Mother Baltimore: On Respectability
Lately, I’ve thought about the ways in which Black people often have to shrink aspects of themselves to fit the white supremacy-induced definition of how Black people are supposed to act.
Don’t be too loud. Don’t be too angry. Don’t be too pretentious. Don’t be too aggressive.
Throughout history, Black people have adopted that pattern of behavior to ensure success. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, a Harvard University professor, coined this phenomenon—respectability politics— in her 1994 seminal text Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920.
The book mainly highlights the social activism of women in the Black church while exposing how they operated in an unwritten moral code to receive the same respect as white people. Respectability politics was intended to be Black women’s rebellion against racism and sexism, but the practice, in turn, eventually stifled the level of freedom that its creators wanted to attain for generations to come.
Is the respect really needed if you have to modify your behavior based on what makes white people comfortable?
I thought about that after I talked to Paulette Whitfield Black, a Cahokia Heights native who’s a pioneering figure in the fashion space. When I asked her about her experiences as a Black woman in a leadership role in fashion, she said:
I was always non-threatening, and they kept me in that box. As long as I kept that persona, they would show me how to do things. That worked in my favor, but you still had to keep a low profile because if you get too big too fast, it’s over for you.
I wonder what would have happened if she acted outside of how white people expected her to. What happens when we’re able to bring our full selves to our work and be successful in what we do? Is that even possible?
Now, here’s the latest news in southwestern Illinois:
Cahokia Heights woman was among first Black fashion art directors. Here’s her story
Paulette Whitfield Black, a Cahokia Heights native, became one of the first Black fashion art directors in the county in the 1980’s. She’s spent the past 40 years as a fashion advertiser, working with companies like Bullock’s and Broadway Stores while creating campaigns that featured supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. Whitfield Black talked to BND reporter DeAsia Paige about her legendary career and how growing up in Cahokia Heights furthered her success.
More on metro-east culture:
This Waterloo native went viral performing a Dolly Parton song. Now, she’s a country star
Handbag designer from East St. Louis who fought off COVID honors mom with new collection
New study aims to prevent barriers to COVID testing, vaccination in East St. Louis
A new project, spearheaded by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will help address challenges that East St. Louis residents face in receiving testing and vaccination for COVID-19. Housed at the city’s Comprehensive Behavioral Health Center, the study plans to directly address issues that residents are facing in their community through various outreach methods and support services.
More on COVID-19 in East St. Louis:
COVID-19 study looking for participants in East St. Louis area
Illinois health director seeks to reassure East St. Louis residents about COVID vaccine
East St. Louis NAACP’s new president focused on restoring chapter’s visibility, credibility
The East St. Louis chapter of the NAACP recently voted for a new president. Robin Carey-Boyd, who received a unanimous vote, will now lead the local branch. The news comes after longtime chapter president Stanley Franklin was suspended and later resigned last year. BND reporter Carolyn Smith talked to Carey-Boyd about her plans for the East St. Louis community as NAACP president.
More on East St. Louis NAACP:
What’s going on with suspension of East St. Louis NAACP president Stanley Franklin?
Proposed Illinois maps would empower Black voters in East St. Louis area, NAACP says
What to do
This section of Mother Baltimore highlights upcoming events in the metro-east that are relevant to Black communities. If you have tips for events, send them to dsutgrey@bnd.com
Empire 13 Cleanup
9 a.m. on Saturday, April 23 on State Street in East St. Louis
Empire 13, a Belleville-based grassroots organization, is partnering with East St. Louis for an 89 block action cleanup on 1468 State Street in an effort to make the area clean “for the first time in decades”. For more information, contact JD Dixon at jddixon914@gmail.com or 618-304-2107
What to watch
‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’
Season 3 of the Emmy Award-winning HBO series premiered earlier this month. The hit sketch series is entirely composed of Black women comedians who use humor to highlight societal issues while challenging comedy’s predominantly white male status quo. Executive produced by Issa Rae, “A Black Lady Sketch Show” stars Robin Thede, Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis and Skye Townsend. It airs on Fridays on HBO Max.
What to read
Margo’s Way
For Vulture, Jasmine Sanders talks to legendary cultural critic Margo Jefferson about her new book Constructing a Nervous System. Throughout the interview Jefferson talks about why the memoir is her personal rebellion against the Black upper class community she grew up in while living in Chicago’s Hyde Park.
“I was taught to avoid showing off,” she begins her 2015 memoir, Negroland. Yet she tells me that politesse, ingrained by her “haute bourgeoisie” upbringing, was a habit she sought to shake. “There was a certain well-behaved manner even when I was arguing, standing firm, that I didn’t want to stay in thrall to. I was talking about this with a student of mine the other day” — Jefferson teaches at Columbia — “who was Black and was writing about race. And I said, ‘There are moments where you are very good. But you are working a little too hard to be reasonable and obliging, to make it something that your audience will be able to move toward. I don’t want you to do exactly the opposite, but look at what this is doing.’ ” Jefferson laughs.
That’s all she wrote!
Talk to y’all in two weeks!
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This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 12:14 PM.
