This project, “Ill-Defined: Not Your Black Man”, is a case study on black men to highlight the variance in their personalities and values. I feel society has enforces presuppositions regarding how black men should carry their existence.
Society creates a checklist and injects it into our collective CONSCIOUSNESS: to be athletic, lazy, promiscuous, ghetto, thieves. to be HARD, OVERTly AGGRESSIVE, hyper masculine, “real niggas”. We’re expected to speak in ebonics otherwise we “talk toO white”. for some reason, if a black man displays literacy skills outside of amusic studio we presume somethings wrong with in their phsyce.
Growing up, I didn’t embody that stereotype at all. Instead, I chose to act like myself. I pursued my natural INTEREST rather than what society attempted to enforce upon me.
I listened to pop-punk music, tinkered with computer hardware, and delved into art through poetry, film making, and photography. This caused pushback from my white middle class peers at my suburban metro-detroit high school. many would reject my persona, it confused them, i wasn’t the representation of a black man they were sold.
They attempted to denounce me of my identity as a black man using a irritating phrase that still rings in my ear...
“you’re the whitest black guy I’ve ever met, you don’t even count”.
Now I laugh at it, but Remembering this experience, I wanted to aid in breaking society’s projected image of us. so the next iteration of me won’t have to hear it as much.
I’ve been bringing various types of African American men from all walks of life into my studio to answer a single question:
“WHAT DEFINES YOU AS A HUMAN BEING?”
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The project is still ongoing - I’m seeking resource, grants, and funding to order to turn this into a short film & hard cover book.
by Holding studio sessions in multiple cities worldwide, asking more subjects, from more diverse backgrounds, to come in. while also adding a documentary video element to the entire process by having the subjects verbally answer the question.
IN THE MEANTIME I PRINTED 50 PRE-PRODUCTION COPIES OF THE PROJECT in zine format WHICH WERE sold TO SELECT customers IN NEW YORK CITY, LA, AND DETROIT.
