University:
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Course:
PSYCH360 | Social Psychology
Academic year:

2020
Views:

321

Pages:

1
Author:

Charlee Buchanan

In Afro Images: Politics, Fashion, and Nostalgia, activist and author Angela Davis criticizes the way she’s remembered in the media. As an important figure in political history, it’s extremely belittling to be reduced to an image of contemporary fashion. Following her involvement in such significant historical events, she is remembered by many by her hairstyle alone - an afro - during that time, rather than her powerful stance of activism. She fears that the images will lose their true meaning as a result of her hair’s recognition. Meanwhile at the time of the photograph, her hair was seen as a symbol of anti-whiteness and was demonized. Another aspect that bothers Davis is the lack of acknowledgement for other major events for Black women. She’s humiliated by the fact that this is the representation that Black women get, rather than her actual story or the stories of others. The essay In Our Glory: Photography and Black Life by bell hooks discusses the connection she feels towards an image of her father compared to how her sisters perceive it. The picture shows her father, < a grown black man having a good time, playing a game, having a drink maybe, enjoying himself without the company of women.= When hooks views this photo, she feels nothing but deep admiration for her father. A somewhat candid photo caught in a moment of glory, it’s an image of someone she typically knows as distant that nonetheless fills her with love for the man. She also talks about an image of herself as a child, wearing a cowgirl costume and a < look of heavenly joy on [her] face.= This photograph she cherishes too, also seeing it as a moment of being in her own glory. Supported by her connection to these images, she goes on to describe the relationship between image making and blackness, and the way image contexts are interpreted differently based on the photographer and the viewer.