As I quoted here, according to the great American talent, Morgan Freeman (reprinted sans permission, citing fair use)…
"You're going to relegate my history to a month?[…] I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."
The AP article citing Freeman's 2005 interview on CBS' 60 Minutes goes on to say…
Black History Month has roots in historian Carter G. Woodson's Negro History Week, which he designated in 1926 as the second week in February to mark the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.[…] Woodson said he hoped the week could one day be eliminated — when black history would become fundamental to American history.
Freeman notes there is no "white history month," and says the only way to get rid of racism is to "stop talking about it."
The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.
"I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man," Freeman says.
Whether you agree with Mr Freeman's analysis or not, a rational person cannot deny the divisive terms that they are. In any case, here we are. Black History Month. This year the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASAALH) has declared the 2024 theme of BHM is African Americans and the Arts, and really, think about what kind of world would we be living in without the artists being celebrated, the above-cited Mr Freeman for one.
And speaking of artists, today let's talk about visual artists, the painters, sculptors and photographers. The world-reknown Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) houses the Center for African American Art collection. Have a look virtually or live and up close at works by photographic portraitist James Van Der Zee, paintings by Detroit abstractionist Naomi Dickerson, works by retired professor at CCS and Detroit multimedia artist Dr Lester Johnson, photography/video subverter Carrie Mae Weems, to name a very few.
Aww, the DIA is one of the greatest museums in the world, and that's not just Detroit cheerleading! Just go! Like you need an excuse!
Just a reminder: tonight at The Wright is Dr Ibram X. Kendi with his new book, a retelling for children of Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon.
Post photo:
Vincent Smith, First Day of School, 1965,
printed 1994, etching printed in black ink on cream wove paper.
Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase,
Friends of African and African American Art Fund,
Hal H. Smith Fund, and Elliot T. Slocum Fund, 2002.164.2.
