Shoan Chowdhury
BLST 10100
Professor Poe
Multimodal Project

The Negro Artist and the Importance of Afrocentric Art

While reading numerous articles about African American art and how it existed way
before the idea of “modern art” shows how suppressed the minority population was going as far as trying to get rid of any influential people in the creative world. In the textbook Let Nobody
Turn Us Around one of the most influential African Americans in America in the 1940s was
historical figure Paul Robeson an “All American athlete and valedictorian earning a degree from
Columbia Law School and gaining most of his fame as an actor, singer, and later a civil rights
activist” (326).

As described in Afrocentricity by Molefi Kete Asante as “marking” where you create a
“cultural boundary around a particular cultural space in human time” (Asante). The cultural
boundary that Paul Robeson created was that he was one of the few African Americans in the
spotlight allowing him to voice his opinions on the racial injustice that occurs in this country. At
one point even gathering enough attention of Senator Joseph McCarthy who held congressional
hearings to “denounce Paul Robeson after the controversy of his statements that African
Americans would not fight in an imperialist war” (New York: Viking Press, 1971). This is a
clear example of African Americans being silenced as Robeson is being denied his First
Amendment which is Freedom of Speech. The fact that this clear abuse of government power is
occurring in the national spotlight you can only imagine the number of unfair rulings that were
swept under the rug throughout the years.

Paul Robeson by taking the step forward in the Civil Rights Movement is describing what
Molefi Asante wanted when he stated that “When black people view themselves as centered and central in their own history then they see themselves as agents, actors, and participants rather than marginals on the periphery of political or economic experience” (Asante). Afrocentricity is this idea of thinking and someone who rose to fame like Paul Robeson is taking advantage of his social presence to promote Afrocentricitry in the general population by not only showing them not to bend to the corrupt government that tried to silence him but rather stand up and fight. At one point “The State Department seized his passport, revoking his right to travel abroad for eight years. Vindicated by the courts after a long legal battle to win back his passport” (Let Nobody Turn Us Around, 327). It was a huge step forward as now the “Supreme court ruled that a citizen’s right to travel could not be taken away without due process” (historymatters.gmu.edu). It’s clear that this was a targeted attack by the government as Paul Robeson was known to “Travel to Spain during the Civil War to express solidarity with republican forces combating fascism” (Let Nobody Turn Us Around, 327). Now the question is after all these years what is still in place in our government that doesn’t allow black people to prosper equally as far as white men and women. It’s something that Molefi Asante touches base on when he says “Afrocentric paradigm a revolutionary shift in thinking proposed as a structural adjustment to black disorientation, decenteredness, and a lack of agency” (Asante). What Molefi Asante means by this is that what happened in the past two hundred years is what developed the world we live in today where it’s built for the white man to succeed and keep black folks at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

The image below is one example of modern African American art that was inspired by art
during slavery through the process of crafting pottery, quilts, or blankets It’s crucial to keep in
mind that African Americans would be able to use their creative freedom and profit off them
allowing them to put themselves at the “center of the world” as mentioned in Asante’s work. We
get to see in the photo the abstract patterns surrounding an African-American woman who strikes a fierce pose. The Afrocentric values could even be seen in art because Asante wants
African-Americans to be the main character and putting a black woman in the center of this piece speaks volumes. Black studies and learning about the true history of slavery and its effects on our society are vital in moving forward as the repercussions of slavery are still seen today.

Art Piece “Black Angela”

Work Cited

Molefi Kete Asante, “Afrocentricity”, April 13, 2009
www.asante.net/articles/1/afrocentricity/.

“The Negro Artist Looks Ahead,” Paul Robeson,
Let Nobody Turn Us Around p.319-327

Investigation of Unauthorized use of U.S Passports New York: Viking Press, 1971
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/

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