Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 00:17:42 -0400
To: Athena Discuss 
Subject: Re: Concerning Afro-kitsch

FISHERGM@jmu.edu wrote:
> 
> on the following passage.  It's quoted from the book *Black Popular
> Culture*, a collection of essays projected by Michele Wallace and
> edited by Gina Dene, copyright 1992 by Dia Center for the Arts.
> The following paragram comes from the essay called "Afro-Kitsch"
> by Manthia Diawara (p 289).

 
>    So, in the light of this, what do you think about the
> statement by Diawara (who is an African)?

The concern with present material reality clearly does not invalidate
the other concern with righting historiographic wrongs.  It is not
a stretch to suppose that the historiographic wrongs which assigned
black people the status of non-entity in historical terms, in fact
contributes to their present wretched material condition, which
is at least in part a condition of the psyche, a product of 
both overt and subtle white-superior assumptions, much of which
derives from historiographic lies and distortions taught first
in classrooms, and reinforced continually in movies and the media.
Therefore the historiographic battle-ground is a key one in the quest
to improve the present-day material reality of black people. 
Certainly it would be a mistake to leave that field solely to
those who have written black people out of the history books,
with the now-familiar dance of distortion and denial that has
become only too evident just on this list.

> Gordon Fisher     fishergm@jmu.edu
> Old soldiers who fade away sometimes come back with
> their colors.

Welcome back!  I felt certain that you had stayed around, if only
just to lurk...

Regards,

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