Shades of Pigment

“Shades of Pigment”

Is such an incredibly strong title for an epic about racial divide that I hesitate to try and add anything to it by attempting explanations.

However, the first two sections of the poem employ a method of blending the subject matter into continuity. The dream carries into “Ride…” and the ideas generated by the mention of Adam Powell at the end of “Ride…” carry directly into this part of the poem.
“Adam Powell's heritage was white, African and Cherokee. Because of his heritage he was mistaken for a white man many times. One of those events was when he was stopped by a gang of African youth who asked what color he was. Adam had not ever been questioned or had thought about his that much as a child. His response was white.
In 1940 Harlem got a seat in council. Adam Powell was the first person to represent Harlem in council. Along with a chosen few Powell became one of the only blacks in politics. Because of his popularity Powell was elected to congress thirteen times but was ruled out the last time. Among one of his achievements Powell was elected to the House of Representatives. Last but not least Powell was elected the chairman of education and labor.”
http://www.newton.mec.edu/bigelow/classroom/yerardi/blackhistory04/18blackhist04cb1/18blackhist04cb1index.htm

Line 2-4, I’m not having any luck pinpointing Leopold, Premier Downing, or General Bourse
Line 5, “Eastland and Malan deceased” As Patsy mentioned, Eastland was a segregationist governor. Daniel Francois Malan was the first Prime Minister of the apartheid government in South Africa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Francois_Malan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_Lenya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_the_Knife
Porgy and Bess was written by George Gershwin.
The fez, also spelled fes, is a particular style of hat that originated from the city of Fez in Morocco. The fez is also known as the tarboosh (Persian sar-boosh for "head cover") and checheya.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fez

Lotte Lenya was an Austrian born, Jewish singer who feld to the US in 1933 to escape the rise of Nazism. She went on to play the role of Jenny in The Threepenny Opera, which also explains the next reference, "Mack the Knife," the name of the main character.Porgy and Bess is an opera with Music by George Gershwin, based on a novel by Dubose Heyward. Hughes, like this opera, deals with boundaries of race.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porgy_and_Bess#PlotLines 17-20 stump me... I'm not sure exactly how to research what he might mean there...Line 24 The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions over Jewish law, custom, etc.Lines 25-27 begin a series of analogies that are all unique in their representation of displacement. That’s what sums this up for me…Displacement, division…