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Nick Smith

Take Home Exam

1. Stern and Aylon

The work of art that I chose to use from Aylon was the G-d Project. In this work of art she

takes the 5 books of Moses and places parchment paper over all of the pages. She then reads

through the entire Torah and highlights, in pink, the words and phrases that resemble vengeance,

cruelty, and violence. These words and phrases are ones that connect G-d to violence, and to

Aylon, justify violence. Along with these phrases of violence, she also goes through and

highlights, again in pink, where she sees in the Torah that women have been omitted from the

tradition. Pink is used here as a highlighter color to really draw attention to the feminist aspect of

Aylon and also could be used to show the feminine aspect of G-d. The highlighting draws

attention to both the words that are, as well as the words that arent highlighted. Aylons art here

can be representative of many things. First off, when Aylon writes God she writes it as G-d,

which is the orthodox way of writing it, but the pink dash represents that there is a female aspect

to God. Aylon can also be seen writing it as G|d, with the dash again pink, but this time the dash

is vertical which is a symbol for vagina (or another way to display her feminism and that God

has a female aspect). This is big for Aylon because the in-between identity that she lives in, is the

basis for her feminism. She was married to a rabbi and after he passed, she found herself in an

in-between state. Shes not really sure who she is anymore, and this causes her to not be able to

commit to certain things. She orders pork, but can never actually eat it, instead she gives it to the

dog. And this in-between identity can really be shown in her work, G-d Project. The parchment

paper is there to make the artwork interactive, you really have to press down the paper and focus

to be able read it. Just as she is in-between and in some sense separated from Jewish tradition,
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the parchment paper that she puts down separates the highlighting from the actual text of the

Torah. The parchment paper separates her from her Jewish identity and the Jewish scripture.

Shes not really sure who she is and what traditions she wants to continue practicing.

I dont think that Stern would agree completely with Aylon, but I think that they would

definitely have some points to agree on. Aylon was married to a rabbi, she chose to enter into

marriage with a man high up in the Jewish tradition, while Stern married out of the religion.

Aylons Jewish concerns came later in life, while Sterns came early on, and she was drawn back

to her heritage as she got older. Both are Jewish women, and both have this in-between sense to

them. Where they are living in the United States, and they are unsure of how to cope with being

Jewish. Stern specifically has a hard time with her Jewish identity when she is raising her kids.

Her daughter gets denied to go to a school because her mom is Jewish. Shes not ready to just get

rid of her Jewish identity because its a large part of her past and who she is. But she doesnt

want to identify fully as Jewish either. She doesnt want her daughter to be stereotyped as a Jew

because they are not perceived well in the United States at this time. But she doesnt want this

part of her daughter to be avoid for her either.

With that being said, I think that Stern would be in support of Aylon on this piece of art. I

think that Stern could really relate to G-d Project that Aylon did. The work of art is a way of

Aylon expressing women being omitted from the religion, and a way of Aylon to separate herself

from the religion, with the use of parchment paper. That seems to be Sterns entire struggle, she

is separated from the religion, but at the same time she still is Jewish. This parchment paper or

the separation from the text would be a very good way to describe Sterns Jewish experience

as well. Shes aware of what the text says, the text is a part of who she is as a person; however,

she is separated from the text. She doesnt agree fully with what it says, and doesnt live by what
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it says exactly. Both Stern and Aylon are female, both are in an in-between identity of being

Jewish. I think that part of Stern leaving the religion was due to she didnt want to have to be

obedient to her husband that her parents wanted her to marry. She wanted a life of her own, she

wanted to be able to make her own choices, for better or for worse. And in an Orthodox

household, that just wasnt the case at the time. When Stern told her father that she wasnt

Jewish anymore, and hadnt been for over 2 years now, her father said, I warned your mother,

he said then quietly, you would become lost to us if we let you have the education you wanted

(Stern, I Am a Woman And a Jew). Her father makes it seem like women are incapable of

having an education. That part of being an Orthodox Jew as a woman, was only doing what your

father, or your husband let you do. To me, her father is saying that because shes a woman she

cant make the decision for herself of what education she can or cant receive. I think that Stern

kind of forms almost a feminist or humanist perspective after this happens. She realizes that

shes capable of making her own decisions and that theres equal value of people, doesnt matter

race, religion or gender. And this again, is where I see her relating to Aylons art. She is a female

who grew up in an Orthodox house, she knows the kind of things that happens in the household.

She knows that women conform to men, and then women cant make decisions for themselves.

And she doesnt want that for herself, and after the death of her husband, neither does Aylon.

These two seem to have a lot in common, and I think that Stern would react positively to and

agree with Aylons art work, G-d Project.

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2. Garvey and Malcolm X

I think that Garvey and Malcolm X would have a lot to agree on, and a lot to disagree on.

Both are leading figures in the black community at their time. Both are calling for Black

Nationalism and uniting of the black people. Both have a religious undertone in their speeches,

Malcolm X is clearly Muslim, as he refers to it often in his speeches, and the ring that he is

wearing in the mural is a symbol of Muslim religion. Garvey doesnt really identify one way or

another. However, Garvey says, Because if Negroes are created in Gods image, and Negroes

are Black then God must IN SOME SENSE be Black (Garvey at Madison Square Garden).

Imagine the transcendent identity, that God if he truly created all people in his image, and there

are people who are black. Then at some level or in some way God is black. Here again, Garvey is

putting religious elements in his speeches, but not identifying which religion he follows. The

way that they are going to go about achieving Black Nationalism is where they differ just a little

bit.

Garvey would most likely respond to the mural in a somewhat negative way to certain

parts of the mural. Where the mural says in the Ballot or the Bullet speech, Whether you are a

Christian or a Muslim or a nationalist, we all have the same problem. They dont hang you

because youre a Baptist; they hang you cause youre black (The Ballot or the Bullet, Malcolm

X). Harvey would agree with the discrimination against these people because they are black. But

when Malcolm X says Whether you are a Christian or a Muslim is where Garvey would

disagree. There is some religious undertone to Garveys speeches and writings. But he never

specifies with what religion he identifies with. What he does do though, is call for all blacks to

follow the same religion. Like the great Church of Rome, Negroes the world over MUST

PRACTICE ONE FAITH, that of Confidence in themselves, with One God! One Aim! One
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Destiny! (Garvey, African Fundamentalism, 185). So Garvey would say it does matter if youre

Christian or Muslim because if we have black Christians and black Muslims, then we are all not

the same, we are all not unified. That they all need to follow one faith, believe and the same God,

and at that point they can have the same aim and really rally together. Garvey is also calling for

the need to establish their own culture, not just being difficult and counter-cultural. They need to

live out their destiny and what they are truly destined to do. Where I feel that Malcolm X is more

of calling for this counter culture. Calling for blacks to rise up and go against the whites. Calling

for fair treatment, even if that means turning to violence. Also where they would disagree is

Malcolm X wants to stay in the United States, whereas Garvey is calling for a return to Africa.

Garvey says that God creates people in relation to land, So it is for YOU to come together and

give us a United States of Africa. We are not going to be a race without a country. God never

intended it and we are not going to disappoint Gods confidence in us as Men (Garvey at

Madison Square Garden). Garvey is calling for a United States of Africa, he says that they as

blacks were never meant to be where they are, that they belong back in their mother country, in

Africa.

However, Garvey wouldnt disagree with everything about the mural and the words on it.

Garvey would be in a favor a strong black man calling for the unifying of black people. He

would be in favor of creating Black Nationalism, and having the blacks be treated fairly and

equally and with respect. He would agree with Malcolm X when X says, The political

philosophy of black nationalism only means that the black man should control the politics and

the politicians in his own community. The time when white people can come in our community

and get us to vote for them so that they can be our political leader and tell us what to do and what

not to do is long gone (The Ballot or the Bullet, Malcolm X). That whites have been exploiting
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blacks for far too long now. Its time that blacks take back the power they were once deprived of.

That they stop letting the whites take advantage of them, and that their voice is finally heard in

the government and where they live. Garvey would also agree with Malcolm X, when X says,

So I say in my conclusion, the only way were going to solve it: we got to unite. We got to work

together in unity and harmony. And Black Nationalism is the key (The Ballot or the Bullet,

Malcolm X). Garvey would agree that they only way that they are ever going to see a change is if

they are all united together, and that Black Nationalism is the way to do it, although Garvey

would throw in that they need the same religion as well.

The two have a lot in common, both are leading figures of the black community. Both are

calling for the black community to unite and rise up and a call for Black Nationalism. Both are

influential figures and have a following of people. Both want to see equality and the rights of

blacks given back to them. But their logic and methodology is a little bit different. The way they

are going to go about gaining these rights back is where I would say that they are different.

Otherwise both want to see blacks rise up and regain the basic rights and liberties that were taken

from them when they were forced into slavery.