Deconstructing The Measure of a Man While Claiming Kin

So between the end of February and this Sunday I finished three books Deconstructing Tyrone, Claiming Kin, and The Measure of a Man. In my estimation the three were connected and there was a certain fluidity in the subject matter of each.

I began with Deconstructing Tyrone which was written by Natalie Hopkinson and Natalie Y. Moore. It was what the authors called "A New Look at Black Masculinity in the Hip-Hop Generation". As hard as I might try to be apart of the hip hop generation according to some timelines, I missed it by two years. Dang Ma, could you have sped it up two years? Anyone it was a thoughtful book which reflected the complex reality of contemporary young black men. While we know that "to be young, gifted, and black" might very well be "a gift and a curse", do we understand why? In reading this book some of the reasons were illuminated. The work reflected the inherent conflict which exists. Black men are taught that they are as Ellis Cose has alluded to one of the most loved and hated groups in the world, not just in America, in the world. Many are unsure as to how they will be both forceful and strong, and compassionate and loving. There are limits and barriers which burden black men still, we cannot overlook systems of oppression. I think the most profound statement the authors make in profiling black men at different areas in their lives is that there is diversity within the group. Blackness and masculinity therefore can’t really have standard definitions, which go unchanged, which are not malleable.

Next I read Claiming Kin by Afi-Odelia Scruggs which was part memoir, part geneaological narrative. It was an interesting book to read. The author spoke of being driven to research her family's history as a way of connecting with her late father. It was a lengthy process, which required steadfast determination on her part. The author began the process while still a student, going on to finish the work after earning a PhD in Slavic Languages from an Ivy League institution. If ever there were a testament to forging ahead in America it was personified on so many levels. Even before we are given her paternal family history we see how roots which had been laid as a foundation, had allowed her to blossom. Generations of her maternal family were teachers. In Scruggs' case her passion for learning led her to pave her own way. Realism was a constant given her family's openness and honesty, realness quickly turned her sometimes ambitions into practical actions. While discovering her family’s history, it didn’t stop Scruggs from finding her own way. Just as the lives of her family had been transformed by forces aside from them, so too was had her life change by forces aside from her. We see the blossoming of a woman proud of her heritage, aware of her existence, and on the verge of an awakening. Her intellect, her spiritual consciousness, and her cultural consciousness, awareness of her heritage merged to give her a clearer view of her own identity.

Perhaps there was no better way to make sense of the previous works than to read Sir Sidney Poitier’s The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography. This work built upon what was learned in the other two works. It addressed the reality of being a black man in America and coming of age, before the civil rights movement had affected change. The reality of discrimination, of poverty, and outright racism were something even a Bahamian immigrant had to contend with while endeavoring to achieve his American dream. No, while not the descendant of slaves his heritage too left him with ancestors whose very humanity had been challenged. Poitier came here for a better way of life and was only shown roadblock after roadblock. He persevered relying heavily on his strength of character, developed on Cat Island in the Bahamas by his parents. Time and time again he reflected on his heritage, and cultural traditions which taught him that his dignity, his honor, his self-respect was worth preserving. Ultimately while he achieved success as a black man, in a field dominated by whites, he still had another way of measuring his success. Again Poitier points back to his heritage, his upbringing, and the teaching of his father. Living up to his father’s words was how he says he showed respect for the “bloodline”. After fathering six daughters who he concedes are his greatest accomplishment, he asks himself, if he heard his father’s words. His father had once said, ‘The measure of a man is how well he provides for his children.’ In honoring his obligation to his own children, he honored his parents. Poitier proved that the greatest measure of a person’s personhood is what they are willing to give to others.

It struck me how appropriate a quote from my ethics professor is for this:

“Human beings have always considered themselves in debt to those who preceded them.”

Perhaps too we are indebted who those who come after us.