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Reflections on Art, Race, And Black History Month By AWOYE TIMPO
All artists know that the arts are important—that, in the words of Juilliard's director of conducting and orchestral studies, James DePreist, they "expand our horizons of what is possible and are a necessity in any civilized society." It is in our nature as humans to be curious, to be expressive, and to be touched by the power, vision, and creativity of a work of art, whether it is a majestic performance of Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto, a moving performance of Alvin Ailey's Revelations, a distressing production of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, or a riveting performance of selections from Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain.
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Photo by Chia Messina |
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But to be aware that such works of art exist, one needs to be educated about them. In our increasingly capitalistic society and ever-expanding global community, encouraging people to appreciate the arts—first on a personal level, then on an economic one—is exceedingly difficult. As arts programs are cut from educational systems at an alarming rate, it is no wonder that young people growing up in contemporary American society do not recognize the importance of this essential element of humanity. Some would say the arts are dying, a tragic view based on dwindling and aging audiences. But it can be argued that an audience for the arts exists—one of people who just haven't discovered them yet. The question remains of how to get them into the concert halls, theaters, and dance venues. And that brings up another question: Does the race of the performers have any bearing on audience turnout?"Black people as a whole are starved for positive images of themselves," says Drama Division alumna Tracie Thoms (Group 29). "Not positive images in lieu of the truth. They're not saying, 'I only want to see righteous people.' There's a reason why the Classical Theater of Harlem sells out every season."In fact, last year's Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking play A Raisin in the Sun brought record numbers of black audiences into the Broadway theater. (Whether it was to see the play itself or the rapper-turned-actor Sean "Puffy" Combs remains up for debate.) Each year, black audiences will turn out in record numbers to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The same audience, however, will not necessarily line up to see a performance by the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Conversely, the audience that goes to see the film Titanic is not the same audience that goes to see Love Jones—both released in 1997 and considered great films of that year, if not the decade. The general public is more inclined to see arts performances that feature people who are "like them," but in the case of "minority" races, that is still a luxury. "I go to movies and I don't see me; I don't see anybody I know!" Thoms says. "I don't see black chicks who are just smart, funny … just regular, normal Meg Ryan-type people. Every black chick I see [on screen] is fierce, fabulous, and flawless. Or, a crackhead. One of the two."
As performing arts companies across the country face the difficulties of enticing new audiences, especially younger generations, into their venues, new methods must be found to help audiences find their way to the concert halls and theaters. Breaking down the walls between audience and performer is one way of ushering people into the world of art. Victor L. Goines, the artistic director of Juilliard's Jazz Studies program, suggests that educational programming gives audiences the opportunity to see that "music is really about the community, and it's a language of dialogue between the performer and the audience."
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Photo by Peter Schaaf |
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The arts themselves look beyond (or perhaps through) race, creating the universal out of the individual. As artists communicate their own tales and present their visions or interpretations, the art they create will naturally be shaped by personal experiences, whether they are black, white, male, female, Burkinabe, or Hungarian. Take, for example, a person who is subjected to prejudice or discrimination. As Maestro DePreist posits, "I think that affects you as a human being. But that doesn't mean you're going to write a sonata and there's going to be a discrimination section." The relevance of the arts, he believes, is not derived from any particular group of people, but rather from the human experience.Why, you may ask, are we discussing the importance of the arts from the perspective of black artists and arts administrators? February is Black History Month, the time of year when we put black issues, artists, and history on the stage.The celebration of Black History Month is met each year with both excitement and dismay. Some say that it is essential to have one month of the year designated for acknowledging black history. Others deem absurd the truncation of such an immense history and culture into a one-month period.
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| Photo by C. Bruce Forster |
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For black artists and administrators, a myriad of issues arise when discussing Black History Month. The marginalization of black artists, the nature of the educational system, the expansion of the ideals of Black History Month, and the future of this celebration are all put into question.The value of the fundamental principle of Black History Month—disseminating knowledge about black history—is not in question. What is up for debate, rather, is the way and time in which one encourages the general population's understanding and appreciation of the richness of black history and culture.When Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an African-American scholar and author, established Negro History Week in 1926, he did so with the belief that the occasion would, "besides building self-esteem among blacks, help eliminate prejudice among whites." In his view, as stated in his 1933 book The Miseducation of the Negro, "When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary."Fifty years later, in 1976, Negro History Week (originally placed during the second week of February, as that month houses the birthdays of two men Woodson deemed supremely important in black history: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln) was expanded into Black History Month.Events and celebrations marking Black History Month (or would calling it African-American History Month be more accurate?) have a tremendous yet somewhat stagnant range. The importance of the arts as a tool for communication and education during this month cannot be overlooked. Concert halls, dance venues, theaters, conference centers, and schools open their doors and designate the month of February for black artists, lecturers, historians, athletes. We are presented with a handful of notable leaders for our consumption. Third-year dance student Armando Braswell, who is of Panamanian and Puerto-Rican descent, says that he is amused each year by the fact that "everyone becomes pro-black for one month." Then comes March. The media return to life as usual. The lights go down; the curtain closes. The audience leaves the theater. But black life, contributions, and culture continue behind the mainstream curtain.Clearly there are pros and cons to celebrating Black History Month. On the positive side, it is vital that black history becomes part of the general knowledge database of the American people. In that sense, Black History Month provides a foundation from which we can seek to learn more about black history throughout the rest of the year. It is also important in allowing African-Americans themselves (as Thoms notes) to recognize that being black is something to be proud of.
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Photo by Nan Melville |
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As African-American history and culture have been unacknowledged as a part of our nation's development for so long, the importance of Black History Month as a way to begin rectifying that massive and slanderous stripping away is paramount. (Jazz faculty member Wycliffe Gordon recalls a time "not too long ago" when professors at universities would tell students not to play jazz in the practice room, for fear that it might ruin the acoustics of the room and damage the instrument.) The positive arguments for Black History Month can be seen as inversely proportional to the amount of black history learned in elementary and secondary schools. The less students have learned to appreciate black historical and cultural contributions, the more Black History Month becomes a way to compensate for that need. Part of the problem, says Goines, has been the reliance on the printed aspect of history. He offers the gathering of a collection of oral history as part of the solution.Laurie A. Carter, executive director of jazz studies and vice president for student and legal affairs, finds herself of two minds on the subject, as do many. "I understand the school of thought that says Black History Month should be every month, and that it shouldn't be ghettoized. It's sort of like my philosophy about writing across the curriculum: While I think writing across the curriculum is nice, if you don't know how to write, you can't write across the curriculum."But Black History Month remains so segregated and distant from the reality of life and education in America that it does not come close to creating what Carter calls meaningful progress. "I think the lasting impact is not really as significant as we might hope it is," she says. Black History Month seems to offer an image that overshadows the reality of race relations and lack of information about black history taught in schools. The way we know it is not enough is that we fear what America would be without Black History Month.For black artists, Black History Month can be seen as an immense blessing or a timely curse. In the theater, February becomes "black play month." According to Thoms, actors are faced with the difficult decision of choosing between the stability of theatrical work which can also affect their health insurance, or stepping out on a limb and making themselves available for work in television during pilot season. "They always do it to us! All the black plays around the whole country are in February … They can't do two black plays."A similar phenomenon occurs in many venues. For some black artists, the choice is a matter of principle. Maestro DePreist says that he would often refuse to conduct for orchestras that wanted to hire him only for concerts during Black History Month as part of their outreach programs. For many of them, he says, "that was the only time you would hear music by black composers, whether it was obvious that they were black or not, and the only time that you would see any black artists. But I would refuse to do it unless I was already in a subscription concert with those orchestras. If there was a sincere interest in equality, there would be a smattering of African-Americans and Catholics and Jews and Lithuanians throughout the season of any orchestra."
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"… what the world needs is not a history of selected races or nations but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate and religious prejudice."
—Carter G. Woodson
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Continues DePreist: "From a selfish standpoint, it's nice to have your records played or your plays performed, but I think that what really works is when the spotlight that happens to be on you during February transcends the month and you become a part of the artistic fabric of the country."For the time that we still need a Black History Month, there is an overwhelming need for an expansion of February's repertoire. With a stronger foundation for knowledge about the contributions of African-Americans, new names can be brought into the national vocabulary, beyond the handful of notables who are celebrated every year. Thoms believes that it needs to be "a month of productivity, where we actually get stuff done—like summits and conferences—a leadership conference, an artists' conference. What are we going to do next year? How are we going to infiltrate the system and make changes?""At the end of Black History Month, people should be really hungry," says Carter. "They should feel, 'Wow, I learned some things I didn't know. And I want to know more.' "Woodson—who, in 1912, became the second African-American man to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University—said in his original statement about establishing Negro History Week: "It is not interested so much in Negro History as it is in history influenced by the Negro; for what the world needs is not a history of selected races or nations but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate and religious prejudice."W.E.B. DuBois once declared, "The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line." As we continue our journey through the 21st century, we will revitalize the discussion of not only Black History Month, but also the imperative integration of black history into American and world history all year round. This discussion will be marked by expanded debate regarding the nature of race relations and education in this country. And it is of prime importance precisely because black history and art are not entities separate from society, but rather integral to it.Awoye Timpo is development associate for The Campaign for Juilliard.
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