For the People; Tom Feelings/show#1

A production of South Carolina. Good evening and welcome to for other people. One historian has said that when you change the image of what people see you change the image of what they think. How important is it for African-American children to see images of themselves in the books they read. We'll put there's another question so the highly respected artist illustrator of children's books Mr. Tom feeling's born and raised in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn New York. Mr. feelings has received numerous awards and citations for his works some of which include mojo one or MoJ of means one Swahili counting book and Jumbo means hello a Swahili alphabet book both written by Muriel feelings. These books were selected as Caldicott honor books in 1972 and 1974 respectively. Mr. feeling's is currently teaching at the University of South Carolina and we are also. Happy to have with us three teachers from the Great School

named VV Reed in Columbia South Carolina. Teachers from left MS. So Lewis That's right right. So little. So little as Hines and Ms. Ernestine Dokken. That's right. OK. And Ms Virginia branch thank you for being with us Mr. feeling that you have been Intercontinental you have had an intercontinental life would you tell us give us a brief sketch of your life in the United States and other countries. First of all I didn't start out thinking I was going to end up being Intercontinental. What happened was that the artwork. And the search for who I was and where I came from and the group that I came from Started me. Thinking in terms of

drawing first from what I already knew what I'd seen around me would have seen very few drawings. And that led to going to Africa and South America and the West Indies or wherever black people were in an article you wrote for a magazine you say that when people ask me who I am I say that I am an African who was born in America. Why is that statement important for you. You know well it's when I started by drawing from life in the black community for the first time really looking at the nose the lips and what makes us who we are what makes us different in this society. And then ending up at one point in Africa and realizing that I was drawing the same faces in Bed-Stuy or in Manhattan that I was

drawing in Africa it really solidified at the point that I am African now. My experience has been expanded on in in one way by by living and growing up in America. But I'm an African who happened to be born in America and I found that even more by travelling to South America where there are black people you know there. And again the same noses the same lips the same culture basically you told me about an experience you had and think it was Ghana where somebody thought you were one of their first family members in Ghana. I was waiting in a in a bank and a woman behind me. This was in Ghana in West Africa I started speaking to me. And. I said I'm sorry I don't understand. And she kept speaking and then I said I'm sorry I don't understand. And then she said in English. As for you

been to been to somebody who has been to London then to England or been someplace else for you been to as you try to act as if you don't speak the language anymore. And then there was someone who worked with me standing behind her who was God. And he explained to her that I was from the USA. And while he was explaining to her to her this guy could see her turn a head towards him and then she said what he resembles God too much. You know I've done children's books but you have done much more than that as your slides will demonstrate if you don't mind we'd like to take a look at this journey that you've been on. Please go. Do you want me to do other things while you drawing that you see it was one of the first

drawings that I did from life in Bedford Stuyvesant and it was when I first started doing some of the assignments in art school and just went out into the streets and drawing and these three guys were the first one of the first drawings I did. So matter of fact when I asked them could I do this drawing. They said sure. I stepped back opened up my pad and started drawing in the fell in the center said. Now you can't be too good artist and I said why do you say that because you don't have anybody to draw but us and that is exactly the reason I was out there drawing besides putting down the wreckage of what I was doing I was trying to show the people that I came from that they were not only appropriate to draw and paint but they were also very exciting subject matter and the subject matter that really brought out the best in me. OK go to the next one.

I also drew a lot of Afro-American children. And one of the reasons was that I was really shy about drawing from life. And you know people watching and looking at what you're doing and the adults when I you know would do a drawing they would say things like other men and women and women would say well let me go fix my hair. And then the men and the women would say don't make my nose too large don't make my lips too large. You know and that you know maybe these but the children once they saw that you like them they just gave it right back and they were more interested in the activity of drawing not so much how you drew them in what you know with the noses and shapes you know. OK we'll keep going to the slides. These are the joints of the children. And I continue drawing a lot of children. And then I started painting into the

drawings. How has your technique of painting and drawing changed over the years. The first technique really was to draw from life that really very much like penmanship. If you write over and over and over you get to a point where you write beautifully but then it becomes very important what you have to say. So for me the technique the drawing was helpful in getting out of the way the tools are using the tools in the best way so that I can express something about the things that are closest to me and that is the subject matter black people. OK let's take a look at some more of those lines. Again this is the drawings and then paintings of children. Is this are these drawings in any of the children's books that you hear.

Yeah I finally used all these drawings were like a wreck and I finally use some of the drawings in books like date daydreamers and in the book with that I did with my. Now she was sings a song. They were all drawings done over a long period of time in different parts of USA in Africa and in South America. Tell us about this particular book that you collaborated with. Well I've done a lot of drawings of men women and children but at a point maybe the last four or five years there's been a lot of controversy about the clash between black men and women. And I knew I had all these drawings and I felt that the drawings were very very positive images and so I felt if I could get these drawings put together into a book form showing a male view of black women. And get a woman to write Eva

Tex a poetry. It would help to deflate some of this negative you know talk about the clash between black men and women in Africa in 1964. She was she was in Ghana when I got there. As we take a look at another slide let me ask you why is it important that African-American children see images of themselves in the books that they read. First of all to bring some balance to a world that was up until 90. Sixty six especially in children's books. Lily white. There were very few books done for about black children or black the black experience period. And when I came back from Africa after finding out a lot more about myself you see my leaving America was to find out where the joy was because I could see where the pain came from.

And the first joyful experience by living in Africa was that I was in the majority for the first time my life it was natural for me to draw and paint black people. Nobody questioned why why was the joy. What was the joy there once again. First of all knowing you. Are not a minority feeling that feeling for the first time in my life understanding that I was standing on soil where it was hundreds and thousands of years of culture that was involved who I was and where I came from. And a revolution in terms of history. So that put me very much at ease. If you look at the drawings that I did in Africa you see same faces in a lot of cases the same noses the same lips different environment different feeling about themselves.

Therefore I'm influenced by whatever environment I mean. OK let's take a look at some others. These are still the things in New York and Brooklyn. And if you move right along we discussed a lot. Then I went to South in 1960 and these are some of the drawings that I did while I was in the south. OK just keep moving along we'll tell you when to stop. And this is in Louisiana still in the easy and very and she was flown by blue so I did this blues singer and of course I was also influenced by what was going on in this society and in the sixties. Very highly emotional things in terms of integration and the fight between the clash between races. So of course I chose that subject matter to work on. And if you look at these things you'll see that mostly they're monochromatic.

The colors were subdued and dark. I specifically chose those things that move me emotionally for my own assignments that is. These things were not done from you or from life. This is from life incidents in life this is all to you loosing trying to get into a school in Alabama. And this is a white mob outside trying to turn a car over. This is in a barbershop in Brooklyn and these guys are getting ready to have a hair process which is another negative way of looking at yourself. This picture kind of depicts the rage and anger that I was feeling in America and this is a self-portrait of that time. I use Langston Hughes poem dream deferred to depict the kind of frustration I was feeling because when I took my portfolio out to try and get work

none of the publishers that were dealing with any black subject matter in terms of books they could hold that slide. How widespread do you think it is that you talked about even today. Well I think among African-Americans I think when anyone cannot find a way to the express themselves in the turns in really comes out in some kind of form. For me the outlet of expression was the drawing in a painting and the picture of the Dream Deferred where used with a dream deferred. I think that poem really reflects what happens because that's what we would like he was trying to say. If you don't if you don't have a outlet for expressing it will explode. Or does it just fall aside. And. Since I had what I consider a very positive

childhood I'm not talking about in terms of economics I'm talking about in terms of emotional My mother always supported what I did. And in some ways left me alone. When she saw me just sitting in a corner just drawing which is the most difficult thing from a lot of parents to do because they always want to control what a child is going to end up doing that is sometimes making sure that they make a good living. Well most parents would think that being an artist is not that kind of thing. So my mother left me alone and left me to a drawer and paid and never questioned my drawing and painting. Black people though it was clear it would be clear to most people at that time that you could not make a living doing it. So I was able to express this this need to put down on paper what I was seeing and feeling and because in one sense my mother left me free to do this.

Then I developed the responsibility to project this story because that's one of Basically I'm a storyteller. I just used the skills of painting and drawing to tell the story. And so I started taking this journey. And when you look at the things in Africa are you seeing now the first thing I think that hits you in this light this color the environment change for me the same noses same lips same mouth different environment about this particular. That's a that's a little girl in you know in gun. And I when I saw her I mean the first thing that went to my mind was she looks just like the children in Bed-Stuy. But it's a different environment. And as I said before that.

All people are influenced by them. And. When I looked at this little girl when I looked at the people in Ghana and I thought about the faces that I'd drawn in New York here in Brooklyn I knew they were the same people. How important is context and placement of African-American children in children's books. I think. When an artist and you come to teach is right I mean this OK when an artist is able to project. Those things it can touch the human so that it can be see in the artwork and the children as well as adults can see if that something is false. Right. It takes as much time to draw and paint and see beyond the surface.

It takes a lot of life time. And when you see that in the work and you know that is true and you feel that you move towards the artwork how how are our African-American children. And and all children I guess motivated when they see themselves in the books that they read. Is it a heavy motivational thing or what. I can say that when I came one of the things that I really wanted to do when I came back from Africa is show children all children but especially Afro-American children knowing how they are bombarded with negative images of Africa. I wanted to show them and have them feel the same kind of positive feeling I felt when I was in Africa. And. The change in my work was that it now had a sense of rhythm and sense of movement a more balance

view. OK let's see what there's a question or comment from one of the teachers. Like you know if you were discovered or encouraged by a particular teacher in school I did you Justice Scalia or south. And just go on from there with that hate of your mother in school I think the first time I remember anyone give me any kind of recognition was a teacher taking me by the hand and shit and with a drawing of a gun and showing it to other teachers. But throughout the years the most influential people were mostly black teachers at the U.S. the place to live equally. There was one teacher names detective adored. Who encouraged me and always told me to draw from life to make up things in my mind but also always look at life.

What is what is the situation now. In terms of the books that you were using in school. African-American images is it still like in the 60s or is it getting better. How do you read the situation today. Well I read it as having a wider selection of choices to make. And I'm listening to those the feelings I'm delighted to be using the open court series which is a book that takes into consideration you know the black student in your class. And consequently we have black artists that we are studying and learning about. And this is a great motivation for the students. Also I would like to ask the Koreans a question at this point and it is how did you

become when did you realize you were first interested in creating pictures and drawings of our you know black American. African-American I've been drawing since I was 4 5 years old and most of the things that I've seen you know when I was that age were comic books and magazines and that kind of thing but very few black images. I do remember doing a comic strip about the kids on the block that I grew up on. And also before I went in the service I did a comic strip about Crispus Attucks that is linked directly to the fact that when I was about 11 years old nine of 10 maybe I had read in my local library and read all the books in the children's books. And then I happened to stumble on a room. That some librarian had put all the

black books. I just happened to stumble on that room and I mean it was like another world for me and I had some of the things I could not understand at that age but I you know I could just take it all in. And when I went to service and came back out this was in the 50s about 56 or 57 I went back to the library to find my black room and the librarian said the books weren't in there. And I asked what happened. Well those books were all by himself. There they were segregated so we integrated them into the whole library system. Well that was my first negative you know response to integration because there weren't that many books in the first place. So they didn't leave the children another child to the happily to stumble on the room. And I realized that. That you have

to have as many books dealing with the black American experience. I mean the full sphere. In order to reach all the children. Now I don't have a problem with I found I had no problems with that. When I talk to children in the integrated schools and you know young children black and white there is always one child will ask me why do you just draw black people you know and I will explain that way and if you look around the room here there you see a lot of different children black and white in the library. You have very few books dealing with the black experience. And then I had decided to dedicate my life to try and fill help fill that void. And the children both black and white said oh yeah ok I understand. Do you as teachers have African-American parents inquiring about. African-American images in the books that children read.

Yes we do. And because of this we have a strong curriculum written in regards to that objective. Dr. Hagen's from South Carolina State College and our hands are drawn into our curriculum. African-American studies program we draw upon the resources that we have. We tend to incorporate field trips for instance. Last week we went to South Carolina State College in Orangeburg to investigate the McDonnell collection art collection and to visit the planetarium there to see exhibits and we will use this type of approach along with other materials such as the books that Mr. feeling's writing which would be very helpful. Mr. Parkinson is Bryant charged with the elementary school and I as a three

year old teacher have always been very good at real routine. I have always been incorporating our black heritage into my classroom. I bought books on my own from Mansome in college when they have their Jubilee and I have bought Mr. feeling's books and I introduced them to the children and they were very happy. And I say that most of my parents are real thrilled to the fact that we teach them their heritage. And I've had you know lots of praises about that. I mean even address ethnic on different occasions when we have our May Day. I said you're a very good teacher because you have taught one of my children and I think you know me through school. OK. Used to be with you but I was going to say this though the books that I got from the publishers supplementary books really. I find that they have the books

that seem to have the biggest impact on the children the ones that they use in school every day. Those. That's one of the reasons why it's not very important to change the curriculum and get those books in the school the ones they use every day because they have a impact on the whole society and that's very important. A lot of the history of African-American history is admitted from the books and that's one of that's one of the problems. And therefore it not being in the books you know give the white children a sense of superiority and you give the black children a sense of inferiority. But since I know that children at a very early age are able to take the truth if it is it to do this to them in a normal way. And in the train books the supplementary books the books that I did for the publishers were done mainly because the federal government funded the school libraries to buy

books on minorities. The publishers did not go into it because they felt a great moral stance it was to make money.