Black and Burning Man

Farai Chideya, NPR

So, I took a quick trip out to the desert for the annual Burning Man Festival. I've gone six times out of nine years that my camp has been coming. What drew me at first was the art. I love taking photographs (like the one here) and also helping out with the projects that my camp and others' construct.

Let me clarify a couple things:

A camp is, well, who you camp with. The term, at Burning Man, often refers to an organized theme camp that offers something back to the community. Our camp built a huge and gorgeous observation tower and lounge and offers gourmet meals EVERY night ... no small feat considering that everything but ice must be brought in by the participants. Forgot the garlic for your roast lamb? Too bad ... unless you can find someone else to give it to you, which you might actually since one of the themes of the event is gifting and generosity.

Burning Man itself is a festival deep in the Nevada desert on an old salt flats with absolutely no animals or vegetation. Imagine a seven-day carnevale with revelers in costumes who have come from all over the world to do something that is part music and arts festival, part sacred meditative space, and part hedonism. And, oh, there is that "radical self-reliance" thing, which means you must bring everything you need, including water; and that when you leave, you must pack EVERYTHING out, leaving no trace.

This year, nearly 50,000 people attended ... so many that organizers had to expand the area alloted.

And a smiling artist in face paint burnt the man early. (It was rebuilt so it could be burnt again.)

Just another day on the playa.

So, is there any color there? A lot more than before.

An article from 2005 chronicled how few African-American people come to burning man, but said the numbers were expanding. (The jerk chicken and collards reference in the article has me a little twigged, but that's just me...)

But two years later, things have begun to change.

I saw a lot of African-American revelers out and about, and there were black campers at three of the four camps on our intersection. I think it has something to do with the increasing publicity about the event, but also with a possible resurgence of black rock and black counterculture. (See the blog Bold as Love.)

And I must say we African-American burners are a handsome bunch. But you have to take that on faith. See, I was going to take a bunch of pictures of folks to show y'all out in News & Notes land, but I was having too much fun.

Maybe next year. And maybe I'll see some of you there.

Farai Chideya

3:01 PM ET | 09- 4-2007 | permalink

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