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| (Internet Photo Question Bridge) |
Many of us never
get in on a conversation between Black men or about Black men so we have
trouble imagining what it might be like.
As a young woman occasionally returning home to visit my parents,
I had the chance to listen in on some of those conversations. A group of young Black men would congregate on Saturday nights around the
yellow Formica kitchen table with the chrome legs and matching chairs. Bringing in
extra seats, my father would lead the discussion of the evening while doling
out the cookies or slices of cake my mother had baked.
The Brothers
discussed race and religion, what the world was coming to, gardening, what it
took to be a man, relationships, and any other question or concern someone brought to the
table. Respectful, questioning, needing to be heard, they looked to my dad for
answers. He’d respond, but he’d also help them find the answers within
themselves.
Without a
gathering around our kitchen tables, it’s hard to fathom how such conversations might sound and how the participants might look. But thanks to the vision and work of the originators of
Question Bridge: Black Males, a video Q&A exchange, we have the opportunity
for experiencing a dialog between a diverse group of Black men.
I first heard
about the project in an email from my friend Peggy who wrote “…at
Randolph College in Lynchburg - videos of black males discussing being black
etc. … [It] is spectacular and exhausting.”
So, with a little research, in moments, I, too, became enthralled with this
enlightening, contemplative peek into how real Black men see the world and
themselves in it.
In an article on
Code Switch, an NPR blog on race (in existence since 2013), Shereen Marisol
Meraji writes:
Executive producer Jesse Williams, an actor best known for playing Dr. Jackson Avery on Grey's Anatomy, says the project is an attempt to take back the narrative of
"this country's most opaque and feared demographic," and to expand
society's idea of who African-American men are and what they can do.
Here’s
an opportunity to expand our knowledge and views on the Black Male experience and maybe find common ground
for further meaningful conversations about race.
Tune
in to Question Bridge: Black Males. It's a lengthy video so give yourself time and make yourself comfortable.
Did anything surprise you? Provide new
thoughts? Confirm your ideas and feelings? Cause a reaction?
We’ve
begun our conversation. Let us keep it going.
~
xoA ~
