The Chicago New Negro

The New Negro as defined by author Davarian Baldwin varies from Alain Locke's New Negro  in the same way that a politician differs from his media pundits.  In Locke's definition of the New Negro, there is a group of educated elites that bring a new type of black intelligentsia and artistry that helps African Americans usurp their own narratives.  This cannot be understated as it is empowering to finally be able to define yourself and look to your own people as a source or a well of inspiration.  However, Baldwin's New Negro is the politician - the one who not only believes in every policy that is talked about on talk host radio but the one trying to get bills signed and pass legislation.  In fact, Baldwin's New Negro could be better defined as the populace, taking control of their own institutions and defining their own industry, government and power structures as they see fit.  This is not exclusive to elites and allows for a more comprehensive narrative in which the African American population of Chicago began to create their own economic infrastructure, using their own communities as a basis for support and clientele.

   Baldwin highlights Jack Johnson as the epitome of the New Negro in the foreword for a myriad of reasons but mainly because Johnson seemingly didn't live by any rules.  Not only was Johnson scoring for African Americans in the ring by beating white heavyweight champions in the sport of boxing, he was living dangerously on the edge by dating white women openly, much to the chagrin of the racial climate of the time.  His racy life outside of the ring develops a character amongst the new negroes that didn't exist in the past.  Normally, blacks were yes-men and did their best to be seen and not heard in society from white people for fear of the backlash of white hegemony.  However, when stepping out into a popular arena, there was this sense that African Americans carried the pride of their race and the pressures that came along with it.  Johnson never seemed to carry these pressures which helped him inside and outside of the ring.  Whatever the case, Baldwin notes Johnson as the most revolutionary new negro because he started a sort of revolution in which many new negroes would enter different spheres of society and set ideas of white superiority on their ears through their achievement.
    Through these ideas of people emerging through the different sectors of society as the best or the highest achievers we see the city of Chicago spawn a new negro business class in which blacks sell to and support their own businesses.  Baldwin notes Madam Walker as the main proponent of a change in the new negro because of her work in the hair care industry.  Walker, seeing a need for hair care in the black community, created a line of products for maintaining hair which in turn spawned an entire industry for black women and created a niche for them in beauty culture that did not used to exist.  Through this she broke down barriers and became the first black millionaire - the idea of achievement as put into action by Johnson.
   It is through Johnson, a black business owner in Chicago as well, and Walker that Baldwin demonstrates that the new negro does not just exist in Harlem in some Ivory Tower with a bunch of other scholars discussing the current issues of the day.  He demonstrates through this black business class that there are normal, every day black people rewriting their own narratives through creating their own economy.  Instead of the new negro just being an artist or someone who highlights the problems within society to give blacks a form of expression, there is a group of people who are actually in society creating the actual change.

The New Negro, The Warmth of Other Suns

When reading the many different stories in the Warmth of Other Suns, one of the main themes I recognized was this idea of escaping.  The story of George Swanson Starling depicts a man who is sick of the world that he knows in Wildwood, Florida and will leave at any cost.  He expresses this sentiment through a dismissal of certain setbacks that he must face while on the train.  Starling is dismissive of the segregation on the train as well as unpleasant conditions of sitting in the segregated section of the train.  These conditions usually can be seen as a part of the times and the culture of the south in the 1940s, however, Wilkerson states that “he didn’t let it bother him,” inviting the idea of micro-aggressions or a racial battle fatigue that comes with having to deal with the same things daily.  Getting to his destination was the only thing on Starling’s mind and there was nothing that could be put in his way as a road block, not even his wife.

            It is through this lens that I compare this story to the poem Baptism.  In Baptism, you have a person entering a furnace alone.  The concept of being alone I feel is important to note because Starling is making this trip by himself in hopes of sending for his wife.  There is no aid to him, only a will to protest the injustices of the south via migration.  Baptism also states that this person will enter the “depths of the hottest zone” and “not quiver in the frailest bone”.  I compare this to the part of the story where Starling is noted as being “on the run” and not being able to rest until he’s far away from Lake County.  He’s encountered the depths of the south and lived it and what’s created from that is a man that is not afraid to seek his freedom.  Lastly, Baptism states that the person in this fire will come back a “stronger soul with a finer frame”.  When Starling is headed to New York, he does not know what is ahead of him.  Instead, he realizes that whatever is there, is better for him and will more than likely be better for him and his wife.  Not only is he gaining more opportunity and freedom, but also the dignity that he lost while wrestling for it in the Wildwood.

Black Studies Background

     My journey at UCSB began in the fall of 2009.  I had transferred here from West Los Angeles College after previously flunking my 1st year of college at California State University East Bay.  I'll never forget having solid CC grades but none that were good enough for Berkley or UCLA when i was applying to transfer.  My history and African American Studies professor at West LA, Dr. Richard Olivas, told me it was in my best interest to appeal UCLA's decision and see if they would grant me admission as an African American Studies Major.  "Nah doc, I don't really want to study that," was my response to that.  I had gotten into UCSB and was going to come here and complete a degree in Political Science (which I still am) and become an attorney somewhere in the US like my older sister (which I still am).
   I remember not having any classes coming in that fall.  One of the open classes was Dr. Akudinobi's 126 class.  I took it and received a solid grade but at the time I was only taking it because it would count as one of my elective units for when I graduate.  However, my roomate Christopher Burton kept pitching the idea of getting this Black Studies minor or major along with my degree in Political Science.  I continued to turn him down until the end of that fall quarter when he dragged me into Toni's office.  She pretty much told me I was going to be a Black Studies major.  There's the end of that story.
  The next quarter I was in Dr. Lipsitz's Black Studies 6 class and Dr. Banks' Black Studies 106 class.  Needless to say, when I got back my first test from Dr. Banks, it was a real emotional night.  However, when I started visiting her office hours, she began to show me the importance of retaining information, thinking about it critically and making the important connections.  I received another solid grade but more importantly, her class showed me that I could excel in any class at this school, something I needed as a relatively new transfer.
   The classes in the Black Studies Department that have had the most profound effect on me are BLST 6, 106, 124, 122 and an independent research project I did for Dr. Lipsitz on housing.  What these classes did for me was give me the language to express certain feelings that I already had towards things I've noticed since a young child.  In addition to language, these classes replaced my ignorance with factual information.  As a black man, it was always so easy for me to laugh at my own people with one of those "come on, you know it's true" statements.  These classes forced me to look critically at these social issues (black body, black education, housing, creation of race etc.) and recognize that there is a long history that went into creating some of these circumstances and a vehicle behind them.  The major has made me better at analyzing text, situations and given me more security in my own skin if you can actually believe that. 

As a kid who was an average student in high school and flunked his 1st year of college, it's pretty funny how convinced I was that Political Science was the only way to get where I needed to go.  It's also funny how I didn't appeal to UCLA for the Af-Am major because I didn't want to study it.  How times have changed.  I never would have thought in Septemeber of 2009 that Black Studies would be the discipline that i enjoyed the most while learning the most all while preparing me the most for my future endeavours.