In Introduction to African American literature, we always start by reading excerpts from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In 2016, I discovered that Frederick Douglass was the most photographed man of the 19th century, when I came across the book Picturing Frederick Douglass. Douglass embraced photography in both his writing, and as a tool to counter the stereotypical and negative images of African Americans created by whites.
One semester, while looking for images of Douglass to show my students, I came across a portrait of the artist Rashid Johnson titled “Self-Portrait with my hair parted like Frederick Douglass, 2003.” Johnson’s portrait gave me the idea to have my students do their own portraits.
This semester, I asked the students to caption the photos with a statement of how they want to be seen. The results were powerful, especially in light of the continuing violence against African Americans so I made a video featuring my students’ portraits alongside some of the people who lost their lives in that violence.
After Daunte Wright was shot, I decided to post the video. I tagged Kenneth Morris who is the great-great-great-grandson of Frederick Douglass, and the great-great-grandson of Booker T. Washington.
Morris saw the video and commented on it, writing: “Lu, thank you for sharing this beautiful video with me. I’m pleased to hear that your students were inspired by my great ancestor’s photographs and Mr. Johnson’s self-portrait of him.”
He also shared our video on the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives Facebook page. My students are thrilled that their images have been seen by a descendent of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington.
