VENDOR A. ALLEN DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM BOLOGNE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS FATHER

When I think of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint- Georges (“The Black Mozart”), I am so inspired and grateful for his recorded life, almost forgotten.

Bologne’s story is just in time for Black History Month. He was born in 1745, the illegitimate son of a slave mother and an aristocratic father, Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges (a plantation owner and slave owner on the eastern Caribbean island of Guadeloupe). He was often referred to as a “mulatto,” a person of mixed white and Black ancestry. It is a word I am well familiar with; I was often called the same by my white associates and Black associates, so the more I read about this distinguished young man, the more interested I became. What inspired him to succeed in so many areas of his life? I believe his father provided the motivation.

When he was a child, Joseph and his mother followed his father, his sister and his father’s legal wife to France, and at 13 he was enrolled at the Academie royale polytechnique des armes et de l’equitation (the Royal Academy of Fencing and Horsemanship), where he also learned literature and the sciences. At 15 he was beating the best swordsmen, and by 17, he was known for his extraordinary speed. When he graduated in 1766, he became a Gendarme du roi (officer of the King’s Bodyguard) and a chevalier (knight).

The year before, however, fencing master Alexandre Picard publicly mocked him as a “mulatto,” which set the stage for a duel. Wagers were made by both abolitionists and pro-slavery people. Bologne’s father encouraged him by promising to buy him a new carriage if he won. Of course, he did, and he got the new carriage – the equivalent of a new car today. He was also tutored by musicians his father had earlier supported.

I liked the fact that his father did not deny him, but actually embraced him, and risked ridicule because Joseph was the product of an interracial, extramarital affair.

Joseph was almost certainly his father’s only son – or at least, the only one who survived, said Bill Barclay, who wrote, directed and produced the play, “The Chevalier,” which will be performed in the Chicago area February 18-20. Joseph had one sister, who was the daughter of his father and his legal wife.

“When Georges died in 1774, his money legally had to go to his legitimate heir,” Barclay said.

Seal of the French abolitionist Société Amis des Noirs from 1788. The inscription reads: NE SUIS - JE PAS TON FRERE? (translated: Am I Not Your Brother?).

(public domain)

Even if Joseph could not inherit his father’s money and title, Georges encouraged him to be the best he could be and placed him in an environment where he could flourish. While Georges was alive, he invested in Joseph, so that when the time came, he could take care of himself, which was extraordinary. The world he gave his son was intangible, which was better than money, which he could have lost. His father developed Joseph’s mind, so that even though he was Black, whites couldn’t take his achievements away from him. That’s the best kind of love a father can have for his son.

But even greater than that is when Joseph began to love himself as a mulatto of African descent. As George Benson sang even before Whitney Houston, the greatest love of all is when you learn to love yourself.

Although Bologne was afforded some privilege, he was nonetheless a victim of racism. When he was appointed director of the Paris Opera, two divas said it was “impossible for them to be subjected to the orders of a mulatto.”

He fought for racial equality in France and in England, he became involved with the abolitionist group, Societe des Amis des Noirs (Society of Friends of Black People). Their medallion showed a chained slave on one knee, surrounded by the inscription “Ne suis-je pas ton frere?” (“Am I not your brother?”)

I first saw this in the late 60s and early 70s and I still find this saying relevant. I think it came from the Book of Genesis, 4:9, “And the Lord said unto Cain, ‘Where is Abel, thy brother?’ And he said, ‘I know not. Am I my brother’s keeper?’ ”

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges inspired me and I hope you as a reader can also get some inspiration from his life. Thank you for reading StreetWise.

A. ALLEN