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Book Review Part 3: The Crisis of the African-American Architect

© Nichel Anderson

Mitchell’s book describes in vivid detail how Barry supported Washington, DC’s black architectural firms (the largest number of black owned firms in any single city in the world at that time including independent black Africa). From Mitchell, we learn how Barry courageously stared down the city’s white architectural establishment with a silent proclamation that:

“Since the private sector does not hire black architects, I am going to give them the lion’s share of the public work including the schools, public housing, and municipal facilities.”

We also learn from Mitchell’s research how Aaron Douglas, the father of African-American art, was uncompromising in his commitment to West African and African-American cultural roots as the basis of his art. Douglas was acutely aware of the connections between the new western European cubist art that he favored and the West African roots of that art.

Mitchell’s book is passionately written with the fuel of over 30 years’ knowledge of his own field of architecture along with his ample knowledge about the major shapers and influences in black culture over that same period. The flow of his words creates a pictorial image of the critical changes of thought that must be adopted by today and tomorrow’s black architects.

His partially autobiographic framework provides an understandable literary read that chronicles a crucial timeline of isolated black architectural technical achievements while keeping the reader from losing focus on the need for critical cultural re-connections between today’s black architects and mainstream Black America.

Mitchell reminds us how early in the great Duke Ellington’s career the Duke placed everything in proper perspective. When asked for his thoughts on the source of his musical genius in composing jazz the Duke’s response was:

“I don’t compose jazz. I compose Negro music.”

Mitchell laments that the Harlem Renaissance era of black architects did not possessed the same similar clarity of direction and purpose, which would have clearly led to the creation of a celebrated black architecture. His most important message is that today’s black architects have the golden opportunity to correct that egregious historic misstep and a more clearer, more direct approach of reaching and honoring our ancestry goals...reconnecting black folks of all art-forms of creativity.

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