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What Does it Mean to Be Black and
Male in America?
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by Nick Bovee (http://reporter.rit.edu/users/njb5806), Nick Bovee on Nov. 7,
2014
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In a darkened room at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center, the
faces of these men are displayed on-screen, insistent and
wondering. Typography borders the entrance, asking further
questions and announcing the arrival of the Question Bridge:
Black Males
(http://www.rochestercontemporary.org/questionbridge.html)
installation in Rochester.
More men appear on-screen to answer these and other questions in
a seemingly endless stream. Meted out in turn, this steady
procession of viewpoints creates a stream of consciousness
presentation of what black men wonder about the world and society
that surrounds them and what roles race and gender play in their
lives.
Why Now? “Post”-Racial America
With this year marking the 50th anniversary of the Harlem and
Rochester race riots and the shootings of Mike Brown and Voderrit
Myers, Jr., the issues discussed in this exhibit seem relevant to
where society stands today. Nevertheless, race as a topic of
discussion and conflict is often avoided, despite the remaining
stereotypes and disparity.
In order to combat the continued existence of these issues,
artists Chris Johnson, Hank Willis Thomas, Bayeté Ross Smith and
Kamal Sinclair created Question Bridge
(http://questionbridge.com/) and its digital dialogue. In order to
capture a group consciousness, Question Bridge filmed over 1,500
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response videos, edited them together and combined the footage
into a the three-hour-long looping video now installed downtown.
By bringing together these responses, originally collected from 150
interviews with black men from various backgrounds, Question
Bridge aims to present a trans-media space for candid questions to
be answered by other black males. The project premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival New Frontier in 2012 and has been shown
worldwide. Other incarnations besides the physical exhibit exist as
well, cementing the role it looks to take as a public record of the
dialogue. Simple web and mobile versions are available that allow
viewers to select a question from a list of topics and see the
published answers at will. In this capacity, Question Bridge also
allows feedback. Users can upload their own answers, or even
questions, to the project. These tools and the project itself were
intended to address some of the stereotypes and disparities in the
perception of black men, internally and externally.
Kevin McDonald, vice president and associate provost for dDiversity
and iInclusion at RIT, has been involved with the Rochester
exhibition. “There have been a number of pieces of dialogue prior to
Question Bridge that suggested that maybe race wasn’t much of an
issue anymore, but when you start to look at and even see some of
their efforts, why Question Bridge was created was that existing
disparities are still shown.”
Issues Addressed
As a dialogue rather than a repository, the physical installation still
trumps the mobile versions. In that dark room, the exhibition hall's
only focal point is the projected video. Five separate men can be
shown on screen at any time, and as one finishes his answer,
another begins.
Further questions touch on establishing common ground even within
the dialogue. Participants are asked “What's with the code of
streets?" and "How can you take a bullet for someone and say
nothing?” establishing the fear that sometimes the street is all a man
has to fall back on. “Why are we afraid of appearing intelligent?”
addressed both the internal and external stereotype of appearing to
act gay or white. Answers to these questions alone could take hours,
but still more are asked.
Questions framed as humor still raise valuable responses. “Why do
we do that 'What's up' head nod?” and “Do you have a problem
eating chicken, watermelon and bananas in front of white people?”
open up the floor to topics of both solidarity and the way black men
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are viewed by white culture. Respondents also mention the unease
with which outsiders react to black men enjoying their own culture
and the fear of nonacceptance because of that.
Even more touching is when those questioned can't muster a direct
answer; it shows the depth to which a question affects
the participants. Responding to the question “Why don't black men
seek mental therapy or go to the doctor?” one man
being interviewed broke down, because he had been reminded that
he lost his brother to this exact problem. “He could've done
something, he could still be here, he could still be with me.”
Another man took a different tack, relating the lack of medical trust
to the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments
(http://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm).
“The other thing that's valuable about Question Bridge,
and what I applaud them for, is wanting to create a space
in which people can really see the individuality within the
African American community,” McDonald said. “I think one
of their desires is for our society as a whole to be able to
look at constituency groups and see the important
individuality that is among them.”
The installation has also pressed into community initiative, prompted
by one of the more compelling questions asked by a participant:
“Why didn't you leave us a blueprint?” That young man's feeling of
being lost in the modern day reveals the lack of guidance he feelslt.
Answers men gave to his question, while varied, all pointed out a
need for discussion within the community. In that spirit, localized
events began with the purpose of opening a dialogue between
generations and the community at large.
As part of the installation in Rochester, weekly discussions are
taking place; one was held by RIT’s Men of Color, Honor and
Ambition (http://www.rit.edu/diversity/mocha-men-color-honorand-ambition) (MOCHA) on Oct. 29.
McDonald said he sees these discussions as evidence of continued
progress within the city. “Over the last two years, there seems to be
even greater intentions about discussing race in Rochester. Part of it
could be that this year celebrates 50 years after the riots of '64. An
initiative called 'Facing Race, Embracing Equity,' the D&C has
created a blog, Unite Rochester, to talk about race,” he said.
“I have appreciated what the city has attempted to do as of late.
There's a history here, but also a willingness to engage in this kind
of discussion.”
The Question Bridge: Black Males exhibit will be at the Rochester
Contemporary Art Center through Nov. 16. More information can be
found at
http://www.rochestercontemporary.org/questionbridge.html
(http://www.rochestercontemporary.org/questionbridge.html).
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