Teaching Black History: Thanks Mom

Posted on 09. Feb, 2010 by admin in Be Bloggers, Deborah Levine, in the World

Deborah Levine
Be Blogger
Be Magazine | www.bemagazine.org

Editor of "American Diversity Report" (www.americandiversityreport.com), diversity expert, award-winning author

Deborah Levine, Editor "American Diversity Report," diversity expert, award-winning author

My favorite memory of the early days in New York was of my mother taking me to my first live musical, Porgy and Bess. The only live music I’d seen in Bermuda was in the hotels, on the beach and occasionally on the streets. Hotels hosted Calypso music for tourists in the ‘nightclubs’ and on the beachfronts in good weather. A few of the local acts were black entertainers. They were great but when the act was over, they went home to their own communities. There was little mixing of the races, an incredible contortion considering that Bermuda was only 21 square miles.

Those early years didn’t prepare me for seeing Porgy and Bess performed by professional artists. George Gershwin’s musical is dated now, a caricature of what he tried to do in his opera starring black performers. Yet in the fifties, it was a revelation and cutting edge. Looking back on the experience, I marvel at how the play gave me a life-long love of music, a fascination for black musicians and an appreciation of my mother’s educational choices.

As I grew older, my artistic energies went into dance. A dancer living near New York City had a gold mine in the back yard. I saw performances by legends and by newbies. I saw Martha Graham, Jose Limon and even George Balanchine perform on stage. I saw dance troupes from Russia, Sierra Leone and Israel. I was entranced by them all, but one dancer stuck in my mind. It was Judith Jamison performing with Alvin Ailey’s dance company. Ailey had been trained and mentored by Lester Horton and went on to establish the country’s premier African American dance company. Jamison eventually took over and continued Ailey’s amazing work, continued to be an amazing inspiration.

When you’re exposed to inspiring people and events in your youth, they tend to stick with you. I chose to take classes with a great African-American dancer, James Truitte, who had also been a student of Lester Horton. Later, I joined an African-American dance company in Cincinnati. I can’t say that being the only white person in the troupe was easy, but I am so grateful for the opportunity and experience. I have a first-hand appreciation of their hard work that wouldn’t have been possible a decade or two earlier.

We know each other better in 2010 than we did in the fifties. There are more opportunities to interact and to understand the artistry of different cultures. There’s diversity on television, theater, the internet, CDs, DVDs as well as classmates, colleagues and politicians. Yet, racial tensions still remain. I go back to the basic educational unit, the family, as the key to inspiration and change. I might have found the same path without my mother’s guidance, but I can’t be sure. My family put me in motion with the choices they made and the mindset they shared. So now it feels natural to celebrate Black History Month, regardless of my own race. I wonder what families are doing today to share the best of our cultures with the kids.

Deborah Levine, editor of “American Diversity Report,” diversity expert, award-winning author, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee and known internationally as a ‘diversity pioneer’ and mentor of executives from around the world.

Read her regular blog postings on American Diversity Report at www.americandiversityreport.com and also spotlighted regularly in Be Bloggers here at www.bemagazine.org.