A Representation of the Ascension of Black America

The critical element of my work with the people of Tsatoe at the Amenuveve Batik Center in Ghana West Africa has been accomplished. This work was funded by the Wellesley College Mary Ellen Stevens Fellowship and represents one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. The primary goal of my work was to utilize the conceptual framework of traditional Adinkra symbols to visually capture or represent the uniqueness of the ascent of Black Americans and the culture that was created by that ascension.

My premise was that Black Americans have carved out a place, not only in America but in the world, that sets them apart from all others. Infused by our origins and colored by our journey from freedom to enslavement and back to freedom, Black Americans emerged as a distinct people with a culture like none other.

At the center of my query was the consideration of what could account for a hope that was as persistent as it was void of logic. For certainly, the mere act of believing in a future that has no rational premise is somewhat bazaar. By this I mean that to believe in a future wherein your humanity is presumed while, in that moment, you exist as nothing more than a commodity, is quite amazing.

Tenacity seems a fitting adjective to attach to the behavior of Black Americans, however tenacity necessitates the introduction of new information from which new methods of achievement can be formulated. I would argue, no new information attended the ascension of Black Americans. And, while determination certainly played a significant role in the ascension of Black America, the issue facing me was the object of that determination. Persistence, unlike tenacity, is doing the same thing, in the same way over and over again until it works. While this sounds much like the commonly accepted definition of insanity, it is nonetheless the closest I can come to a term that captures the behavior of interest. It is a term that captures the behavior of a people that prayed, loved God, loved others, worked hard and when freedom didn't result, they did it again, and again and again; pray, love God, love others, and work harder. Wash, rinse, repeat.

While, admittedly, mine is an extremely simplified depiction of the evolution of Black Americans, the creation of a symbol requires a distillation of the complex in order to capture the essential. For me, the essential is a perseverance that is inextricably tied to the power of God to distill and to formulate from that perseverance a brand new creation - the creation of a new people - the creation of a culture and a people that would change the world. A culture - a people - a phenomenon that would color the world with new ways of understanding music, food, fashion, language and even humanity.

I have visualized this phenomenon by fusing two distinct Adinkra symbols – The first is the symbol Wawa Aba and the second, Osiadan Nyame.

**Wawa Aba**

Wawa Aba represents perseverance and denotes toughness, durability and strength.

The fusion of these symbols represents the centuries of perseverance that, in the hands of God, was used as the substance of things unseen to create a new and unique culture that would not only impact but definitively change the world.

It is an honor to present and share my representation of the

Ascension of Black Americans

NEW IN TIME

New In Time

What Moves Us to Action