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 Our
Common Ground:Portraits of Blacks Changing the Face of America
by Bruce Caines (Crown,
1994)
Foreword by Kathleen Cross:
It was only a dream...
...and we were in it together...
We peered out cautiously,
crouching behind a dry clump of brush that lined a clearing leading to the
ocean's shore. The thud of footsteps trudging in unison echoed loudly
across the burning sand as a seemingly endless procession of young Black men and
women followed one another in single file toward the water's edge.
Each youth wore a tattered sash which draped from the shoulder and was dragged
and trampled along the way. Woven into the fabric of each sash were large
golden letters spelling out the hidden potential of its wearer: AUTHOR,
PHYSICIST, TEACHER, SURGEON, ARCHITECT, BIOLOGIST, POET...
An endless trail of stone-faced youths filed by us, and we watched, paralyzed
with horror, as one by one they disappeared into the pounding surf.
PSYCHIATRIST, MATHEMATICIAN, VETERINARIAN, CHOREOGRAPHER, ENGINEER, PIANIST...
We did not speak. We thought certainly there would be hundreds of men
brandishing guns, forcing these young people to hopelessly end their lives
without resistance, but there was no sign of that. All that we could see
was this procession of what must have been thousands and thousands of our
children headed toward certain doom. SCULPTOR, RESEARCH SCIENTIST,
INVENTOR, FILMMAKER, PEDIATRICIAN....
Angry and frustrated, we turned to face one another. Glaring into each
other's eyes we shook pointed fingers, each blaming the other's inaction,
distracting ourselves momentarily from the painful nightmare in the clearing.
And then we realized we were not alone. There was movement along the line
of brush, and we watched as others who had been hidden rushed forward, grabbed
as many of the young people as they could, and led them away from the procession
of hopelessness.
Though the task seemed overwhelming, we were encouraged that there were others
like us along the line, and though we knew many of those precious youths would
be lost, we knew also we must join in the rescue.
I awakened then, relieved that it was only a dream...
...and that we were in it together.
Just as it has been the task of the writer to create arresting images which are
able to impact and even affect change in the reader, so has it been the task of
the photographer to capture striking images which do the same. This book
is a collection of such images - - illuminating images that capture the spirit
of Black people in America who, despite the sea of hopelessness that roars and
surges in a racist society, not only have succeeded in developing their own
talents and potential, but have reached out to rescue others from the doom of
that surging ocean.
What Bruce Caines has created in Our
Common Ground is a reminder that role models need not be
larger-than-life athletes and entertainers who loom far above us on their
unreachable pedestals. To the contrary, more often than not, the most
powerful role model is standing on the ground - someone who is close enough to
reach out and help us discover those hidden talents which, if left untapped, are
lost to us all forever.
In fact, a role model might even be someone who, by focusing a camera on those
who lead others away from the procession of hopelessness, inspires us all to
join the rescue.
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