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Radical artist brings Gingerblack Man
to the YMI
By Tamiko Murray
Nov. 3 (AGR) -- “Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t
catch me, I’m the Gingerblack Man.” Roswell, GA, artist Donte
Hayes’ series of narrative-style paintings is a powerful commentary
on the impact of racism and white supremacy on the American psyche.
Through reinvention of the Gingerbread man, the anti-racist hero, the
Gingerblack man is the symbolic antithesis to the Sambo stereotype,
an image that has plagued the African American imagination since the
19th century.
“It’s interesting that I’m controversial, but the things
I’m painting about should be more controversial than what I’m
doing,” said Hayes, whose work reopens a dialogue about black representation
in American culture and its dangerous effects on our collective consciousness.
Hayes paintings are a fusion of historical criticisms, racist black
memorabilia and black imagery from popular culture. His work challenges
the viewer to read between the racial lines while looking at the stereotypes
preserved by white supremacist culture.
The Gingerblack Man acts as the healing consciousness of African Americans
depicted in Hayes’ work. While its image is the focal point in
some of the paintings, in others the Gingerblack Man acts as the conscentious
objector to racial stereotyping, challenging all viewers to ask ourselves
how, over a century later, Black images have remained unchanged in popular
culture.
“African Americans have been characterized in cartoons, television,
movies and advertisements as slow, less than human, ignorant, angry
and happy-go-lucky,” said Hayes.
His painting “Monstrous Performance” is a bold criticism of
Halle Berry’s award-winning performance as the Jezebel-type character
in “Monster’s Ball,” and Hattie McDaniel’s performance
in “Gone with the Wind” as a mammy character. The painting
reveals a robed clansman with horns, or the “monster,” symbolically
holding an Oscar award between Halle Berry’s legs while Billy Bob
Thornton has sex with her from the back. A silhouette of Abe Lincoln’s
face subtly looms within the folds of the clansmen’s robe, while
the Gingerblack Man looks on with horror.
The Jezebel stereotype emerged during the slave era when slave owners
justified rape of the enslaved by defining her as a sexual predator
of white men. The Mammy caricature embodies the myth of the happy slave
who is loyal to the social order of slavery.
Many of Hayes’ “Mammy” images reveal only half the character’s
face. Hayes, who was influenced as a child by the popular children’s
cartoon, “Tom and Jerry”, observes that the faces were cropped
as a form of degradation.
“You knew she was Black by the way she talks,” he says, noting
that the caricature, a domestic, was always wearing house slippers,
another popular depiction of African American women.
“The reason many of these stereotypes are recurring is because
we decided these things that someone told us…the racist stereotypes…
are us,” said Hayes. “We believed them, and now we’re
making movies and getting awards” for reinforcement of these images.
“Cracking the Jolly Nigger Myth” is a piece that uses the
image of the “Jolly Nigger Bank,” an 1892 Black memorabilia
product that was reproduced for over 40 years. The bank represented
the white myth that African Americans “would do anything for money,”
said Hayes.
“Packaged Blackness for the Masses” and “Hip Hopstrels,”
host a similar theme of mass marketing supposed Black culture for white
consumption while placing the African American into stereotypical boxes.
“Middle Passage” is a piece that reveals a mammy character
kneading cookie dough while hovering over a sheet of gingerbread cookies.
The cookies represent the slaves who were packed like cattle onto slave
ships. While slavery is a popular theme for racially-charged art, Hayes’
use of the gingerbread cookies as a metaphor is truly original.
Hayes uses strong, polished lines and bright primary colors, combining
humor with bold, unapologetic titles while exploring politically-incorrect
issues.
While some would argue that intention is less important than the art
itself, for me Hayes’ intention is at the heart of his work. He
is the Gingerblack man, who challenges me, the viewer, to question the
presence of stereotyping in my day-to-day life. Hayes conveys an urgent
message, no matter the color of your skin, and that is “to reclaim
who you are as a human being.”
Hayes’ work brings to light issues of division among African Americans,
internalized racism, issues of capitalism and the political implications
of maintaining social order through stereotyping.
His 22 acrylic on roofing paper paintings will be on display at the
YMI Cultural Center through Dec. 4. Gallery hours are Tuesday through
Saturday, 10am to 5 pm. For more information, visit the YMI website
www.ymicc.org or call (828) 252-4614.
The condom and culture
clash
By Bayano Valy
Maputo, Mozambique, Oct. 31 (IPS) — Earlier this year,
a chilling statistic cropped up repeatedly at a conference on reproductive
rights that was held in London.
Delegates to Countdown 2015: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
for All (which took place at the beginning of September) heard that
on average, men in sub-Saharan Africa only have access to about three
condoms a year.
As condoms have long been acknowledged as a key part of efforts to contain
the spread of AIDS, this limited supply of prophylactics would appear
to have dire implications for Africa. In Mozambique -- one of the poorest
countries on the continent -- an examination of condom availability
offers cause for both hope and concern.
In 1998, a Washington-based non-governmental organization (NGO) -–
Population Services International (PSI) -- sold or distributed some
10 million condoms in Mozambique. This year, PSI hopes to push the figure
to 16 million.
This group is one of the leading condom suppliers in the Southern African
country. Other entities –- NGOs, AIDS organizations and private
firms -– are also involved in this field, as is Mozambique’s
Ministry of Health, which distributes free condoms.
Mouzinho Saide, director of the National Program to Combat AIDS, told
IPS that in 2003 the ministry gave away slightly over 20 million of
the prophylactics:, “The level of condom demand increased, and
that’s due to improvement in public awareness that the HIV/AIDS
problem is serious.”
“We hope to distribute about 25 million condoms this year,”
adds Saide. This figure is likely to go up to 40 million next year,
at a cost of $1.58 million ($1.32 million are being spent by government
on condoms this year).
PSI has used the theater, radio, plays and dance in order to educate
the public about the importance of using condoms.
“We’ve got teams at the provincial and district levels. It’s
the provincial coordinator who’s responsible for all issues related
to logistics, sales and communications -– and this is in coordination
with the districts,” José Alho, PSI marketing director,
told IPS.
Usually, the teams arrange meetings with communities in which they discuss
the benefits of condom usage.
People who attend the meetings take part in exercises where they learn
how best to negotiate condom use; they also practice putting condoms
onto wooden models of male genitalia to minimize the chances of incorrect
use of the prophylactics.
At times, however, these efforts meet with resistance.
In early September, national television showed images of people throwing
away condoms that activists had distributed during a rally by the governor
of the southern Gaza province.
The activists were also told to stop acting disrespectfully. It seemed
clear that many of those at the rally saw condom use as something that
compromised decency rather than saving lives.
“There’s a misconception about condom use, and it’s not
for lack of information that they (members of the public) are reluctant.
It’s more of a cultural element,” says Alho, noting that PSI
has met with similar resistance in the northernmost province of Niassa
(which accounts for about 11 percent of AIDS cases) and the central
province of Manica (which has 19 percent of AIDS cases – the second
highest in the country).
According to the health ministry, 14.9 percent of people in Mozambique
are HIV-positive (the country has a population of slightly over 18 million).
HIV prevalence varies from region to region, however: in the central
part of the country, prevalence is put at almost 17 percent, reaching
26.5 percent in Sofala province.
Some men associate condoms with prostitutes, and think they should only
use the prophylactics when frequenting sex workers.
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