“’For us, by us, about us’ acts as 3 parts of what W.E.B. Du Bois wrote about and to find that it is a part of the black aesthetic or black arts movement rights,” said an associate professor and chair of history and political science in an event. “Du Bois really viewed black art as needing to be linked to black improvement [and] black uplift that needed to really speak to a positive portrayal of blackness.”
Dr. Darryl Mace opened the comfortable and limitless conversation with attendees as well as Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald, assistant professor of history and political science at the college. The topics were formed around the concentration of Du Bois, the African American sociologist, activist, historian and author, and his writings. “For Us, By Us, About Us: The Black Aesthetic and Modern Conversation About Racial Identity,” was run by the Office of Student Diversity Initiative and cosponsored by the department of history and political science, which was held in the Widener Lecture Hall on Feb. 26 at 5 p.m.
The first topics discussed by Mace included the backgrounds of the events help prior to this final event in honor of Black History Month. These included black identity formation and long lasting historical entrenched stereotypes and negative connotations as well as how today’s society views and consumes these types of verbalizations.
The highlight of the event included the viewing of a Russell Simons’ production, ‘Harriet Tubman’s Sex Tape,’ which was renamed by a YouTube user who reposted the supposedly taken down video. In this film, the audience watched as what they agreed to be insulting assumptions and accusations were throw back and forth about the real-life-leader. Although the short film was played by actors and actresses, a majority, if not all, of the audience admitted to finding this video offensive.
“This caricature of her, who is only looking for herself to get leverage, is totally a selfish act,” said Mace. “So you take someone who is so selfless [and] someone who is an icon and a model of the strength of black womanhood and then degrade it to this kind of video.”
The attendees then discussed their opinions on their roles in one’s community and how to educate others, the stereotypes that come with the ethnicity of one’s partner and interracial marriages and the perspectives of beauty in today’s society, from all ethnic backgrounds.
“I thought that the beauty aspect of tonight was pretty interesting because usually the importance of beauty is stressed on the woman and not on the man and also the true natural black standards of beauty was interesting too,” said Paige Wayman, sophomore exercise science major.
