the University of Alabama. Like the Afro-Brazilian posters, the image here shores up the gains to be had when an oppressed group unites to create new change. But, unlike the Afro-Brazilian posters, this sketch does not draw attention to the degree to which African American women helped create change in Cleveland (see one example of the way women are included in the Afro Brazilian story in the image to the right of this blog). The students will learn more about the gender issue as it relates to black struggle and other things including the formation of the Future Outlook League, an organization that was active in Cleveland between the years 1935 and 1952. Some of its members were migrants were from Birmingham and Bessemer, Alabama. Hence, Cleveland was known then as "Alabama North." One  aside: as Phillips tells us, little is known about the above sketch. The same is true of the Brazilians posters in question, which were found in the attic of a West Virginia home (of all places). Brazilian scholar Amilcar Pereira will present a lecture on these posters prior to April 23's exhibit. Please stay tuned for more details.

"flowers on the distant frontier"

Beyonce reunited with her old cohort on Superbowl Sunday.  Years ago while walking the streets of Stockholm during a research trip, I was so happy to see Destiny's Child "brown" faces on this poster.

This past Monday, a day on which many of us found ourselves exhausted from Super Bowl-watching, I was impressed by the degree to which the students recognized how space, or location, has meaning for everyone, not just African Americans. The class, among other things, discussed the impressions many have of people from Alabama. Beyond that, the students also had a range of responses to “Daughters of the Dust,” the motion picture unveiling the anxieties felt by one family of African descent in 1902 as they prepared to leave their out island home for the “mainland.” In migrating, this family was leaving not only kinfolk, but old traditions. Lauria noted how one worldly relative named “Yellow Mary” demonstrated the ways in which skin complexion has had an impact on the status of people of African descent across time. Lighter-skinned African Americans, according to Lauria, are perceived as having more privileges, an idea that she also gathered from the Amrita Chakrabarti Myers’ reading. Alexis honed in on how Myers’ book and “Daughters” both demonstrate how the city is believed to be a place “where fortunes can be made.” To this point, Raven took note of the idea of migration and its role in how people look for a “new and better life.” Roosevelt saw how the family’s decision to move from their island home posed tensions with the desire of slaves who, too, desired to be “free.”  Tiffany noticed small, but important details in the movie, including “flowers on a distant frontier.” She also recognized the “deep [-] rooted community” depicted in the film, something she also sensed in Myers’ work. Finally, Shanece understood how migrating was not easy. She noted “the girl [who] wanted to stay with the guy she was seeing.” Shanece also grasped how the family was moving from the “periphery” (this idea appeared in a Ronald Lewis essay, the second assigned reading) to the mainland. We will continue learning about how space and place figures into the life of African Americans during the antebellum period next week when we turn to the cities of Cincinnati and Buffalo.