by Jamil Jude, Allen Lee Hughes Casting/Production Fellow 2009/10
[Editor's Note: This post is part of a series, which I am going to group under the category "Young, Gifted, and Black @ Arena" so that you can read the whole thing easily. It is comprised of a series of posts by a cohort of young black participants in this year's Allen Lee Hughes Fellows program. We've asked them to share their experiences all year, and in particular to document their developing understanding of what they are calling "Black art" as lensed through the experience of their Fellowship season.]
Emerging out of the tech process for Stick Fly to wish you all a very happy New Year and share with you a few thoughts I have. What started as a conversation between me and my friend Jordan, then turned into a post on my personal blog, I now bring to you all, our loyal Arena Followers. I need you all to help me answer this question: "What am I supposed to do...?"
In the Actor's Packets, a series of articles and information compiled by our dramaturgy department and given to the cast, there are a few articles that had an extreme affect on me. Some of the articles spoke to achievement gap issues, race inequalities, black elitism and other relevant topics. Those articles, in combination with my own personal issues around these subjects, led me to ask the earlier basic, but bewildering, question along with other thorny issues. One of those issues, Black Elitism, is a very troubling idea to me. Does it exist? Should it exist? What should Black Elitist do? Who is in the Black Elite?
The Black Elite is a very small group in America. Marginalized both by minorities and by the majority classes, the Black Elite struggle (oh the irony!) to establish themselves as a legitimate socio-economic group. Like any other upper-class demographic, they are very exclusive. In his book, Our Kind of People, Lawrence Otis Graham talks about this widely over-looked class.
Although I can NEVER be a member of the Black Elite, as a college graduate and as someone who has a little social capital, I am in a very precarious situation. The articles that the Dramaturgy department brought up, primarily come from the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, talked about the lifestyles that educated black people live. They presented facts about the jobs they choose, the money they earn/spend, and with whom they marry. The last fact, to whom college-educated, black people are married, was the one that struck me the most. The article said that black people like me, are almost twice as likely to marry interracially than black people who don't have four-year college degrees. That article was coupled with excerpts, from Graham's brook, about Jack and Jill and other anecdotes about Black Elitism.
For those who do know, I apologize, but I do want to spend some time on Jack and Jill. Founded in 1948, Jack and Jill of America, Inc. was established to give children of black ,upper class mothers, a medium in which they can socialize and meet other privileged children. Although much has changed since its founding, Jack and Jill still serves the same purpose.
Now here is what one of Stick Fly's characters calls "a grand mindfuck"! Since Jack and Jill is a group for upper-middle class to upper class black mothers and their children, the group would seemingly exclude non-Black mothers (some chapters may have non-Black mothers as part of their membership, but it is rare). Children who are born into these upper-middle/upper class families are more likely to attend prestigious/private/elite four-year colleges and universities. Remembering our previous fact, that college educated black people are more likely to marry interacially, one can begin to see a budding problem. So again, I ask my question, "what am I supposed to do?"
I happen to to be a graduate of an elite, four-year institution. Furthermore, I am a member of Jack and Jill. Although my family doesn't fit the Jack and Jill mold (single parent, hovering around lower to solid middle class, West Indian heritage) my children, by virtue of my involvement, will be Jack and Jillers. If I become one of the black people who choose to marry interracially, will my wife and kids be accepted into the clique?
I'm not really sure how I feel about it all. It seems to me now that being Black and educated is more of a conundrum than one may believe. At every level, there are interesting challenges and questions. Being around this play and reading these articles prompted my inquiry. My inquiry started my conversation with Jordan. I started writing the blog post on my blog on December 15th, but finally finished it, on New Year's Eve. Even now, after writing this post, I'm still struggling with the complexity. It is all so sticky!
All I want is to be happy. I want to have a healthy marriage, beautiful kids, and a rewarding career. I want my family to feel accepted wherever they are. It seems like, if I want my kids and wife to enjoy their Jack and Jill experience, or any other experience for that matter, my wife will HAVE to be Black. While I love Black women, I mean LOVE them, one of my most rewarding relationships was an interracial once. I don't know who I will marry, but whomever I choose, I just want to be accepted. Yes, Marriage is still some time away for me but that doesn't stop my mind from wandering. I'm constantly surrounded by, reminded of and bothered by the subject. I tell you, it's all one grand mindfuck!
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