Broadway Volkswagen, Oakland CA.
Ajuan Mance
Category Archives: Oakland
1001 Black Men #823
Seen from my car, at the corner of 40th and Telegraph, at the edge of the Temescal, in Oakland, California.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #818
I spotted this gentleman in the card shop next door to Gaylord’s on Piedmont Ave. It was Valentine’s Day, and he and I were shopping for the same reason. Some might call it procrastination, but for people like him and me, it’s not that we don’t care enough about our love ones to buy gifts and cards ahead of time. Rather, it’s that we care too much. When you want to get just the right thing for that special person, sometimes it’s hard to even know where to start…until Valentine’s Day finally rolls around, and you have no choice but to decide on that perfect card and gift. To the untrained eye, it looks like waiting around until the last minute, but it’s really an example of what loving someone too much can look like.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #817
On the sidewalk outside Peet’s Coffee and Tea, Telegraph Ave., Oakland.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #816
At the Arbor Cafe, Telegraph Ave., Oakland, CA.
***
I was postering for the annual Art of Living Black Open Studios Weekend at Mills College (TAOLB at Mills for those familiar with the event), when I dropped in to the Arbor Cafe to leave some postcards. That’s where I saw this brother with the fabulous afro. I’ve taken some artistic license with the table and seating, and both are a bit smaller than they were in real life; but I really wanted to capture the way this tall, thin, slightly effete Black man seemed to have folded himself into a table and chair situation that was intended for someone much shorter.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #815
Sunday morning at the Buttercup Grill & Bar in Oakland, CA.
***
I’m baaaaack!
It’s been a whirlwind of a spring semester for me in my other (but related) life as a professor of African American literature, and I’m really glad to be able to return to posting portraits of Bay Area Black men.
Even when I’m not posting, I’m still drawing; and I’m literally backlogged by about 126 drawings. Even during those periods when I don’t have time to sit down at my computer and upload my art, I am still sketching the men I encounter in my daily travels. The 1001 Black men project is still active, even during those weeks when I’m not regularly updating my website. In the last few days, I’ve had time to add color to my drawings, and I now I submit them, humbly, for your inspection and enjoyment.
During the month of May, I’ll be posting daily (with a couple of possible exceptions). By the end of the first week of June, I hope to have posted all of my backlogged drawings, and then some. My goal is to have all of this work done in time for the opening of my upcoming show at Oakland’s Solespace, on Friday, June 5.
Check back here for more art and more details about my show. Hope to see you there!
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #814
I’ve got less that 200 drawings left, and my goal is to have completed this series by the beginning of June. Every 100 drawings, I’ve tried to take stock of which kinds of Black men and Black men’s experiences I’ve depicted in my drawings and which kinds of brothas I’ve overlooked.
At this point, I know that I still have some work to do in terms of the inclusion of homeless men, gender non-forming men, and the young brothas in the baggy pants and big shirts. It has also occurred to me that one of the places I enjoy seeing Black men most is in their cars. Whether young or old, alone or with friends, in a late-model lexus or a vintage conversion van, brothas in their cars are the embodiment of independence–the fundamental refusal to be told where to go, how to be, and when to be it. To me, they look like freedom
I love how a man like the one is this drawing–an elder who doesn’t drive with as much speed and control as he used to–is nonetheless holding space, driving slower in the passing lane than is really acceptable, but either oblivious to or uninterested in other peoples’ honking, gestures, and tailgating. Even if he doesn’t own a home, and even if he’s never been anybody’s boss, his car is his domain, and he’s going to drive it however he wants.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #809
Before I continue with more drawings of brothers from the 2014 comic and zine conventions, I need to include this bearded fellow I encountered on a late night Safeway run. We were both looking for items in the same section of the frozen entrees aisle. He and his friend were looking for some sort of tater tot item. I was looking for El Monterey breakfast burritos and a couple other items on a list of foods for an upcoming guest. This guy was tall enough that I was able to grab my items out of the case while he was holding the door open, without even having to duck. He was like a tall, young, Black string bean with a beard. I was like a short-ish, middle-aged, pudgy, Black sweet potato, with mostly white hair; and on this particular, we were both buying highly processed food from a Bay Area grocery megastore.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #811
Farmer Joe’s Market, Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA
I like grocery shopping after work. I like being part of a group of people all of whom have the same goal, to pick something up for dinner that won’t make our day too much longer than it already has been. I enjoy looking at everyone’s outfits and trying to figure out what they do for a living. This guy had me stumped. I think his hat and his jacket were part of a uniform; the way they matched was just too perfect. On the other hand, why would the uniform require a matching hat and jacket, but no matching shirt. He was wearing a generic type of rugby shirt that appeared to have no relationship whatsoever to the rest of his outfit. I was so tempted to go up to him, explain my project, and ask about what he was wearing. I’ve done it before, after all. But on the evening I encountered this guy, I was just too tired to engage with a stranger. It had been an exhausting day of meetings, and I simply didn’t have the energy to break out of my end-of-day bubble and talk to a stranger.
Ajuan Mance
1001 Black Men #800
I loved being a child. At the time, I wouldn’t have put it into quite those words. I just knew I was happy. Whenever I’m around my nieces, or whenever I see happy children around the city, it reminds me of some of the things that are so wonderful about being a kid.
This little boy, sitting on his father’s shoulders, is a perfect example. He’s not worried about falling off, because he has that wonderful feeling of perfect safety and protection to which only children have access. Looking back, it’s one of the things that I cherish most about my own childhood. I never felt unsafe, because my dad and my mom created a wonderfully protected space for my me and my brother. It was the perfect place in which to grow and explore the world around us. We had just enough freedom to challenge ourselves, and just enough restrictions to keep us from encountering anything that bigger than a pair of happy-go-lucky, bookish kids could handle.
Of course, I was well into graduate school before I realized that having the time to grow up at my own pace was a gift. It was then that I finally began to appreciate the work and the intentionality that my parents brought to the task of raising children–I think that realization marked the moment when I became a real adult. It was also the moment when I began to understand the true meaning of unearned privilege.
One day, the kid in this drawing will have the same realization, and his dad will be able to feel proud that he raised an African American man who takes nothing for granted.
Ajuan Mance