The Chocolate Cities Sparknotes
Before taking this course I had a clue that like my race, Latinos, blacks had a community in which they felt safe to be who they are. One can see where black communities feel safe for they are surrounded by their race for they feel the safest free from prejudices, even though, now there is not as much racism as before it still exist in many situations seen around America. I was aware many blacks moved away to chase for freedom and jobs such as Latinos move from their home country to live the American Dream, however, Latinos choose to migrate to America unlike blacks who were forced to. I was unaware there was a term for this type of black communities which is referred to as chocolate cities. After completing this course I discovered, “Chocolate
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cities are also a metaphor for the relationships among history, politics, culture, inequality, knowledge, and Blackness”(xiii) This course opened my eyes to discovery the real impact of chocolate cities and how they were developed through the social organization of black communities.
The commencement of the origin and how chocolate cities correlate to one another develops through the ideal in which “the trauma of the transatlantic slave trade, and the alteration of lives on both sides of the ocean, is a focal point of Black American identity” this trauma will go on to go through generations of African Americans for their ancestors had to go through the inhumane conditions in order for the generations now to have some freedom (26). Some freedom is stated and freedom due to the fact in if they would have full freedom they would not still be victims of discrimination from day to day basis. “Black people have been searching for places to be free, safe, and Black since Europe’s enslavement and colonization of Africa” this develops the ideal in which blacks have never really truly be free but they search for places they feel safe and in this case it is the chocolate cities (57). Chocolate cities have become the place in which blacks go to escape the injustices. The main event which allowed blacks to move and to form the chocolate cities which are known is due to the “Emancipation and its promise of freedom [which] created the legal environment for Black people to finally move within the United States without fear of capture and enslavement”(58). Additionally, the emancipation gave the 13th amendment, abolishment of slavery, which was a catalyst for the reconstruction era to begin which was during this time in which black gain “equal protection” and “due process” by the 14th Amendment and prohibition of discrimination for voting rights based on color, race, and former servitude by the 15th Amendment. This allowed blacks to move from the region which they were in for they now had less fear and more freedom which they had lacked before. The blacks “[made] homes and communities out of ghettoized city space, as municipal and state governments disinvested in Black neighborhoods” this allowed blacks to migrate from where they were and begin to develop black communities with how they felt a black should be such as free from any type of fear (58). As discussed throughout the lecture the chocolate cities had three different counterparts the village, soul, and power.
The village comes from the statement “it takes a village to raise a child”, this saying is a reference to how the chocolate cities developed over time (58). The “village is the fundamental unit or nucleus for chocolate cities and Black geographies; it is also a metaphor and evidence for the enduring practice and importance of place making for marginalized and oppressed citizens” this village is the group of people who are willing to create this neighborhood for the black communities to live in freedom despite the fact that the government does not assist them (59).This is the collectiveness from multiple people to develop the child which is a city which helps blacks gain independence from the collections of events and injustices which hold them back from becoming powerful to fight for their rights. The soul of the chocolate cities is the ability to use their culture to speak out it was the ability “to unify voices and sounds across place, both in response to pressures from a changing and racialized music industry and in response to the imperatives of Black resistance across chocolate maps”(96).Blacks then developed soul music which was a major source to speak out their troubles and their ability to fight for freedom. Furthermore, “It presented the pain of Black life, pointed out systemic and individual perpetrators, and made explicit moral, ethical, and social political claims on the state” , this statement meant they fought for their freedom now through political means which permitted many blacks to rise and run for office (96). The power from chocolate cities arose from “ Majority-Black projects, blocks, schools, encampments, plantation fields, farms, churches, neighborhoods, and homes have been key to forming and sharpening the small axe that is Black power”(124). The ability to rise up and develop these projects allowed one to know they were
commencing to develop the power they should have always had, additionally the ability to create these projects to develop the chocolate cites. Moreover, “Black people everywhere at different times, and sometimes atthe same time, using their power to gather, to move, to protest, to sing, to party, to campaign, and to file lawsuits make the chocolate map” these are examples in which they develop power to show they have the ability to speak up against discrimination (156). The power of the chocolate cities was the unification and ability to ask and develop change to have equality and freedom. The chocolate cities allowed many to move “forth across chocolate maps, escaping danger, searching for new opportunities, returning to care for loved ones”, although there was now safe communities for blacks to be they still returned to their origins for their families to not forget where they came from or to live a better life than the one they thought they would have had (171). After completing the class and becoming more knowledgeable about the chocolate cities I knew that chocolate cities are a big aspect of social organization for they were what the black community sought for in order to escape the injustices they had and to develop a life with no prejudice and the ability to have the power to develop change for freedom and justices. The chocolate cities served as a safe haven for the black community. The movement of blacks allowed for many chocolate cities to form. Chocolate cities are vital to the social organization of black communities for they were a place where blacks felt safe and that was the place where they would move to live their life.
cities are also a metaphor for the relationships among history, politics, culture, inequality, knowledge, and Blackness”(xiii) This course opened my eyes to discovery the real impact of chocolate cities and how they were developed through the social organization of black communities.
The commencement of the origin and how chocolate cities correlate to one another develops through the ideal in which “the trauma of the transatlantic slave trade, and the alteration of lives on both sides of the ocean, is a focal point of Black American identity” this trauma will go on to go through generations of African Americans for their ancestors had to go through the inhumane conditions in order for the generations now to have some freedom (26). Some freedom is stated and freedom due to the fact in if they would have full freedom they would not still be victims of discrimination from day to day basis. “Black people have been searching for places to be free, safe, and Black since Europe’s enslavement and colonization of Africa” this develops the ideal in which blacks have never really truly be free but they search for places they feel safe and in this case it is the chocolate cities (57). Chocolate cities have become the place in which blacks go to escape the injustices. The main event which allowed blacks to move and to form the chocolate cities which are known is due to the “Emancipation and its promise of freedom [which] created the legal environment for Black people to finally move within the United States without fear of capture and enslavement”(58). Additionally, the emancipation gave the 13th amendment, abolishment of slavery, which was a catalyst for the reconstruction era to begin which was during this time in which black gain “equal protection” and “due process” by the 14th Amendment and prohibition of discrimination for voting rights based on color, race, and former servitude by the 15th Amendment. This allowed blacks to move from the region which they were in for they now had less fear and more freedom which they had lacked before. The blacks “[made] homes and communities out of ghettoized city space, as municipal and state governments disinvested in Black neighborhoods” this allowed blacks to migrate from where they were and begin to develop black communities with how they felt a black should be such as free from any type of fear (58). As discussed throughout the lecture the chocolate cities had three different counterparts the village, soul, and power.
The village comes from the statement “it takes a village to raise a child”, this saying is a reference to how the chocolate cities developed over time (58). The “village is the fundamental unit or nucleus for chocolate cities and Black geographies; it is also a metaphor and evidence for the enduring practice and importance of place making for marginalized and oppressed citizens” this village is the group of people who are willing to create this neighborhood for the black communities to live in freedom despite the fact that the government does not assist them (59).This is the collectiveness from multiple people to develop the child which is a city which helps blacks gain independence from the collections of events and injustices which hold them back from becoming powerful to fight for their rights. The soul of the chocolate cities is the ability to use their culture to speak out it was the ability “to unify voices and sounds across place, both in response to pressures from a changing and racialized music industry and in response to the imperatives of Black resistance across chocolate maps”(96).Blacks then developed soul music which was a major source to speak out their troubles and their ability to fight for freedom. Furthermore, “It presented the pain of Black life, pointed out systemic and individual perpetrators, and made explicit moral, ethical, and social political claims on the state” , this statement meant they fought for their freedom now through political means which permitted many blacks to rise and run for office (96). The power from chocolate cities arose from “ Majority-Black projects, blocks, schools, encampments, plantation fields, farms, churches, neighborhoods, and homes have been key to forming and sharpening the small axe that is Black power”(124). The ability to rise up and develop these projects allowed one to know they were
commencing to develop the power they should have always had, additionally the ability to create these projects to develop the chocolate cites. Moreover, “Black people everywhere at different times, and sometimes atthe same time, using their power to gather, to move, to protest, to sing, to party, to campaign, and to file lawsuits make the chocolate map” these are examples in which they develop power to show they have the ability to speak up against discrimination (156). The power of the chocolate cities was the unification and ability to ask and develop change to have equality and freedom. The chocolate cities allowed many to move “forth across chocolate maps, escaping danger, searching for new opportunities, returning to care for loved ones”, although there was now safe communities for blacks to be they still returned to their origins for their families to not forget where they came from or to live a better life than the one they thought they would have had (171). After completing the class and becoming more knowledgeable about the chocolate cities I knew that chocolate cities are a big aspect of social organization for they were what the black community sought for in order to escape the injustices they had and to develop a life with no prejudice and the ability to have the power to develop change for freedom and justices. The chocolate cities served as a safe haven for the black community. The movement of blacks allowed for many chocolate cities to form. Chocolate cities are vital to the social organization of black communities for they were a place where blacks felt safe and that was the place where they would move to live their life.