Conclusion
Our knowledge of ethnic and racial identities cannot be separated from their cultural histories. However, our expression of these identities are based on our own interpretation of these histories. Marian Magdalena Campos-Pons believes that memories are constructed by the way we perceive our pasts in our presents (Davion). This has made me curious about the extent to which we have defined blackness through the way we express our memories of it. Is it separate from what we express? Is blackness only what we choose to highlight from it, or is there more that we do not express? Is one person’s expression of blackness a reflection of its totality, or just their version of it? If it differs from the form in which their ancestors express Blackness, is it still black? I wanted to investigate the impact that expression has on the definition. Are we simply acting upon what we know to be blackness, or are we creating it as we go?
The art of Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons has taught me the autobiographical nature of expression. Her art is an exploration of her experiences and the process of creating them put her in communication with herself. This allows her to detail her knowledge of her existence through her creations. I analyzed four series that illustrated different aspects of Blackness that she identifies herself through. In Sugar: Bittersweet, she depicted herself and Cuba as a product of the African diaspora on sugar cane fields. Her Cuban identity is linked to blackness because it is foundational to the development of the nation and its culture. She reconciles these two identities by detailing how she cannot define one without the other. Similarly, in her exhibit My Mother Told Me I Was Chinese. The Painting Lesson, she illustrates that her Black and Chinese heritages are inseparable from each other because they always coexists within her. Her art deconstructs identity politics by detailing the mixed nature of her Cuban family. Thus, it expands the definition of blackness through its expression of her dynamic experience of it. Moreover, I analyze Freedom Trap to acknowledge the oppression that blackness faces from white supremacy. She empowers Blackness by deconstructing the false “freedom” and liberty that is attributed to whiteness. Instead her art defines white supremacy as an imprisonment of the soul that deprives the body of the life within its original form of existence. Her blackness in Cuba is a mixture of oppression and power. Last but not least, Replenishing (in 7 Parts) told the most interesting story about blackness. The project depicted the impact the African Diaspora has had on the relationship between generations of black people. Campos-Pons’ art challenges our perception of blackness by creating both a story of survival and reinvention, and a story of loss and disconnect. The glass can be seen as half empty, half full, or both. Her work has taught me that blackness is both what it was for our ancestors, but also what we experience it to be today. Campos-Pons’ work has taught me the expansive and intersectional nature of blackness.
As Black people, the way we interpret our past in the context of our present shapes how we express blackness. Our expression of it allows us to detail our experiences and broaden the spectrum of its existence. It is not bound to our past, it is simply an acknowledgement of our ancestors in our present life. Thus blackness is constantly reinventing itself as travels through time and cultural spaces. Within the Latinx community, blackness is just as expansive and broad. It narrates the survival and existence of Black cultures in the face of colonization and generational change. Blackness is intersectional and ever-changing.