Question Bridge discussion: recap from Wednesday, November 5, and Friday, November 7

Last week, Rochester Contemporary Art Center hosted two
discussions based on the on-going exhibit “Question Bridge: Black Males.” On
Wednesday, November 5, Lloyd Holmes, Vice President for Student Services at
Monroe Community College, hosted Shelitha Williams,
professor of African-American Studies at MCC, and Marcus Watts and Verdis Robinson of MCC Student Services.

Holmes started off the discussion with a question from the
film: “What do we all have in common?”

Watts said, “It’s our experiences. It’s the subtle
micro-aggressions. It’s a horrible feeling … everything that the black man does
is seen as non-compliant.”

“Many people see African-American men as a threat to the
establishment, and the story of Anthony Anderson winning his court case demonstrates
how laws where created so that black men could never be higher than the poorest
white man,” Robinson responded.

The next question also came from the film: “What does it
mean to act black?”

 “African-American men
in pop-culture have a little swag; are smooth with the ladies. We rhyme when we
speak. Everything we touch we take to the next level,” Watts said.

When a question asked whether it was ok to date outside your
race, Williams answered it personally. She thinks there are too many people
hurting and need love to have people limit their options. But she has many
black female friends that are successful and still single, so when they see
other successful black men dating outside their race, they get a bit
frustrated.

Robinson answered, “Depends on whether your perception is on
race is purity and what you were taught at home. Frederick Douglass said the
only way to eradicate racism was to intermarry so that when all the races mix,
no one is different.”

There were many more questions and answers, but you had to
be there to experience the gravity of their accounts and their advice in
regards to the educational system, parental involvement, and advice for the
next generation.

On Friday night, Garth Fagan, of Garth Fagan Dance, painter Luvon
Sheppard, and Carvin Eison,
the director of RCTV, came together to discuss the black male experience and
the art world.

Eison asked a question from the
film: “What are the parameters of blackness?”

“I try to have a mind cultivated enough to be receptive to
the many mentors that have guided me,” Sheppard said.

Fagan responded with, “As Roman made art out of scraps, they
didn’t have the same kind of funding as their European counterparts. That’s what
I love about black artist: they made art out of nothing.”

Another question was posed, “Whom do you consider yourself
first: black man or an artist?”

Fagan said, “I am an artist that happens to be black.
Sometimes we use it as a diminutive and it’s not. It just where you come from
and what foods you eat.

Sheppard shared the same sentiment and added that being an artist
is the greatest kind of liberty you can have, and personal self-expression was
the greatest freedom.

Again, these discussions are the key to opening up dialogue
between people and reducing the fear we may to have to someone who looks
different then us. Questions of leadership, guidance, encouragement and using
art to address and humanize these issues where discussed and progress will
hopefully be made.

The next discussion
related to “Question Bridge: Black Males” will take place Wednesday, November
12, at 7 p.m. with the topic, “The Role of Youth: Sketching a New Blue Print.”

This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2014.