1
-
" UNDS U you don't
IeX1&IlIy hIrIs.I.
lV�e.ll�at�atyou
aayins?"
"No. It'l not. I don't know if
w uaUy h or not.
But I do know that BI America
hu more than xually har­
lVe hay been raped by the
foul mou� of tomeOne who is
IUDIDC*� to be ucated."
"You ate bid u Wichita,
MiICer lV�e. All she h been
aayin is: '\\'hen he manied that
white woman Anita. it got to you.
huh?' She allO asked: 'Where are
all 10 called Black leaders?
All the J JacklOns and Ben­
jimanHoob and suchhave split '"
"V • point, " I . "It's about
time IOIDeOIl eel that qu ion
and it's about time that whi ghost
u defrocked too."
"Mister lVrote! We need to
pray for them. Can you imagine
how they must t I?"
"WhIlever they are feelins im't
half u bid u what I am feeling. I
feel like I have been raped."
"Lord. God Almighty. This
thing hu upset a lot of people.
1bis world is going from bad to
worse."
10.
Deaf options provid training
d mentoring servi th have
DETROIT
creativity .
"(THE REASON I created this
piece) g bac to my parents. I was
always told to treat people the way I
wanted to be treated," Binns said.
"So many people h ve been nice to
me, including Nathaniel, that I just
had to say thanks."
Binns' mother, Mrs Roberta
McClodden is alive but his father,
the late Freddie McClodden, passed
some ix ye ago.
When Binns ppro ched the 28
by 22 inch ink pen and colored pen­
cil drawing, he thought in terms of
"skin tones."
CONSEQUEN1L Y, the can­
vas-bolW'd-is yeDo . He said he
colored boards, particularly
yellow and green, to create the ef­
fects he strives for.
"A person's skin has a lot of dif­
ferent colors in their skin tones," he
said. "A lot of people don't realIZe
that." .
Thus! the rage c:l aeativity waged
its battle for expression and the artist
worked to bring to life the depths of
his vision and when it was finished,
he wondered: "Will he like it?"
However, even with and beyond
"will he like it," Binns said, "When I
create something I try to get people
to think."
And I have thought. I've thought
about the many 'hours it took to cre­
ate the work; about its intricate, de­
tailed work. I've thought about how
the work grows in perspective as
time passes; about how the artist
(whatever the medium) is chained to
the muse of creativity; and about
how fortunate I am to have met and
made friends with someone of Binns
stature.
And like Binns, I too needed to
sav thanks.
SUPPORT
OUR
ADVERTISERS
$500,000 in n
profit community ic
- ic . Th comp Y ill contribute
more than 100,000 this Y to
nonprofit urb th
U.S.
All 1991 Achi ver recipien ,
including Anderson, will be hon­
ored t pecial recognition din­
ner on October 30 in Loui ville,
Ky.
Floyd Binns: Chip off the block won't stray far
Rekbelle P mela de
PEN AND PENCIL ART-floyd
Binns, the artist, hold the art
work he p nted to Michlpn ,
Citiu� staff writer, Nathaniel
Scott. (Ph� by • Scott)
, .
----------------------------------------------n
100 clo
Hai ian Art
I
r
"IT'SNOTTHE orld, Sis­
ter Pearl. It's the people. But this
debacle doesn't surprise me. It's
been in the mlking ever since the
Emancipation Proclam tion was
signed.
"Mister lVrote. You need Je­
sus in your life. You surely do. I
can alnDIt lISle what you are about
tO�1'"
"Oood. But just in cue you
don't get all of the flavor, let me
explain what I mean about the Es­
mancipation Proclamation."
"\¥by won't you YOUDI people
let that slavery stuff rest?"
"We can't, Sister Pearl. That
slavery stuff. as you put it, is why
Anita Hill embarruled Black
America .. "
"Mister lV�e,1 don't know if
it will do any good but I am going
to pray for you. "
"I'll accept anybody's prayers,
Sister Pearl. But if I am not mis­
taIten. I'Ye lad: Faith without wok
is 'naushl And what we neecllo be
cDng. m that I am llainst P'lyer,
is discussin8 what separates the
BlICk man and �eBlack woman."
"That's hogwash, Mistet
lV�e."
"You think so, huh? Well let
'me you a queaticn When Anita
Hill talked about 'long dung sil­
ver' and 'sexual powers: did you '
undentand the full implications
� what was llying?"
"Vi ! She wu talking about
pervertedne "
"NO. NO. Sister Pearl She
........ what slaYemBers
aid. Don't you remember the lies
told? How he tried to portray
the BlICk man as I than hu-
man?"
"You're . ck."
"And when Anita Hill reached
her hour of desperation. she turned
to the slave muter's philosophy.
even stripped Thorn of his
manhood by accusing him of bes­
tiality."
"Sick. That's what you are."
"Yo" are righll am sick.'1 am
and tired of this confirmation
circus. And that, Sister Pearl is the
bottom line."
By A THA IEL COTT
a
By CAROLYN WARFIELD
AnI CorreIpOIrdeot
through overn 4. Pie call;
961-0634 for more information. ,
In 1943 Rodman wrae, directed :
and presented "The Revolutio,,- :
ist, " a play concerning Toussaint
Louvertw'e and Henri Christophe
that won him recognition from the
Haitian govermnent. "That began
my love affair with the island' to­
pography d wonderful people.
After th Army I returned IIld
orked with DeWitt Pe ,as co­
cJireckr fA the Cemre' d' An· Pm-
u-Prince. Pe , a w . t
and Engligh te cher opened the :
Centre in 1944 with the idea that '
artists should develop freely." :
Rodman authored 50 bodes '
and h posse ed an interest in II't :
all of his life. Not only h he hid .
Thanks to people like Shelden
Rodman, art historian and collec­
tor, Haiti's art legacy lives.
The Deaoit Institute fA Arts,
along with the Friends of African
Art and the Friends of Modem Art,
elcomed Rodman's secorid hon­
ored visit since 1983, when Ro­
land Wiener and the Friends of
African Art were instrumental in
adding Haitian paintings to the
Museum's collection.
" A DAY OF Connoisseurship:
The Art of Haiti," w presented
October 6 at the DIA, followed the
October 5 receptioo b Mr. Rodnat
at Galeria Biegas, where an exhi­
bition, "The Art of Haiti" runs
.
See DIAl Page A·10 :
,
DETRorr-When I a child. I
often heard "the old folb" ay:" A
chip off the block won't stray f •. "
At the time, during my formative
ye , the phrase didn't mean much,
if anything to me. But now, ye
I ,and pecially since I've met
Floyd Binns: the visual artist and
"recovering alcoholic" who lives "one
day at time," some of the phrase's
meaning is clear.
FLOYD BINNS is a talent; a
cre tivity in the constant state of ex­
pression. He uses his talent because
aeativity demands action; it saeams
expression. But it is the person in­
side the body casing visible to the
orld that is the eed of that expres­
sion.
The piece of art under considera­
tion in this article is an "ink and
colored pencil" drawing.
The art work was done from a
colored photograph and it must have
taken him three months to complete
the work.
IT ISA PIECE of artwork'Binns
created for the writer of this article.
His reason, aside from being a friend
of mine and a 12-step brother, are
principles that were embedded in his
consciousness when he was going
throup his formative years.
In the April 14-20 issue of this
paper, The Michigan Citizen, I wrote
an article about Binns. It was an
article about an artist who h been
"clean and sober" for nine years and
months.
The article tried to capture _the
essence of Binns; it tried to present
the blossoming, rather than the de­
clining states of his life. And Binns
was appreciative. So much so that
the .-list-person he is, Screamed
Send all news and
information to:
Michigan Citizen
P.O. Box 03560
Highland Park, MI
48203
Or Call
869-0033
GJ!g:Y �
G01> �
Carpet and Til 'Company
Shop in the comfort of
your home - we bring our
showroom to you. Call,
today for a free
in-home estimate.
18949 Jam a Couz n.
Mon-SIIt • to 5
(313) 863-0810
Michigan
National
Bank
'\Ne'r doin wh t it tak
...... F
Brand
ew!
) Enclosed is my dl pay ble to M HR for
, "
-------- ----
_____ . ���------_---------_----------w u _
An Exclusive 2-Color 18" X 24" poster from MCHR
Thank You Sister Rosa Paries Only $8, unframed
PI
mail ch to:
[
] Pie nd me _. _' __ ' copies of the Tlulnk. You Sisttr Rosa Paris po ter.
(sa.OO each, pi $1 e for 1·10 poste )
Michi an Coalition for Human Ri ht
Wood a d, Detroit, Michigan 48101
3131833-4407 or 31 I 31-0258
NAME �--------�---------------------
ADDRESS CITY-------------
STATE ZIP PHO