The African American Experience

Narratives

Scott Phillips

Dr. Ardrey

African American Experience

April, 29, 2008

The Last Proud Antelope

In a time when animals spoke and humans were not conceived, a small prairie just south of the great Sahara Desert was the site where many animals congregated together once every year. A great race would determine the food chain order for the next year in the animal kingdom. For many years the Antelopes held the highest position in the food chain. As a result their species was able to feast on the rest of the African animals without fearing for their own lives. The Antelope competing this year was highly favored to finish several miles ahead of the other competition. This continuous trend upset the other animals tremendously. However, they all respected the established rules and thus did not contend the results. The fabled rules had been around long before the animals could remember, and they accepted them as the only way to live. It was suspected that the Antelopes cheated in each race, but without sufficient evidence the animal kingdom falls prey to the torment of the Antelopes each and every year. The food chain was balanced and did not disrupt the lower levels of the kingdom. However, the Antelopes were very proud of their constant victory. Their overwhelming pride was reflected in an unrelenting feast on every animal they came upon. The overbearing control the Antelopes placed on the animal kingdom could not be contested by any other animal, unless a new winner was crowned at the annual race. The dwindling races in Africa were hopeful this year, for the Cheetahs had produced a fantastic athlete to compete. The Antelopes were fully aware of their competition, but did little to no training in preparation for the race. Instead, they simply dined on the various races giving no regard to the constantly vanishing animal population. The race approached closer each new week, eventually becoming only days away. The Cheetah contender had been preparing vigorously for months, while the Antelope champion continued to be lazy and feast on the various animals beneath his reign. While the Cheetah athlete was immune to being eaten, his family was not. Just a day before the race began his family was devoured by the Antelope athlete he would be competing against in the annual race. The Cheetah athlete could not help but to grieve for his lost family, he was alone and did not have the heart to compete. It was often in this way that the Antelopes prepared for their race. They provided a devastating blow to the other athletes by eating their family just hours before a race. The rules did not contend this sort of behavior, so the other animals just kept their contention inside. Daybreak came on race day, as the orange sun crept over the horizon. The various animals gathered at the starting line, the crowd much smaller than the year before. The athletes stood shoulder to shoulder, paw to hoof. The Antelope champion stood closest to the crown, followed by a Jackrabbit, a Lioness, a Giraffe, and a vacant spot where no animal stood. Several minutes passed before the race could begin. All the animals standing in the crowd watched, with hope, for the Cheetah to appear. The Antelope stomped his hoof against the starting line, and the animals in the crowd snapped their attention his way. It was time for the race to begin, and still with no sight of the kingdom’s only hope. A few more minutes passed, and the race was underway. The Antelope was off to a comfortable lead early in the race. Each animal behind him seemed less than enthused to be competing, each of them running without heart. The race continued for several hours, covering the vast regions of the African plain. As the racer drew closer to the finish line, the crowd reared their heads only to see the Antelope still holding a commanding lead. The racers cross the finish line, the Antelopes winning the race as expected. The other racers finish several minutes behind the leader, and the crowd cowers knowing their eventual fate. The Antelope continue their celebration, yelping and screaming for another year’s victory. They quickly turn their attention to the crowd, licking their chops. The winning athlete makes the first approach for a meal. The Antelope draws closer to a small lion cub, his eyes gleaming with blood thirst. Suddenly, the Antelope collapses screaming in pain. His leg is locked tight in the jaws of the Cheetah athlete who begins tearing into the Antelope’s body. The other antelope begin to approach the Cheetah, but back away when the Cheetah’s glowing eyes meet with theirs. The other animals are astonished, they watch in awe as the Cheetah continues to tear through the Antelope’s meat, uncontested by the others. A sudden revelation sweeps across the crowd as they leap toward the remaining Antelopes and tear viciously into their flesh. An hour passed and all the animals lay full and tired. The bones of the Antelopes vanish in the waves of sand, forgotten.

2008 Trip to Turkey

The holocaust of slavery stole women and men from the African continent dispersing them throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The experiences and oppressions of Africans in the Americas are well documented; their story is well told. The story is not so complete for Africans sold into slavery on other continents or countries such as in Europe and Turkey. Africans, brought to Turkey to serve the Ottoman Empire as slaves, were not freed until the 1920s. Their history and experiences are just now being revealed.

The American Studies Association of Turkey and the U.S. Embassy invited the WKU African American Studies Program to organize and sponsor several events in Turkey that would give voice and recognition to Turks in the African diaspora. The first event, a conference on the experiences of African Americans was held February 26-28 at Bilkent University and Hacettepe Univerisity in Ankura, Turkey. Five WKU professors and one student joined with scholars and artists from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, Southern Illinois University, Metropolitan State College of Denver and from the Broadway stage to focus on core areas of the African American experience. This conference was an historical event as the first ever presentation in Turkey on people of the African diaspora.

Saundra Ardrey, African American Studies Program and Department of Political Science, delivered the keynote address on “Race in America and the Presidential Campaign of Senator Barack Obama”. Ardrey also presented a Kwanzaa celebration that highlighted African traditions shared by both African Americans and Afro Turks.

Johnston Njoku, Folk Studies and Anthropology, presented common characteristics of music in the African diaspora, “Singing and Shouting: Music in the African American Community”. He also presented “Healing the Wounds of Slavery in the African Diaspora with a Focus on Turkey”.

Clifton Brown, Theatre and Dance, led a session on “The African American Influence on American Popular Dance” and performed in the Black aesthetic for several audiences in different venues. His performance, “In Loving Memory of....” was an original work choreographed for the Turkish conference.

Afro Turks, similar to the fight by African Americans in the 1960s, are struggling to integrate their experiences into the study of Turkish history and culture. Presentations by Nancy Dawson, African American Studies Program, “African American Women and the Tradition of Intellectualism: A Movement Towards Africana and Black Women’s Studies” and Soleiman Kiasatpour, Department of Political Science, “Integrating African American Studies into an American Studies Course” sparked a lively debate on the most effective strategies in addressing the challenges of integrating African diaspora experiences into the University curriculum.

Sophomore Music major, Jessica Lunsford, delighted Turkish audiences with powerful performances of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and other Negro Spirituals.