MARION COLEMAN
USA
1946
SEPARATE WORLDS. 2008-2011. Various materials, thread, photo transfers, thread writing, fusing, machine stitching.
Railroad tracks were often the dividing point between the white and black parts of the town in north Texas where I grew up. This separation created two different standards of education, health care, employment and just about anything you could think of. Daily trips across the tracks were made by men and women going to domestic or menial jobs in the white world. I grew up with my grandmother who was a cook and domestic until she started working for the public school system. Later she managed a cafeteria in one of the segregated elementary schools in my hometown of Wichita Falls. Many black women like her led dual lives and cared for two families at the same time. I have fond memories of her cooking and our conversations about sewing, fishing and gardening. My collective mothers including my mother, stepmother, two grandmothers, two great grandmothers and many aunts all played their part to bring me to womanhood. My passion for aprons started with these women and our times in the kitchen cooking, canning (preserving foods for winter), talking and eating. “Hold My Hand and Make My Bed” honours this part of my life.
On the other hand, Saturday shopping was an opportunity and adventure to see what was new. What girl could pass up an opportunity to buy a new dress or a pair of shoes. More likely it was an opportunity to put some desired item on Lay-A-Way, a precursor to buying on credit. You would put a payment down and make instalments until the item was paid in full. As a tall girl I could never find pants long enough so I focused on shoes as a point of desire. Dressing nicely to go shopping was necessary to prevent harassment. We didn’t want to be accused of stealing or creating mischief. There were actually some stores I never entered because they were too expensive for us and we only looked in the window. Even today I am mindful of shop clerks watching me. I started the habit of holding my hands behind my back so I couldn’t be accused of shoplifting. “Downtown” showcases how African American women dressed during the 1940’s to indicate they had resources and had a right to go shopping.
However, our community’s separate world was self contained and we had our own doctor, a movie theatre and small community stores. Everyone looked out for each other. The watchful community provided a greater sense of safety than seems present today. It was considered impolite not to speak when you passed someone on the street. As was typical of the period, the male head of household took a leadership role at home and in the community. “Neighbourhood Watch” presents the male/father figure as watchful and protective and this was certainly true in my family. My uncles still chauffeured me to parties and events until I was married.
Even in northern and western cities separate worlds existed. Medical professionals were not allowed to join medical or nursing associations. They had to establish their own organizations to promote educational advances and professional networking. Black nurses were particularly important as they helped with prenatal care, child births and early childhood education. Public health nursing was critical in rural and urban African American life. I went to school with a girl who had polio and I have clear memories of the vaccination campaign that was conducted by public health nurses when I was in elementary school. Their selfless service was important to the whole community. This service model may have been a contributing factor to entering social service after I graduated from college. I don’t like the sight of blood so nursing was out of the question. “Helping Hands/Loving Hearts” pays tribute to all the mothers, babies and families they have kept healthy through the years.
In the early 1960s the civil rights movement got started and many of the old separate but equal (which never really were equal) doctrines began to be challenged. Boycotts and demonstrations were in full force but not in my hometown. The handwriting was on the walls and gradually movie theatres and lunch counters were open to everyone. I graduated from high school ten years after Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas which declared separate schools unconstitutional. My school district was still segregated several years after that. One of the things about living in a separate world is the information stream isn’t as full as it could be. I never really knew many of the people who were involved in civil rights. This happened because the press was white and decidedly biased. “Ruby Bridges”, a very young civil rights participant was unknown to me until I moved out of Texas. Her courage models how all of us can move beyond hatred and fear.
As I became adult the separate worlds began to collide. Was it good to have desegregation? Would Dr. King’s dream come to fruition? I wondered as I explored new clothes, new music, new people, new hairstyles and different places. What about “I’m Black and I’m proud!” On we go in the age of war and change. (That’s the Viet Nam war I’m talking about with all its repercussions.) “Flashback” reminisces about the age of bell bottom pants, wearing Afro’s and listening to “War, what it is good for, absolutely nothing”.
Photos by: Nyls Jongewaard
