Invisible Man: A Memorial to Ralph EllisonSculptor Elizabeth Catlett, 2003
Riverside Park @ 150th Street, Manhattan
Bronze, granite
3:00am and I just had one of the most thought-provoking conversations with a frustrated young Black man about his experiences today. We concluded that although we want to experience sunny days, the clouds that shape our existence in a world that is myopic by nature, tend to overshadow the sun. It isn't until we pummel through the so-called limitations, avoid stereotype threat, and overcome obstacles that we finally get a voice and the strength to ignore and perservere in spite of. This is why we need to all be on our A-game and rise to the top of whatever career path we choose. There are too few of us creating knowledge and making power decisions.
He had gone to a concert in Kenya and was treated as if he were a second-class citizen. The white people were escorted through the line (at a Bob Marley concert, no less) and he was pushed into place. It made him angry and as he recounted the story to me, it made me think about Invisible Man. He was in Manhattan tonight and three times he was disregarded and disrespected...and it frustrated him. He was in a catch-22 and he couldn't catch a cab to get out of the hell in which he found himself. He mentioned that in Kenya, in a position of power, he finally felt "the breeze on his back" and he finally understood what white privilege must be like.
He's a brilliant writer with a keen sense of reality. I knew this the first day he challenged me in his 10th grade class. He didn't want to read the "simple" books that we were using. He wanted to read "real" experiences. He hated fiction! He wanted more and even more now. I certainly hope that he channels this frustration into something that will not only be lucrative for him and his future generations but also something that contributes to the consciousness of a world that resides in its own subconscious state of mind. .02
