Cynthia H. Roberts
Culture provides us with a set of common understandings, a kind of map for life’s activities.
The position of Black Artists in the United Stated today poses several questions: What is the role of the Black visual Artist? Where do his traditions lie—with the American Culture or with his African Heritage? Should he express his personal emotions in his art, or does his responsibility rest with his people? A question was raised about the relationship between African Art and the production of the AfroAmerican.
The search for identity by the Black Artist in American has been a continuous process. The 19th Century Artist often sought solace in Europe and the 20th Century Artist have found the same, but the essential question remains unanswered: Who is the Black Artist, and whom does he represent?
Poet Langston Hughes has urged a brethren to portray their blackness in their Art. Expressing contemporary slogans such as “Black is Beautiful” and “Black Pride”, Hughes was documenting the separateness and uniqueness of the Black experience as long ago as 1926. He urged the Black Artist to be honest in his interpretation of black life. Langston Hughes states that: The younger artists who create now intend to express their individual blackness without shame or fear. They know they are beautiful, it does not matter if white people are pleased or not. Blacks are building their temples for tomorrow, strong and they know how, and they stand top of the mountain within themselves.
It is important to remember that the Culture of the Black man itself has produced beautiful and important works of Art. It is from the Black man that white Artist, have learned valuable lessons in simplicity, balance, and rhythmic grace.
Because of their ineffable power to express and communicate, the visual arts have invariably serve Blacks, as they have provided a language for all humanity, in their search for selfhood and for an articulated image of that sense of self.
Many of the AfroAmerican Artists directed their work toward the specific interests and sensibilities of Black people.
We are faced with the Black Dilemma; Who is he or she? Where does his or her identity lie? Are his or her needs to be met best by isolating him or herself within the Black community, or by struggling to gain full equality as an American Culture?
In this Section, students will focus on the Black Artist, his work, and his views on the Black Culture. I will list a few Artist and their work, and their views. This will give you and idea of the artists I will be discussing in my future lessons with my students.
Students will become aquainted with the facts about Artists and their works through handouts, oral discussion, field trips, to museum exhibitions, filmstrips, movies, documentaries, novels, and quest speakers. Students enjoy the concrete learning strategies.
It is my purpose in this Unit, to actively participate in bringing about students vision of the future in the Black Culture.
Through this process, students will enter their community with a charge, to carry on the work of reproducing the life of the community.