By Steve Tringali ’13

Photo by Steve Tringali ’13/ The Lafayette

One drop. Just one drop of African blood. That was one of the earliest and most persistent standards by which a person was labeled black in America.

The inspiration for the (1)ne Drop project, the so-called “one drop rule” was quickly adopted in colonial America as a key factor in protecting the exclusivity of the white race. Now it is seen as a unifying trait that connects people of a wide range of appearances and cultures.

“Many of us have embraced it, wear it as a badge of honor,” Visiting Professor of Africana Studies and Women & Gender Studies, Dr.Yaba Blay said in her lecture on Tuesday, (1)ne Drop: Fact, Fate, or Fiction? “At the same time, we don’t treat all black people the same. We don’t see them as black.”

Blay combined portraiture and personal stories to expand the perception of “Blackness” and broaden the racial and cultural consciousness of her audience.

Located in the EPI/Riley Temple Art Gallery at the Portlock Center, this ongoing exhibition marks the first time that the photographs have accompanied Blay’s lecture.

In her description of the project as a “conversation on skin politics,” Blay revealed that her role in the project lay more along the lines of ethnographer, conducting hour-long interviews with her contributors. “I am not the artist. The photos were taken by my partner, Noelle Théard,” she said.

The photographs are simple and powerful.

Selected from a collection of more than 50, the 22 photographs on display are intense, with each subject gazing directly into the camera. Below each portrait is a brief statement of the subject’s view of their own ethnicity.

For some, the subjects’ stories were eye-opening and resonated on a personal level. “One of the contributors is Ethiopian, and I’m Ethiopian. When she said she considered ‘black’ to mean ‘dark,’ I agreed,” Abenezer Solomon ‘14, who attended the lecture and exhibition, said.

The sociological approach that Blay and Théard used in structuring their photo shoots was demonstrated through the personal statements excerpted from the contributors’ interviews that hung below each portrait. Applying what she called the snowball method, Blay began by reaching out to personal contacts and followed a trail of referrals as her contributors suggested friends and acquaintances.

The organic growth of the project stemmed in part from Blay’s insistence on letting the subjects tell their stories instead of dictating the narrative. “I want the story to be their story. I always say ‘our project’ to preserve their humanity,” Blay said. Rather than classify the participants as subjects, which casts their involvement in a passive light, Blay referred to them as contributors to emphasize their active role in the project.

Every interview opened with the question of “how do you identify, racially and culturally?” To some contributors, the question was familiar. For contributor Andrew Holmes ‘12, the interview introduced a new level of introspection and brought a new level of clarity to his understanding of his identity.

“I’ve been interviewed before and if somebody asked me something about myself I was confident in that I knew it. This interview was a little different—I was confident in that I never asked myself these questions before,” Holmes said. “Having to think and respond to these questions helped me to learn who I was and how I identified myself. It was a unique and uplifting experience that helped me ground my racial identity more thoroughly.”

In addition to providing personal reflection for the contributors, their portraits called attention to the diversity of “Blackness.” Among this selection of portraits are images that confront certain stigmatizing conditions, such as albinism and vitiligo, or depigmentation of the skin. One woman exemplified the patches of uneven skin tone in her face and upper body while another lost all of her natural pigment, a rare case. Her portrait was accompanied by a smaller photo of her before she lost her color, creating a stark contrast that emphasized the radical effects the condition can have on a person’s perceived identity.

During the lecture, Blay addressed how she had previously used Michael Jackson as an example of skin bleaching. She used a progression of images to show his skin becoming lighter over time. Jackson had vitiligo, but many in the black community were unconvinced. Vitiligo is typically thought of only in the terms of the more common patch form.

This is just one instance of how many who identify as black are met with skepticism from darker-skinned members of their community. Mistaking many of the contributors for white or Hispanic would be an easy matter if not for their personal statements of identity, including “Appalachian African American,” “Black,” “Latino,” and “Black Puerto Rican.”

“I think it’s neat that all of these people consider themselves black when many would not just by looking at them,” Dean of Intercultural Development John McKnight said.