Making a way out of no way
7th November 2022 · 0 Comments
Systemic racial oppression of Black people isn’t new. Black Americans have gone through every type of attempt to obliterate or marginalize them since The Middle Passage.
However, the latest wave of oppression does include new tactics. Here are just a few: Erasing Blacks from American history books; banning the works of iconic Black authors; attacks on the theory of “wokeness” and critical race theory; prohibiting the teaching of the Black experience – i.e., slavery, reasons for the Civil Rights Movement; gutting the Voting Rights Act; gerrymandering electoral maps; passing repressive voting laws; and, as of last week, the U.S. Court will, most assuredly, end Affirmative Action in college admissions.
Affirmative Action programs on university campuses were implemented to halt segregation and racial discrimination at institutions of higher learning.
Expect Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who probably benefited from Affirmative Action in higher education, to write the majority’s opinion on its ruling to scrap Affirmative Action programs. When the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, Thomas advocated for abolishing the VRA.
Meanwhile, extreme right-wing politicians are ratcheting racial animus by promising to alter or end social programs that benefit Blacks more than any other ethnic groups. Medicare, Social Security, and student loan forgiveness are on the chopping block.
But suppose those who hate Black Americans think they are victorious in demonizing America’s melanated citizens. In that case, they’d better ask somebody about the creativity, brilliance, and resilience of African Americans who were and continue to be used to making a way out of no way.
It’s a tradition passed down through generations of African Americans who worked collectively to survive and thrive despite racial hatred and oppression.
How do you make a way out of no way? Through education, religious institutions, businesses, the press, and organizations, Black men and women created ways to serve and strengthen their communities. They established networks of mutual support, cultivated leadership, and improved social and economic opportunities. They also developed a tradition of activism that paved the way for broader social change, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).
The museum’s website hosts a virtual tour of the exhibition entitled “Making a Way Out of No Way” and a walk-through exhibit at its Washington, D.C., facility. The virtual tour begins with former President Barack H. Obama speaking about the determination of Black people to “overcome the odds and make a way out of no way.”
‘Making a Way Outof No Way’
In this exhibition, themed stories show how African Americans crafted possibilities in a world that denied them opportunities. Taking its inspiration from a famous African-American expression, “Making a Way Out of No Way” explores themes of agency, creativity, and resilience through personal stories of African Americans who challenged racial oppression and discrimination and created ways out of “no way.”
Throughout history, African Americans acted to change and build their lives despite tremendous obstacles, often in collaboration and cooperation with other Americans. The stories presented in the exhibition reflect the perseverance, resourcefulness, and resilience required of African Americans to survive and thrive in America.
“Making A Way Out of No Way” is also the title of episode 4 of a six-part documentary, “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross,” which is narrated by Professor Henry Louis Gates. The stirring and informative series documents the Black experience in America beginning in 1897 and aired on PBS stations on November 12, 2013.
Essentially, making a way out of no way is a time-honored theme, a motivational affirmation, sometimes spoken and unspoken, but the meaning remains internalized within Black communities. Whatever the obstacle, Black Americans face many, the wisdom of the elders – making a way out of no way – echoes through the ages. And that’s precisely what the ancestors and Black Americans are doing today.
Whether it’s hundreds of inventions Blacks created, corner businesses, grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and bars, or massive contributions to civil rights, sports, film, journalism, politics, education, media, law, religion, or the foundations and institutions they launched, Blacks made a way out of no way.
This article originally published in the November 7, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
