Flying
If you had one superpower, what would it be? The power to instantly come up with a good blog idea is obviously my first choice, but the power of flight is a close second. In 1903, Orville and Wilbur shocked the world by demonstrating that flight was very much possible for mankind. Breaking the barriers of aviation had been a long time goal, and these brothers finally accomplished what seemed to be the impossible. The ironic part, however, is that even though humans were physically capable of building flying machines, social barriers deep-rooted in racism prevented African Americans from freeing themselves from the chains of gravity for another 20 years. For them, the ability to fly was hindered by mankind, not the skies.
Folklore has, however, told of African Americans once obtaining the ability, particularly the story at Igbo Landing. After suffering the Middle Passage, a group of slaves were being transported in the lower deck of a ship to be sold into slavery on the coast of St. Simons. Once they reached the shore, accounts detailed the soon-to-be slaves jumping into a creek and drowning themselves. However, African American oral tradition passed down the story in a different light; the Igbo slaves, refusing to be sold into slavery, grew wings and flew all the way back to Africa. Flying, therefore, can be both literally experienced or spiritually felt. This idea is very prevalent in the Song of Solomon, where the lament of African Americans is felt by the characters' constant yearning to fly. Milkman, a wandering black man who feels used by his family and close friend, wants to fly away from his troubles in much the same way as the African Americans in history who were prevented from entering the field of aviation. But he can't; he is inundated by thoughts of his family with thoughts like: "My family's driving me crazy. Daddy wants me to be like him and hate my mother...Corinthians won't speak to me; Lena wants me out. And Hagar wants me chained to her bed or dead. Everybody wants something from me" (p 222). His thoughts literally "chain" him to his responsibilities, and the reason, as Guitar explains it to him, is because "everyone wants your life." He believes the only way of flying away from his problems is to turn to money. He falsely believes that with wealth, he can finally be someone, not just a tool. But like the Flying Africans of Igbo Landing, he is not really growing wings to escape the grips of his overbearing family; he is drowning in an ocean of materialism.
Folklore has, however, told of African Americans once obtaining the ability, particularly the story at Igbo Landing. After suffering the Middle Passage, a group of slaves were being transported in the lower deck of a ship to be sold into slavery on the coast of St. Simons. Once they reached the shore, accounts detailed the soon-to-be slaves jumping into a creek and drowning themselves. However, African American oral tradition passed down the story in a different light; the Igbo slaves, refusing to be sold into slavery, grew wings and flew all the way back to Africa. Flying, therefore, can be both literally experienced or spiritually felt. This idea is very prevalent in the Song of Solomon, where the lament of African Americans is felt by the characters' constant yearning to fly. Milkman, a wandering black man who feels used by his family and close friend, wants to fly away from his troubles in much the same way as the African Americans in history who were prevented from entering the field of aviation. But he can't; he is inundated by thoughts of his family with thoughts like: "My family's driving me crazy. Daddy wants me to be like him and hate my mother...Corinthians won't speak to me; Lena wants me out. And Hagar wants me chained to her bed or dead. Everybody wants something from me" (p 222). His thoughts literally "chain" him to his responsibilities, and the reason, as Guitar explains it to him, is because "everyone wants your life." He believes the only way of flying away from his problems is to turn to money. He falsely believes that with wealth, he can finally be someone, not just a tool. But like the Flying Africans of Igbo Landing, he is not really growing wings to escape the grips of his overbearing family; he is drowning in an ocean of materialism.
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