New York: Other Countries, Spring 1988
The words of Daniel Garret,
one of the founding organizers of the Other Countries Collective,
on a flyer:
"In Just Above My Head, James Baldwin said, "Our history is each other. That is our only guide. One thing is absolutely certain: one can repudiate or despise no one's history without repudiating and despising one's own. Perhaps that is what the gospel singer is saying." Well, in both song and literature there are many questions which have not been asked or answered about black men who want to be friends, lovers, or comrades in struggle. There are many questions about art, love, and politics that have not been addressed. What of ethics and honesty between such men? Is there anything besides oppression that we have in common, any qualities which are personally or socially valuable that have not been celebrated in poetry, prose, or theatre? How does one remain individual and imaginative and still possess a vision which is contemporary, realistic, and politically conscious? How does one avoid the political rhetoric which often mars artistic impulses, creating second and third rate work? Can various traditions such as surrealism, deconstruction, eastern philosophy, so-called foreign traditions, be used without one's mind becoming colonized—if so, where are the examples? Doesn't the flourishing of community require the richness of diversity? How can we support each other's differing visions? Who are some of the writers who have given us pleasure, wisdom, and models for future work? How can my own work be improved?" (Other Countries, 18-19)
