Photos of your family - part of the African American experience

[HamdenRice]

I received such a supportive, wonderful reaction to the pictures of my great grandfather and grandfather, both here and in GD. In fact, one poster did census research on my great grandfather and was able to provide fascinating information about him that I did not know!

So I thought it would be nice to invite everyone to post pictures, especially from the past, and that especially show the reality of black people's lives. I find that media portrayals of African Americans have almost nothing whatsoever to do with the reality, so we have to reflect our own reality.

I will start with photos of my parents when they were young - one of them dating (I think or newly married) and two of them on visits to the south.



This is my mother around 1957. She was a tomboy and played lots of sports -- baseball and handball especially. The rolled up jeans are pretty typical, but she always wore them with flair, kind of like a 1940s bobby-soxer. Ironically, she was not a shooter. She was visiting my father's parents in Virginia, and down there, everyone shot -- a lot. The story was that she tried to shoot a shotgun, but the kickback hurt her shoulder and she never tried again. But people used to pose with guns a lot, often with a certain amount of humor. Maybe she has not had the bad experience yet, or maybe she is just posing. In fact, I can be sure she is just posing, because people were very safety conscious about guns, and no one would shoot a gun this close to the house.



This picture is my father, also in 1957. My very much older cousin once told me that in the 1950s, he was a man in a hurry to improve himself, and to me this picture for some reason reflects that. Also, folks dressed pretty sharply back then, even when they were visiting family who lived in what was little more than a log cabin.

And this is a picture of my parents either when they were dating or when they were first married.



So what pictures do you have that you would like to share?

[Karenina]

1. Connie's swearing- in

as Manhattan Borough President in 1965.

[HamdenRice]

2. Wow! Are you related to Constance Baker Motley???

I re-read your OP on her death and you mentioned reading about it before family members. Now I am re-interpreting your post. Does this mean you are related to her?!?!?!?!??!?!?

That's impressive family linneage!

[undergroundrailroad]

3. Karenina,

I was wondering the same. Are you related to this icon?

Thanks for the photo.

:hi:

[Karenina]

5. When I read of Connie's death on DU

I. FLIPPED. OUT. I responded very poorly to a poster on another board, freaked out by what I experienced on DU's "Big Forums." He offered me some insights of what I should expect from "online friendships" especially as I had not "explained myself" and my connexion thoroughly. This is my response to him:

I so appreciate your taking the time to communicate with me so sincerely and directly, you've really touched my heart. Connie grew up with my dad. On my father's side we are a large clan and very close-knit. She was my first cousin once removed. I lived near her on the West Side of Manhattan when I attended Juilliard. She and Joel came to concerts and she always expressed how proud they were of me having broken a major color barrier in the arts. She understood the gravitas of being "the first black female to..." in any field. Believe me, I NEEDED that understanding.

Your point is very well-taken and I again apologize for my response to your first post. I have in the last weeks been horrified and overwhelmed by the blatant racism on DU. I was simply STUNNED to first hear of Connie's death there and didn't think that any more info than "she was a family member and I'm hurting" was necessary, having been there for 4 years. YOU responded so wonderfully but I was simply already so bent out of shape that I reacted poorly. I hope you have forgiven me for lashing out in such an inappropriate way in my grief.

To understand the depth of that grief would require more of an explantion than I'm willing to make in public at this time. Suffice to say it cuts SO DEEP and is tied up with "Well FUCK! What's a good and proper well-educated and dedicated West-Indian girl gotta do these days to get a little recognition, EVEN IN DEATH? NOT from the NYT, rather from the PEOPLE she served. I hope you can read between the words of that last sentence. Connie's death represents the passing of a generation of INCREDIBLE HUMAN BEINGS. I also lost my jazz godfather, Jimmy Woode, earlier this year and my mom last year.

My darling baby sister, who has dedicated herself to the public good as head of the ER at a VA hospital, is also facing death squarely in the face. She was the one who always rescued animals in the fields surrounding our home, often successfully returning them to the wild. The lack of recognition, respect and appreciation are, in my mind, MAJOR contributors to her illness.

Upon presenting herself to patients...

"I don't need a NURSE I want to see a DOCTOR."

"I am your doctor."

"Then I want the HEAD DOCTOR."

"I am the head doctor. Please allow me to help you."

Perhaps this information will help you better understand my raw state.

Connie had a LOT to do with the choices we all made as SHE SUCCESSFULLY manifested our family values. My grief also embodies the failure I feel in never having been able to call her and say, Connie! I BROKE THROUGH THE GLASS CEILING!

I cannot blame anyone else for my pain. My pain and the patterns I've witnessed for over 50 years having grown up black in white America are MY problem, no one else's.

All the points you have made about internet "friendships" are valid and I shall make it my business to be more fair and sensitive to others in the future.

[wildeyed]

7. I am sorry for your loss.

I missed the GD thread, and I don't completely understand in so many ways. But it is clear you lost several very important people this year. I am so sorry.

:hug:

[wildeyed]

4. None of the photos in this thread are showing up for me.

I get the dreaded red x. Is anyone else having this problem?

[RagingInMiami]

6. Those are great pictures, including the one of your great grandfather

in the other thread. You should post them on this thread here that we have in the photography group. Several of us posted old pictures of family members. And as with every old photo, there is a story behind each one.

I posted one of my dad when he lived in Cuba right before Castro took over. He was an American living in Cuba and he is sitting next to a "Fidelista", a bearded man dressed in fatigues.

Your photos would fit right in.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=280&topic_id=1674

[Catherine Vincent]

8. Here's a picture of my mom when she was a kid....

I tried to clean it up a little but that's the best I could do. These were in the early 40's, I'll have to ask her what years. I don't have any pics of my dad in his younger days, I wish I did though.