Colored Museum

I really enjoyed the "Symbiosis" exhibit in Colored Museum. Wolfe does a great job not only satirizing African-American culture, but also instills a underlying theme of pain, sacrifice, and lack of acceptance that African-Americans went through in the past and present.

As a man throws away many items of his past, his inner self of the past (personified by the child) tries to stop him from doing so. The man argues to maintain his successful business job, he cannot afford to be associated with these things.

These things are staples of African-American culture, such as Afro-combs, pomade, and numerous albums of extremely successful African-American entertainers. Wolfe does a great job satirizing the culture, with lines such as "It's living proof Michael had a black nose" or "My Girl is the jam to end all jams."

I found myself rooting for the child, saying to myself, "there's no way he can throw away all these classic albums."

In the end, the man cannot seem to abandon his past and culture, as we see the child come back and grab him.

Wolfe is making a message here. People should not abandon who they are just so they can maintain a job. People's ways should be accepted, and "being black" on the weekends only isn't acceptable. It's good to see the end does imply that the man will not so easily give up his past or culture just to keep his job, he fights it, and that makes all the difference. The metaphorical perseverence of the man fighting for his past and culture (through the child) was very good way to end the exhibit.

It's s shame that African-American's actually had to go through with this type of shit, but it's also nice to see the society has changed where this doesn't happen as much anymore.

"Symbiosis" stays with the overall theme in "Colored Museum," that of lost identity, struggle for acceptance, and peseverence. The the thing makes it shine over the others, to me, is the perfect satirization mixed with the optimistic feeling of personal triumph at the end.