It can be incredibly challenging to capture a vision for the future when the present feels bleak and chaotic. Darius Simpson wrote a poem, Perhaps We Are Our Ancestors' Wildest Dreams, often simplified in shared quotes as “We are our ancestors' wildest dreams.” We believe that whatever gains have been accomplished are the manifestation of the dreams held by those whose bondage denied them any level of liberation. We are their future vision.
Each month, but particularly at this time, we see a throughline of how those who came before us envisioned a better future for each of us. It is also a time when the current generation is putting down roots and planting seeds that will nourish the next generation.
African artist Qudus Onikeku articulates in his statement on the upcoming Afropolis some profound concepts about ancestral aspirations. (Full statement reprinted here) He poses the following as part of his call for new myths:
“So, what happens when a society is ordered by hegemonic ideologies? This question acknowledges that prior to colonial encounters, our ancestors had aspirations for our societies, there must have been an imagined future in that great past.”
When Jacob Lawrence painted the Migration Series, he was telling stories about the movement of African Americans from the rural South into Northern cities where there was new industry offering hope for life beyond severe oppression. The series is one that both documents movement, and envisions what better future such movement might offer.
At this very moment, we are being called to visualize a very different political future. It is a time when Black influence and Black intellect will be a distinct premium to power desired outcomes.
While chaos swirls around us like a desert dustbowl, our eyes must find ways to catch glimpses of and hold fast to a Black future. At ARTE NOIR we are embracing the concept of Black Thought for Black Futures in our programming and collaborative partnerships. We seek to nourish thoughts and ideas by stimulating health and wellness, expanding the sense of connection and belonging, and preserving Black traditions through honor and respect for Black art and culture.
Trust your dreams and believe in the future, just as our ancestors must have dreamt a future for us.
Perhaps We Are Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams
Or liberation was bludgeoned by so many reforms it stopped
showing up on picket signs
maybe wildest dreams tripped on a pile of chain-linked
orange jumpsuits then fell
down by the riverside waded
in forehead-height water but couldn’t swim
maybe capitalists are ravenous beasts with recyclable diets
for the wrong skin all parts of human existence turn plastic
maybe as long as there are cages there will be
mouths to feed off of them
Or we were en route to another planet but fell
off the back of the magic school bus
and every decade we invent a dance / a new language / to plan
our escape back home
Or America should be in our stomachs
maybe we was the flood god sent
four centuries ago that didn’t finish its plate
maybe Denmark Vesey had a solid blueprint
but needed more people on the job
maybe civil rights is a carrot dangling in front of a rabbit on a treadmill
Or the sky called and wants its children back
but the earth is a selfish tantrum holding
onto toys that don’t belong to it
Or, and hear me out, we just out here tryna function
maybe black excellence is white supremacy’s baby cousin
maybe excellence is the unstained white collar on my father’s favorite
blazer after a night of line dancing and endless refills on scotch
maybe $10 before 11:00 is the closest thing we got
to a revolution tonight
perhaps the neon gold glisten off a rope
chain is a kind of rebellion
Or it’s just a wonder we survive the genocide.
Vivian Phillips, Founder + Board President
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Conference, 1944
In 1944 the NAACP held a conference in Chicago. Among the dignitaries present was Chicago alderman Earl B. Dickerson (front row to the left of woman in black hat). Photographer: Unknown Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-37937)
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