The Wedding

 
 

Employ A Negro Month

Not to be confused with the brilliant web site www.rent-a-negro.com/ . No this is the time of the year for all to pay homage to the African-amerikkkan. For 28 short days we are honored for our many contributions to society. How convenient Coretta died during this month when all the prepared speeches about our importance could be modified ever so slightly to include her and her late husband. Too bad Richard bowed out early or he could have been lumped in also.
This is the time we learn about all the famous and infamous A-a's and what made them that way . Little attention is paid to us "every day folks". The exception of course is when we have done something egregious. So when I traveled the 3 plus hours to NY on Sunday to see exhibit "African American Vernacular Photography" at The ICP I did not set my hopes high as it is Black History minute so....
The exhibit is a collection of photographs from 1880-1930's of just regular folks living regular lives. Many photos of weddings, solo and family portraits, funerals, parties, graduations and other occasions in the private lives of Black folks. Many of the photos done in the style of Van Der Zee but not attributed to him. They reminded me of old photos of my parents (who actually sat for Van Der Zee) and their parents before them. They are beautiful images of folks at their best. Proudly staring into the camera with a determined air of confidence and grace or looking lovingly at each other as if nothing else in the world mattered. At that moment nothing else did. Some of the photos made me feel quite emotional which is what good art is intended to do, but the unintentional tug of the photographer into the lives of these individuals is what moved me most.
These are private photos not intended for public view, a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors ..The ones we don't hear about during Black History Minute. Taken without thought that some day they would be hanging on the wall of some museum or even viewed at all outside of family and friends. Not to diminish the accomplishments of our more famous ancestors but this was to me a more meaningful example of how to celebrate our unique contribution to the world as we know it. Just regular folks doing what regular folks do...Beautifully

* If you want to check out rent-a-negro.com put it in your navigation box for some reason it won't go to it on it's own.