If you are in Los Angeles

The artist/photographer is a former professor of mine and he is a pretty cool activist fellow. 

 I first (and so far have only) heard about Black Mexico from Professor Wilkins, when he was describing some of the work he does in public schools around the L.A. area, much like the workshop mentioned in the flyer.  He impressed upon me the role that suppression/erasure of history plays in disenfranchising populations of people.  All of the histories that Professor Wilkins brings to light are important and beautiful on their own, and especially the issue of what he calls a Black-Brown alliance is relevant to Angelenos with some of our recent violence between Black and Brown residents. 

 Not that Professor Wilkins says this, or that I am saying knowledge is the ONLY power needed for things to get better – but with the ways people are at times pitted against each other under white supremacist power structures, does it seem suspicious to anyone else that the rich history of Black-Brown coalitions would not only NOT be taught in schools but be actively opposed to this day by folks who are threatened by Professor Wilkins’ message? 

 According to Prof. Wilkins, Black Mexico came to be during the time of slavery in America, when Mexicans helped kidnapped Africans escape across the border and live free lives in Mexico.  Settlements of freed people in Mexico did not, from what I can tell, resemble life for Africans in, for example, the “free” northern states of the US during that period and after.  In other words, Africans who escaped with Mexican citizens’ help got to live freely, not under just a different version of racial hatred.

 I am looking forward to this exhibit, and if any bloggers local to Los Angeles end up going to the reception, it would be great to meet you.

 ETA: I am still getting my bearings with this new blogging business and will soon add some links in this post to pieces by bloggers (BFP for one example) who have recent posts that made me think of Professor Wilkins’ work when I was reading them.

Tags: but anyway back to me, Long Beach, Ron Wilkins