FOR THE BROTHAS: AN INTRODUCTION

It must have been about 20 years ago when I first began thinking about creating a "Cultural Salon" as a reaction to the mundane social circles In Washington D.C. The richness of intellectual and artistic interchange had died, college friends had moved, the internet had not yet become the phenomenon it now is... I romanticised about the Salons of the mid to late 1800's in Paris, London and Berlin and the cultural dynamo of the Harlem Rennaisance. I was fortunate enough to meet a gentleman, an artist who lived and traveled with James Baldwin... Jimmy he affectionately called him, and he spoke often of their small cottage in southern France and of the many Artists, Poets and Luminaries that dropped in to chat and relax. Well, the impressionists, cubists, modernists, etc. all hung out together famously in those days and shared their ideas with one another creating a creative greenhouse in a world that was rapidly changing. I longed to have lived in those times, to have met Cassat, Rodin, Ellington, Fitzgerald, Baker, Balwin, well I did finally meet Baldwin and others purely for the joy of intellection upon the arts. This was in the late 1980's and by the mid 2000's I happened to run into a friend of mine from Hampton University who had been living in New York since he graduated in the early 90s. Well, I was surprised to hear him comment that in all of the wonder that is New York he never met anyone who ever really had anything interesting to say about art, literature, architecture, science, fashion or anything... I was so surprised to hear this since it had also been my experience. Well here I am in 2011 attempting the Virtual Salon...

Thursday, January 19, 2012

ESTABLISHING NEW MEMORIALS AND HOLIDAYS FOR BLACK AMERICAN HEROES


The Immense success of the Martin Luther King holiday and memorial on The National Mall in Washington, D.C. gives rise to the question...."What Other Black American Icons and achievements Deserve to Be Memorialized on a National Scale and Honored with Their Own memorial and/or Holiday"? Conservatively speaking, A National Holiday should be reserved for only the most extraordinary individuals whose life accomplishments have greatly distinguished them among other Americans and have had far reaching effects touching all races, sexes and groups of people.  This group of American Icons would include writers, poets, scientists, athletes, artists, inventors, statesmen, and other luminaries that captured the spirit of their day as beacons of human accomplishment.


I lay in bed contemplating what the criterion might actually be to justify and establish such a memorial and holiday.  In reality, the number of nationally recognized holidays celebrating the accomplishments of a single individual is relatively rare.  Religious holidays honoring Saints and Martyrs are more frequent but are rarely sanctioned by government because of the separation of church and state with the exception of Christmas and Easter.  Even the American Presidents, some of whom originally enjoyed their own holiday are now equally celebrated on President's Day.  The National trend appears to be moving away from the celebration of one man’s legacy to more general subjects as the WWII memorial constructed recently on the mall.  There are countless contributions of Black Americans that can be memorialized In Washington, D.C. doucumenting the the shared legacy of invention and purpose.

After construction of the Lincoln, and Jefferson Memorials the number of magnanimous edifices has slowed to a mere trickle indicating that America is producing less glorious citizens or that Americans are losing their reverence for Americana. 



Following the grand Beaux Arts monuments cradled in the mall devoted to Lincoln and Jefferson there trickled in the Taft memorial, the Lady Bird Johnson memorial, The Theodore Roosevelt memorial, The Nannie Helen Burroughs memorial, The Einstein memorial, the F.D.R. Memorial and last... the M.L.K. memorial to name only a few...  The many  Public and Private buildings, gardens and piazzas of Washington, D.C. contain an amazingly vast number of monuments a list for which I am sure has never been composed.  




Given the history of race in American politics it is unfair to criticize the ratio of monuments honoring Black Americans compared to White Americans at least until the late 1960's.  But if there were ever a need to catch up to the number of Black Americans memorialized in stone, Bronze or fountain... that time would be now. 

The Opening of the new memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. created a new dynamic on the nation’s mall.  I live just a few blocks from the national mall and it is one of my favorite haunts during the long sunny summer evenings is biking or skateboarding along its expansive park photographing architectural and landscape features.  The King memorial is also designed to be enjoyed at night unlike most monuments that were intended for daytime visitation.   At night the King memorial takes on a whole new persona with its clever lighting and situation right on the shore of the tidal basin. 

One of the things I have noted, having frequented the monumental core since I was a kid, is that there was never a significant Black presence among the tourists.  The King memorial put the mall on the map for Black Americans and opened up a new population to the historic mall.  From a marketing perspective this was a savvy move and planning future memorials to Black heroes would only increase tourism and patronage. 



National memorials are often the result of decades of planning, fundraising and political posturing.  One of the reasons why there are not more such monuments may be owed in part to the waning purview of some outdated  institutions such as The National Urban League, The NAACP, and others who rose to the occasion during the 20th century but have failed to fully understand the mission of Post-Civil Rights Era America in the 21st century.  These think-tanks should fully understand the power of image to empower and inform and they should have established initiatives to brainstorm and implement new public monuments dedicated to Black American persons of note to fully and accurately communicate their accomplishments in the American story alongside other people of note.



So what are the unique factors that might be used to identify persons whose accomplishments deserve national recognition to be preserved and celebrated for future generations?  In my opinion, there are three basic categories that seem to cover the entire spectrum of criterion for the establishment of a national monument or memorial:

1.     Persons whose achievements have significantly advanced the course of American history.

2.     Persons whose unique achievements and/or talents have distinguished them on a National and Global level within their field of interest advancing the global course of human history.

3.     Events, Socio-Political movements rooted in the ivil Rights struggle and the larger struggle of Black Americans  that have changed the course of American History and have had National and/or Global significance.

For instance there are some memorials that have yet to be built which are needed additions to the national mall in order to document the presence of Black Americans and our contributions to the evolution of this countries ever changing history.  Here are some suggestions:

1.       A Memorial or museum dedicated to The Enslavement of Black Americans.

2.       A Memorial or museum dedicated to The History of Civil Rights.

3.       A Memorial or museum dedicated to The Great Migration.

4.       A Memorial or museum dedicated to American Blues and Jazz.

5.       A Memorial for Frederick Douglass.

6.       A Memorial to Abolition and Women’s Suffrage.

7.       A Memorial for Thurgood Marshall.

8.       A Memorial for W.E.B. Dubois.

9.       A Memorial for Booker T. Washington.

10.   A Memorial for Louis Armstrong.

11.   A Memorial for Duke Ellington.

Of course there are countless Black Americans, men and women and related movements that could be offered up as themes to be memorialized… some of these can be tied together in a single memorial but all of them deserve the level of national recognition that other Americans and their ideals have been given.  It is the mission of every Black American to rally together to bring these causes to light and to initiate the process by which funding can be raised as well as support in congress for these much needed memorials.






 

The 1600’s through the 1700’s were our period of early enslavement.  The 1800’s through 1900’s were our period of civil disobedience and freedom.  In the 21st century Black Americans can look back upon a vast history of struggle and accomplishment and should be going about the intensive and impassioned task of preserving monumentalizing our legacy for future generations.  it is this critical link with our past that  will inform and empower future generations.  In many ways the lack of historical consciousness and connectedness within the Black community has allowed it to critically backslide over the past 30 to 40 years losing much of the greatness that had come to distinguish it. 

In full, Black Americans have been incredibly vigilant, they have established hundreds of monuments, museums and preserved historic sites all across America to preserve the legacy of Black Americans and their contribution to the American story.  The next step is to bring them to the national mall in Washington, D.C. alongside the other monuments of American greats...

Written by D. Vollin


FIN

1 comment:

  1. Seems like all of those particular monuments of which you speak will all be housed under one roof with the building of the African American Museum of Art and History here in DC. I guess we got Martin's built just in time or he too would be lumped in there. (LOL) I don't want to give the impression that the building of this Museum is appropriate, to the contrary not only is it significant it is long overdue. I just hope that it is not under utilized as a token edifice made only important at it's inaugural and during the month of February. A while back the Washington Post magazine had a Headline article which asked the question Do Black Folks have any statues? The obvious answer is "Yes of course we do" I think however the real question the article was asking is: Why don't we know about them like we do the many White American & even European statues we see everyday. Like the Blog Poster stated Black history is American history and our heroes statesmen icons and their contributions to this society and to the world deserves to be studied, celebrated and reveared as any other. Chef Gregg

    ReplyDelete