"the generational talk"
Blackfluencers
"Blackfluencers" is the combination of the following two words; Black + Influencers. We combined those words to use it as a category to present important speakers and role models for the Black Civil rights movements, who inspired and taught multiple generations of Black people to stand up for their rights. They created a bigger picture of "fatherly figures" and influenced not only an entire community to fight against their oppressors but also taught them how to educate and raise their children; the next generation of Black children. Most importantly, these men remain relevant with their speeches and awareness politics on Black Civil rights or even human rights, more than 60 years later. Therefore, they continue to educate generation after generation of POC on their rights, and on how to speak up for themselves. Always inspiring.
Learn more about the politics of blackness here!
Debate from 25th April 1961 between Malcolm X and James Baldwin on the identity of the Black man. Take the time and watch their famous debate (51 minutes) on racism in America & possible solutions.
Despite having different approaches, they all had one goal: to unite the Black community and to fight for their Civil rights. Their heterogenous movements had one consensual fight. To face the White man and demand their rights as human beings. Have a look at this very brief juxtaposition of both leaders' visions and movements.
1:1 Talks between Father - Son
Ta - Nehisi Coates - Between the World and Me (2015)
This section depicts the generational talk on a micro-level between fathers and their sons/younger family members. Specifically, using the most powerful quotes by Ta-Nehisi Coates to his son and James Baldwin to his nephew.
Police Brutality
“...Later, I would hear it in Dad’s voice - ‘Either I can beat him, or the police.’ Maybe that saved me. Maybe it didn’t. All I know is, the violence rose from the fear like smoke from a fire, and I cannot say whether that violence, even administered in fear and love, sounded the alarm or choked us at the exit.”
Destiny
“What I know is that fathers who slammed their teenage boys for sass would then release them to streets where their boys employed, and were subject to, the same justice. And I knew mothers who belted their girls, but the belt could not save these girls from drug dealers twice their age.”
Coping Mechanism
“We, the children, employed our darkest humor to cope. We stood in the alley where we shot basketballs through hollowed crates and cracked jokes on the boy whose mother wore him out with a beating in front of his entire fifth-grade class."
Unequal System
“And you know now, if you did not before, that the police departments of your country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body. It does not matter if the destruction is the result of an unfortunate overreaction. It does not matter if its originates in a misunderstanding. It does not matter if the destruction springs from a foolish policy. Sell cigarettes without proper authority and your body can be destroyed.”
James Baldwin - The Fire Next Time, Essays 1963
“Remember that: I know how black it looks today, for you. It looked bad that day, too, yes, we were trembling. We have not stopped trembling yet, but if we had not loved each other none of us would have survived. And now you must survive because we love you, and for the sake of your children and your children’s children.”
Letter to My Nephew
“The details and symbols of your life have been deliberately constructed to make you believe what white people say about you. Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity and fear.”
Awareness by Black Parents
Teaching the next generation; "not only our sons but also our daughters"
“There is no reason for you to become like white people and there is no basis (...) that they must accept you.”
“The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. For these innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand.”
Counter-Perspective: The Absence of Black Fatherhood
44% of Black fathers are apart from children. Children of Black fathers who are locked up in prisons: "lost generation"
Both authors try to explain the parenting methods of the majority of Black men. Especially, the notion of violence is discussed in detail, by mentioning how violence at home is somehow "needed" to guide and prepare their children for what they will eventually, and inevitably be confronted with outside of their homes. Furthermore, they prepare their children how to cope with violence of any form as well as discrimination, especially if it is racially motivated.
Both authors present the reader with some sort of time span which shows how the generations before them had to deal with similar problems, yet to a different extent. Moreover, James Baldwin for example mentions how his nephew was born in a time that was different from the current time he is in. This implies that throughout his entire life, a Black man will encounter different forms of racism and discrimination, which already begins with their birth, and only seems to increase with their age. However, due to being taught how to face them and cope with such unequal treatment by society, every generation grows to be immune and continues to cycle of having that generational talk with their own children in the future.
The material on this page was compiled, created, and arranged by Amna Anwar, Sena Konçak, and Artan Islamaj.
