A Mirror and a Window | Dr. Carlton Long

How have the arts impacted our culture?
I see the arts and culture as deeply intertwined, not only for us -- as unique and special as we are, -- but for all of humanity.  The two are in constant dialog with one another, pushing, creating, reinforcing, reifying one another. The arts flow from culture and they also inform the culture.  To use an industrial metaphor, culture is often the train and "arts" are the steam flowing from it.  

What inspired "Mannish Water"?
The contours of the book began in the title and in the ongoing work that my co-editor (Olufemi Vaughan) and I hammered out in 2019 and 2020.  As the COVID-19 pandemic raged and as the George Floyd murder galvanized the country and world, Femi and I began to identify  "Black scholarly men" who were willing and able to share their autobiographical (or autoethnographic) stories.  The tragic injustice surrounding the murder of Trayvon Martin lingered in the zeitgeist as Femi and I asked these men, across four different generations (millennials, Gen X, Baby Boomers, and the Greatest Generation) to reflect on their lives in America and to theorize "Black life" in America.  We wanted to hear from these men and we strongly believed then, as we continue to believe now, that America and the broader world would want to hear from them, too.

The title itself is a loan phrase from the island country of Jamaica.  "Mannish Water" is a famous soup that is known synonymously as "Goat Head Soup".  While the name "Mannish Water" is Jamaican, the soup itself is diasporic, to be found historically in West Africa and elsewhere in the Caribbean.  The title is something that my wife and I batted around some years ago.  My wife's family is from Jamaica.

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How did you determine the men who contributed their essays to this work of art?
Femi and I go "way back", having been graduate students together at Oxford University nearly a generation ago.  Both prior to and since that time, we navigated other privileged spaces in education, gaining critical experiences and insights into our very complex global society.  My roots are in Gary, Indiana and Femi's are in Ibadan, Nigeria.  Although we have somewhat different origin stories, we have long seen many commonalities and much brotherhood in our shared values.
 
This project has come to fruition because Femi and I fully embrace these values, profound ones which include (as it turns out) our shared Christian faith, and our commitment to the freedom and prosperity of the peoples of the "Black World", and indeed the entire world.

Femi and I lost contact for many years after Oxford, but were very happy to reconnect years ago via a shared friend in Oxford.  As good friends do, we picked up where we left off, advocating for the good of society and working together for positive social change.  We wanted to find Black men whom we knew would add greatly to the national/international conversation.

Femi and I started with the men that we knew independently and together.  It took Femi and me several months to identify, approach and land upon the ultimate writers for this anthology.  I can say that most men whom we approached were very enthusiastic about the idea of writing for Mannish Water, even though some could not continue due to time constraints, confidence, or because they simply did not believe the retelling of their lives would carry the weight they thought the project deserved.  The men who rose to the occasion and ultimately wrote for us have truly been amazing.  Each man approached the task with seriousness and thoughtfulness.  I witnessed very much firsthand, and have greatly admired, how some of the writers labored, genuinely labored, to examine their lives, to interrogate hidden, forgotten and sometimes painful interior spaces, in a most sincere search for their personal truths.

What would make this project a success?
That's a very tricky question because I consider the mere completion of this book project a huge success.  These men have now added to the "annals of history" by providing future generations a soil sample, if you will, of Black male scholars from different walks of life, and from four different generations, chiming in on the most pressing topics of our current age.  The book offers insights into of a sector of men whose individual stories converge and diverge with authenticity.

It took us over four years to move this project from concept to product.  To be able to hold a copy of Mannish Water today, and to flip through the pages of simply astounding stories fills me with great pride and joy.  At the same time, we want a lot of eyes on this book precisely because I know that this book will help people.

Years ago I trained public school teachers in literacy strategies and pedagogical design.  We would utilize something called "mirror texts" and "window texts".  In short, a mirror text is a book or other text in which you see yourself reflected.  You explore the book or work of art and you say "Wow, that's just like something I experienced", or "That's very similar to something I saw, heard, did, etc."  On the other hand, we also encounter "window texts".  These are books or other texts which you explore and, while you don't see yourself in them, or your circumstances in them, you can understand them for what they are.  You read the book and say "Oh, okay.  Well, I never lived in the 18th century and I have never been interested in being an apprentice for a blacksmith, but, okay, I see your world, Johnny Tremain".  The 20 essays in the Mannish Water anthology are full of moments which I am sure our readers will experience powerfully and alternatively as both "window texts" and "mirror texts".  The readers will appreciate the honesty and transparency which under-gird the chapters of the Mannish Water anthology.  The book will help them, in turn, reflect upon themselves, their families, their gains and losses -- and it will hopefully help all readers better understand the society in which we Americans live.

So, success will mean this project will touch people's lives while also serving as a long-standing reference.  And, of course, success will also mean widespread consumption.  It will mean the global sharing of these most extraordinary stories, perspectives, and ideas.

How have African Americans impacted the arts?
It is pretty indisputable that the arts in the United States would not be at all as rich as they are today were it not for the sui generis (or "day one") presence of Black people in "America".  Jazz, alone, opens and closes the case, but even that alone just scratches the surface.  Think literature, sculpture, painting, dance, and the humanities overall.

Because Black Americans are so profoundly "American", we have infused our soulfulness in every aspect of the culture, as much as our blood had been spilled into American soil.  At home and abroad, before the American Revolution and after it, we have been there "through every line of pain and glory" (see Chapter 2, Hugh Price, "Journey to the Job of a Lifetime", which examines Price's African-American ancestor's membership in the Continental Army under the leadership of George Washington).  For, in many ways, we are either "the best thing", or one of the best things, that have ever happened to the U.S.
 
A wonderful quote appears in my middle school yearbook.  It reads:  "Look for a beautiful thing.  It will not be far.  It will never be far."  The same is true about the impact of African Americans in the arts.  Look for beauty and majesty in the arts in America; African Americans will not be far.  We will never be far.

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