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Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early American Republic is a collection of essays examining the early American republic synthesizing a new political history methodology of understanding of the early republic. One aspect of the new political history is bringing culture and the influence it has on politics to the reader. The introduction describes a popular culture and cultural politics approach, “Cultural politics has the virtue of seeing the political aspects of other social phenomena, of seeing conflict as well as consensus in them, and most of all, of bringing other actors into the political field.”[1] In the essay, The Cheese and the Words, a popular culture function in banquets was the use of toasts. Toasts were used as a political platform to inform the community of political elections, party politics, and political events. This provided an opportunity to have dialog with the community. “Toasts were also taken seriously enough to sometimes warrant follow-ups, reviews, and rebuttals.”[2] In the second essay, Voting Rites and Voting Acts author Andrew W. Robertson explains the term “deferential participant” in political culture. That “deference” and “participation” are linked together and provide imaginary power to the marginalized community.[3] Even though the marginalized were unable to vote, this provided a voice for agreement or disagreement of a political discourse. Robertson states, “…deferential politics was oftentimes an essential precursor for mass-based politics.”[4]
Fast forward to the twenty-first century; I would like to examine cultural politics and how cultural participation can influence a community into activism. In Daniel McClure’s 2012 article Brokering Culture: Elma Lewis, Cultural Politics, and Community Building in Postwar Boston, he investigates the impact of Elma Lewis who forms a “cultural base” upon which boosted calls for “community control” and activism. McClure argues, “Unlike black freedom work that emphasized agitation for jobs, equitable education, and political representations, Lewis focused on ‘cultural politics’. She created black cultural institutions that helped define and frame the significance of black cultural communities both within and beyond Boston.”[5] The first part of the article focuses on how Lewis was influenced on her development of cultural politics. At an early age she participated in the local chapter of the United Negro Improvement Association led by Marcus Garvey. Lewis taught under Garveyism. Self-help, racial pride, and community building shaped her approach on activism. In 1950 she founded the Elma Lewis school of Fine Arts which established education and cultural programs for the African-American community. “Locally, the institution Lewis established…served as sites of community building, resource mobilization, and intergenerational activism.”[6] Lewis’s goal was to use education and culture as a tool for African-American empowerment which McClure calls “community cultural development”. Community cultural development provides a space for cultural politics while building identity and a common collective between individuals. This participatory engagement is similar to the “deferential participant” in Andrew W. Robertson’s article Voting Rites and Voting Acts. Lewis’s community cultural development provides political engagement and influence just like the marginalized individuals who were able to use deferential politics. McClure’s article also focuses on Lewis’ later worker in the creation of the Elma Lewis Playhouse in the Park. It was built on the same premise of her previous work. She combined education and cultural tools, but the playhouse was not limited to the African-American community. The park chosen for her playhouse was in Franklin Park in the heart of Boston’s African-American community. Franklin Park’s location was known for prostitution and drug activity. Lewis wanted to bring the local and outside communities together for quality cultural programs which she was able to successfully do. Plus, bringing attention to city government through her cultural politics she helped foster empowerment and reclaim community institutions. Lewis wrote an open letter in the Boston Globe newspaper about schools she established through community support, not city support, helped remove moral blight and bring outside communities to share in culture. Bringing communities together helped continue the success of the playhouse and Lewis was able to establish an all community volunteer Franklin Park coalition which raised money for the upkeep of the park. Lewis focus on culture politics helped redefine a community that empowered local and non-local individuals to revitalize and take ownership through community control.
[1] Jeffrey L. Pasley, Andrew W. Robertson, and David Waldstreicher, Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early Republic (Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 9.
[2] Jeffrey L. Pasley, Andrew W. Robertson, and David Waldstreicher, Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early Republic (Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 41.
[3] Jeffrey L. Pasley, Andrew W. Robertson, and David Waldstreicher, Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early Republic (Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 58.
[4] Jeffrey L. Pasley, Andrew W. Robertson, and David Waldstreicher, Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early Republic (Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 75.
[5] Daniel McClure, “Brokering Culture: Elma Lewis, Cultural Politics, and Community Building in Postwar Boston,” Black Women, Gender and Families 6, no. 2 (Fall 2012): 55.
[6] Daniel McClure, “Brokering Culture: Elma Lewis, Cultural Politics, and Community Building in Postwar Boston,” Black Women, Gender and Families 6, no. 2 (Fall 2012): 58.