Category Archives: Art, Black Men, African American, Artist

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Oakland

1001 Black Men–#594

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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

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Black Men, Comic-Con, Fruitvale, Oakland

1001 Black Men–#593

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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

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Black Men, Mills College, Oakland

1001 Black Men–#591

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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

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Mills College, Oakland

1001 Black Men–#590

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I teach at Mills College, an impressively diverse institution by any measure. Still, even the full student body cannot measure up to the diversity on campus during the days leading up to the beginning of the school year. Despite the class, race, gender, and age diversity that they bring to the campus, all of the students have one thing in common–they are all enrolled in college. During the weekend before the fall semester begins, the campus is buzzing with parents, spouses, partners, children, grandparents, and friends, all of whose experiences cover an even broader range of experiences and backgrounds than those of the loved ones they’ve come to drop off.

The man in this drawing was the first to emerge from a car full of women, one of whom was about to enter her first year of college. Between asking me for directions and making sure the student in question was carrying the paperwork she needed, it took the rest of the people in the car a few additional minutes to get out. Through all of this, the man in this drawing seemed content to wait quietly, and he stood beside the vehicle, gazing at the scenery and striking this memorable pose.

Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Comic-Con, Nerds

1001 Black Men–#588

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San Diego Comic-Con 2013

For the last of my Comic-Con 2013 portraits, I’m including this drawing of Allen Thomas. I can’t remember what panel we were in when I spotted him, but I loved his bunny hat so much that I had to draw him. Actually, I’m pretty sure this isn’t a bunny hat. It’s probably meant to resemble the ears of some well-recognized cartoon creature. Alas, I am so out of it when it comes to the cute animal/alien genre of comic media that I couldn’t begin to guess who that creature might be. At the end of the panel I showed Allen my drawing, and he was nice enough to give me his name and email address. Thanks Allen! You were a great model.

Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Comic-Con, Nerds

1001 Black Men–#587

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I wish I’d taken the time to get this brother’s name. He was the videographer for the Hip-Hop and Comics panel discussion at SDCC 2013. Oddly (and, then again, not so oddly), people of African descent were dramatically underrepresented. For me, the highlight of the event was seeing Del tha Funkee Homosapien, the one rapper on the panel. Ironically, the guy who makes his money with his words and his wit had less to say than most of his fellow presenters. Perhaps he believes that his lyrics pretty much speak for themselves. Here’s one of my favorites, from his frequently quoted track, “At the Helm.” (I’ve done a minor “radio edit” to keep it PG-rated.):

Rap ain’t about bustin caps and [gettin’ chicks]
It’s about fluency with rhymin ingenuity
All of this is new to me, see I peep rhymes
with scrutiny, under a microscope I walk a tightrope
A thin line between insanity and sanity
mixed with a little vanity, boostin the morality
with Hiero hospitality, soon to strike it: rich
like calories, salaries, ahh sounds like a plan …

–Del tha Funkee Homosapien, “At the Helm“

Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Black Men, Comic-Con

1001 Black Men–#586

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Joe’s Crab Shack, Mission Valley, San Diego, CA.

***

As Tupac Shakur once famously said to me, “There is no place called careful.” On the one hand, Tupac was right: There is not much room for error in America if you are a Black male in a society ostensibly bent on profiling your every move, eager to capitalize on your falling into this or that trap, particularly keen to swoop down on your self-inflicted mishaps. But by the same token, Tupac was wrong: There can be a place called careful, once one becomes aware of the world one lives in, its potential, its limitations, and if one is willing to struggle to create a new model, some new and alternative space outside and away from the larger universe, where one can be free enough to comprehend that even if the world seems aligned against you, you do not have to give the world the rope to hang you with.”

—Kevin Powell in Who’s Gonna Take the Weight: Manhood, Race, and Power in America

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Ajuan Mance, Art, Black Men, African American, Artist, Comic-Con, Nerds

1001 Black Men–#585

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Here’s another entry from my Comic-Con 2013 sketchbook. I spotted this guy in the exhibition hall where he was staring intently at a small but impressively-detailed statue of Boba Fett. You may remember Boba Fett as the bounty hunter from the original Star Wars trilogy. Like a lot of Star Wars fans, my brother thinks Boba Fett is pretty awesome. Seeing the man in this drawing made me think of my brother who, when asked why he liked this character so much, replied, in his typical straightforward fashion, “He’s the bounty hunter. He’s cool.”

Ajuan Mance