Patrick K.

Yeboah
TSOA Writing the Essay, 8 AM
Blagovesta Momchedjikova
Progression 1, Draft 2
September 23, 2015

The individual is so much more than just that. Ive always thought about the human
condition as being solitary, but Brent Staples Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His
Ability to Alter Public Space is perfectly exemplary of how human beings tend to represent so
much more than their individual selves. We represent the people who identify with uswhatever
groups those may beand we represent the places we come from, our cultures, and our
traditions. The essay by Staples not only sheds light on the important issue of racial prejudice,
but also the issue of self-identity versus outside opinions. Both issues are essentially problems
that affect the framework of modern American society, but the latter is one that is often forgotten
or at least less explored.
Another piece of literature that reinforces this idea is The Secrets in Your Photographs
by Nuar Alsadir. There is often quite a significant difference between the thoughts one has about
themselves and the thoughts that other people in their environments have about them. This idea
is subtly hinted at in Staples essay, but Alsadirs piece does so much more to drive the point
home. The photographs in this essay are out of focus and blurry; so much so, that one would not
be able to make out the subjects of the photos, meaning that one would not be able to decipher
the meaning of the photo for what it really is. The truth of the photo is hidden. The only way to
combat this is to control how people see you. Staples does this by taking things that he know

would make someone comfortable and juxtaposing them with his imageor at least the image
that so many believe to be true of him.
On the contrary, another essay, Souls on Ice by Mark Doty, focuses on the image of
beautiful black fish on a white background of crushed ice. It is a celebration of the individual,
but it also explains that regardless of the beauty of somethingno matter how strikingit is
always part of a group. In Dotys poem, the speaker comments on how although the fish are
literally individual beings, he cant see them as such. Instead, he sees them as one thing, not
individual parts of a whole. Everything belongs to something and cannot stand on its own. This
is a message of empowerment for those who have felt disenfranchised or unwanted. Its a
message that says, You belong. The world is full of individuals, but everyone belongs
somewhere. Everyone is just a part of some absolute whole.
I represented my Primary text with a 1983 acrylic and oil stick on canvas painting by
Jean-Michel Basquiat titled Hollywood Africans. The piece displays caricatures of African
American men the way that so many people in the American media see them. They are in
urban clothes and there are words and phrases on the canvas like gangsterism, heroism,
and self-portrait as a heel that help to sway the viewers opinion and thought process. The
piece is not meant to be inspirational nor cautioning, but merely a representation of the chaos
that Basquiats subject is.
In todays society, more than ever, I think people are very much so more conscious of
who they are as individuals. I, myself, am often thinking about the way I look, especially when
Im out in public. Living in New York City doesnt make it any easier. I often find myself alone
in the crowd of other humans going about their own businessthinking about how small I
feel. In the epicenter of fashion, art, culture, and personality where everyone is striving to be the

best its very easy to begin to feel like theres nothing special about me. I think, especially, with
the way that we share its so easy to lose some of our individuality because we want so badly to
be part of a group, not that theres anything wrong with that. We all strive to be part of the
group that we often subscribe to something we arent really. On the other hand, I think the idea
of the individual can be taken to the extreme. These extremes include acting out of malice for the
sake of being different, self-ostracization, and changing ones entire image for the sake of being
original. There are pros and cons to being an individual and wanting to belong to a specific
group.
In Staples essay, the speaker feels as if he cant be himself because of the way that he is
perceived in the public eye by complete strangers. In Dotys poem, the speaker comments on
how although the fish are incredibly striking and awe-inspiring, he cannot see them as
individuals, because they all look the same. The aspects of humanity are shared between the two
literary works. Staples wants so badly to claim his the way that others can, so he takes matters
into his own hands to control the way that people who dont know him perceive him. He wants to
be equal and he wants to be able to walk down the street at night without people running away
from him and be able to be himself in public and go into a store and make a purchase, but he
cant because of the labels and preconceived ideas that society and its members have placed on
him. Dotys poem uses the abstract humanity to ask the question how can one be wholly
human?
I feel like the message of Jean-Michel Basquiats Hollywood Africans isnt really a
message, its more of a statement saying this is the future. Get ready, because if things dont
change, this is the future. It has a lot to do with the first essay by Staples, especially in terms of
race relation and the way different types of people perceive different types of things.