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By Jan Hyde
I was born in Atlanta Georgia pre-integration. When I was very small a wonderful woman named Pearl came in daily to help my mother. Pearl cleaned and cooked and spoiled me. I played with her grandchildren. In the south Pearl was known as a "Mammy". I thought she was the model for "Aunt Jemima" the pancake lady. That is what she looked like. Pearl wiped my tears, kissed my boo-boo's, and cooked the best cornbread muffins in the world.
When I started school, I was so hurt because I couldn't play with Pearl's grandchildren anymore. Pearl said "chile it just ain't proper anymore." When I questioned why, I was told "that's just the way it is chile." I learned to hate that phrase. Due my own heritage Spanish and Commanche Indian I am dark olive complexion, I don't lose my TAN. I literally fought my way through elementary school. I spent more recesses in the principles office than on the playground. As I grew up I noticed the double standard, that surrounded me with a hated prejudice against anyone different. Mostly Blacks, but also Jews, Indians, Orientals, and others. Discrimination and prejudice taught not only in the schools, but also in the church. The Ku Klux Klan was very much in power in the south. They struck fear in the hearts of all who saw them. If you spoke up for a negro or spoke out against the unfair treatment of them you were putting yourself in danger at worst or being ostracized at best.
Deep down in the recesses of my heart I knew that this treatment was all wrong. A lot of us did, but the attitude of "That's just the way it is" prevailed. I moved from Atlanta to Naples, Florida in 1962. Most of the civil rights movement never touched Naples. We observed from a safe distance. My children were not exposed to the severe prejudice that I was raised with, Thank God. They went to integrated schools and named among their friends several black youngsters. The guilt that I carried for not "doing" something has followed me througout my life.
I have always loved drawing and decided to take a basic drawing class at Central Florida Community College. The reasons were to have some expert help and maybe to learn "how to draw" properly. Technique was something I felt I was missing.
A class assignment was for a montage or a collection of photographs that are collected and through a process, finally drawn. To my way of thinking a montage was a waste of time based on the examples I had seen, most didn't make sense to me at all. The artistic quality was excellent, but the the content for the most part stunk. My instructor mentioned that we could make a "social statement" if we wanted. This was the last week of February, Black History Month. I saw this as a way to "say something." After a lot of research I came up with idea of slavery to today. The result far exceeded my expectations. I meant to convey the passing of time and changing cultural values. I think it was a way to express my feelings of appreciation of the progress of black race, for the freedoms they have worked so hard to achieve.
Sincerely,
Jan B. Hyde
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