My New Black Magazine - NYU Black Renaissance Noire BRN-FALL-206 ISSUE RELEASE | Page 93

Symposium on the
recent “Mammy”
sculpture of
Kara Walker

The following was an
internet dialogue between

PAUL CARTER HARRISON
CAROL DIEHL
BRENDA MARIE OSBEY
CLYDE TAYLOR
DENNIS KARDON
Barbara Lewis’ piece was
written separately.

BARBARA LEWIS

Paul Carter
Harrison

Preamble to Kara Walker
Tragi-comedy

92

It never ceases to amaze me how
many African American artists will
subordinate their authentic creative
visions to the popular narratives
of the dominant cultures’ indulgence
in Black Novelty for the sake of
titillation and commodification.
A recent play, fetchit clay,
make man, written by the talented
performance artist, Will Power, is
gaining currency on the American
theatre circuit largely because Stepin
Fetchit, the inimical caricature of
black consciousness, is portrayed in
the service of the dominant culture’s
conscience, a minstrel characterization
used as a trump card to close the
big mouth of muhammad ali and
champion over the Nation of Islam.
When we encounter the Sugar Coated
Mammy of Kara Walker’s most recent
installation, “Subtlety”, we become
aware that minstrelsy is alive and well
in the precincts of High Culture.