Webster near 17th, Oakland, CA.
Ajuan Mance
All posts by 8-Rock
1001 Black Men–#598
Summer attire near Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men–#597
School is back in session, and all over the East Bay there are kids with backpacks and lunchboxes on sidewalks and in school yards. You can see them in their bright new back-to-school outfits, walking, running, and laughing together, making their way to and from the local elementaries. The boy in this drawing might be a student at a parochial school, but I like to think that he’s one of those kids whose parents made him dress up for the first day.
The picture in his thought bubble depicts Pam, Penny, Mike, and their father. They were part of the first Black family to be featured in the classic Dick and Jane series of early reading text books. They were introduced in select editions between 1962 and 1965. I thought it was the perfect image for the beginning of a new school year.
1001 Black Men–#596
Office Depot, Emeryville, CA.
***
My cause first, midst, last, and always, whether in office or out of office, was and is that of the black man; not because he is black, but because he is a man, and a man subjected in this country to peculiar wrongs and hardships.
–Frederick Douglass, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
Ajuan Mance
This Weekend: SF Zine Fest
It’s that time of year again! SF Zine Fest takes place this weekend at the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park.
The address is 1199 9th Ave at Lincoln Way, and the admission is free.
This year the event features over 140 writers, artists, and zine creators from around the Bay Area. You can find me listed under 8-Rock Press.
For more information, check out the SF Zine Fest website.
Hope to see you there!
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men–#595
Lunch with my parents at Max’s Opera House Cafe was a lively affair. We were seated in the front section, close enough to see everyone who entered, but far enough away from the door to avoid getting a blast of chilly air with each new patron. We briefly made a game out of looking at the outfits of the entering customers and trying to figure out whether they were from the East Coast or California. My opinion of the man in this drawing? East Coast all the way. With his single-breasted khaki suit and olive green tie, he was dressed perfectly for summer in one of the original 13 colonies.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men–#594
AC Transit bus stop, corner of MacArthur and 35th, Oakland, California.
Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it. They approach me in a half-hesitant sort of way, eye me curiously or compassionately, and then, instead of saying directly, How does it feel to be a problem? they say, I know an excellent colored man in my town; or, I fought at Mechanicsville; or, Do not these Southern outrages make your blood boil? At these I smile, or am interested, or reduce the boiling to a simmer, as the occasion may require. To the real question, How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word.
–W.E.B. Du Bois, in “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” The Souls of Black Folk
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men–#593
Outside Farmer Joe’s Market, Oakland, CA.
***
There is something kind of amazing about a cool soul brother. Now, if you’ve spent any amount of time looking at the drawings on this website, you probably know that I also have much love for the not-so-cool brothers. In fact, to say that I have an affinity for Afro-geeks and Black nerds would be a understatement.
That said, the sight of a cool brother is affirming in it’s own distinct way. It’s a reminder of our power and resilience as Black people. The cool brother is the embodiment of one of our greatest survival skills, the ability to create our own sense of power and beauty out of and in opposition to the limited resources we have been given.
Consider these words from Black feminist scholar bell hooks:
Once upon a time black male “cool” was defined by the ways in which black men confronted hardships of life without allowing their spirits to be ravaged. They took the pain of it and used it alchemically to turn the pain into gold. That burning process required high heat. Black male cool was defined by the ability to withstand the heat and remain centered. It was defined by black male willingness to confront reality, to face the truth, and bear it not by adopting a false pose if cool while feeding on fantasy; not by black male denial or by assuming a “poor me” victim identity. It was defined by individual black males daring to self-define rather than be defined by others.
—bell hooks inWe Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men–#592
Wells Fargo Bank, Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men–#591
Here’s another gentleman who is the likely parent, grandparent, friend, spouse, or guardian of new or returning Mills undergrad. I’m no Sherlock homes, but I’m guessing that he’s not a student, based on the fact that most of our graduate students are a bit younger than he seemed to be. I’m guessing he is somehow attached to an undergrad (and not a grad student) because those grad students who live on campus tend to move in on their own, without a dad, uncle, or grandpa in tow.
Ajuan Mance