Hazel Rodney Blackman

**Hazel Rodney Blackman** (1921–2014) ƙwararriyar mai zane ce ta Amurka, mai gyaran gashi, kuma mai fenti, kuma 'yar asalin Jamaica. Ta fi shahara da gabatar da masaku na Afirka cikin salon Amurka a shekarun 1960 da 1970. 

## Rayuwar farko da ilimi
An haifi Hazel Blackman a Hazel Hyscinth Rodney a Kingston, Jamaica a shekarar 1921, ga George da Alphasenia Rodney. Ita ce ta uku cikin 'ya'ya goma sha ɗaya, ciki har da 'yan'uwa maza Winston, Neville, Karl da 'yan'uwa mata Ivy, Joyce, Winifred da Marcia.     Ta girma a kan titin Slipe Pen, a cikin Unguwar Cross Roads ta birnin.    A wannan unguwa, ta kan haɗu da Marcus Garvey da membobin ƙungiyar inganta muhalli ta Universal Negro, wacce hedikwatarta ke kusa da Edelweiss Park. Kakanta, George Rodney, yana da hannun jari a layin Black Star Line na Garvey, wata alaƙa da za ta bayyana a cikin aikinta na baya. Blackman ta bayyana mahaifiyarta a matsayin babbar magudanar ruwa.

A shekarar 1940, Blackman ta ƙaura daga Jamaica zuwa New York don halartar Makarantar Koyon Sana'a ta Traphagen da ke Manhattan.   Bayan ta kammala karatunta, a shekarar 1946, ta yi aiki a matsayin mai ɗinki, mai yin kayan sawa na sirri, da kuma mai yin samfuri a Seventh Avenue da ke Manhattan. Lokacin da ta fara aiki da kanta, a shekarar 1965 ta zama mataimakiyar mai zane.  A tsawon shekarun da ta yi tana aiki a gundumar tufafi, ta ci gaba da ɗaukar azuzuwan, ciki har da yin kayan ado, zane a kan yadi, da yin safar hannu.

## Sana'ar kwalliya
Blackman ta fara nuna kayan kwalliya tun daga shekarar 1952, lokacin da ta yi wani wasan kwaikwayo na zane-zanen tsumma mai taken "Kasadar Hazel a Cotton."  A shekarar 1967, ta nemi shawara, ta ce, "Ya kamata masu zane-zanen Negro su je makaranta kuma bayan sun kammala karatunsu su shiga cikin harkar kwalliya, koda kuwa zare ne."

Tun daga shekarun 1960, Blackman ya kasance memba na Majalisar Daidaito tsakanin Kabila da Kabila . 

A shekarun 1960, abokin kasuwancin Blackman, Lionel Phillips, ya dawo da samfuran masaku daga tafiya zuwa Afirka. Ta fara zane da waɗannan masaku a matsayin abin sha'awa, kuma a shekarar 1964 an nuna tufafinta a cikin Babban Tashar Jihar New York na bikin baje kolin duniya na 1964.  Bukatar ƙirarta ta ƙaru har ta kai ga a shekarar 1965 ita da Phillips suka fara wani shagon sayar da kaya, The Tree House, a kan titin East 147th a Manhattan.   Wannan shagon ya kasance "abin sha'awa nan take", a cewar mujallar  a shekarar 1966. An yi ta rade-radin Blackman cewa, "Bari sauran masu zane su je Paris don neman wahayi, zan ɗauki Afirka."  A shekarar 1965, jaridar *Chicago Defender* ta kira ta "mai yiwuwa ita kaɗai ce mai zane-zanen kayan Amurka da ta ƙware a fannin batik na Afirka." Blackman da Phillips sun shigo da masaku na Afirka daga ƙasashe daban-daban, ciki har da masaku na kanga da kitenge da aka yi a Kamfanin Friendship Textile Mill mallakar gwamnatin Tanzania, fatar cobra daga Morocco, da kuma masaku na Akwete daga Najeriya.    A wata hira da aka yi da ita a shekarar 1970, Blackman ta shaida wa wani ɗan jarida cewa "rigar da ta ƙera daga zane da aka saka da hannu wadda aka ƙera ta da launukan kore, zinariya da launin ruwan kasa ita ce rigar ƙarshe da aka yi daga Biafra." 

A ƙarshen shekarun 1960, Majalisar Denim, wata ƙungiyar ƙwadago, ta lura da ƙirar masana'antar Blackman ta Afirka ta musamman kuma ta nemi ta tsara sabbin kayayyaki a cikin jeans.  Ta kuma samar da ƙira ga Majalisar Auduga ta Ƙasa.   Haɗin da aka samu daga yadi da aka shigo da su daga ƙasashen waje da sabbin yadi denim ya zama wani muhimmin ɓangare na kyawunta.   Blackman ta samar da salo iri-iri, daga riguna masu tsayi da wando mai ƙararrawa zuwa siket, riguna, da jaket, waɗanda aka yi a cikin wannan salon na musamman na haɗaka.

Kayanta na sayar da kayayyaki na musamman da kuma kayan da aka yi da Afirka da Phillips ya shigo da su daga Laberiya.  Blackman ta kuma sayar da tufafi ga wasu shagunan sayar da kayayyaki a birnin New York, da kuma shaguna a Washington, DC, St. Louis, Kansas City, Portland, da San Francisco .  A shekarar 1969, Blackman ta bude shagon sayar da kayayyaki na Tree House na biyu, a 286 Lenox Avenue a Harlem, amma wasu fashi da makami a lokacin bazara bayan bude shagon ya sa ta rufe shagon.  

Kamar yadda wani ɗan jarida ya faɗa, salon Blackman a Gidan Itace "daga baya ya zama abin tallatawa idan wasu mutane suka yi shi."  Ta taɓa lura cewa "Ban taɓa tunanin cewa za a iya gina kasuwancin kayan kwalliya na Amurka a kan djellaba ba ."

A shekarar 1967, Blackman ita ce "mai zane ɗaya tilo wanda ba farar fata ba wanda ya nuna a bikin baje kolin Majalisar Kasuwanci ta New York Couture ga mata 'yan jarida," wanda ya fara zuwa Makon Kayan Ado na New York . 

A shekarar 1968, an nuna zane-zanen Blackman a bikin al'adu na Harlem na "Fashion '68" a Mount Morris Park Harlem. A shekarar 1969, an nuna zane-zanenta a cikin "Nunin Taurari" na kamfanin giya na Schaefer, wani shahararren wasan kwaikwayo na kayan kwalliya wanda taken sa a wannan shekarar shine "ikon zamani," wanda ke nuna zane-zanen 'yan Afirka na Amurka.

Shahararrun abokan cinikin Blackman sun haɗa da Nina Simone, wacce aka ruwaito ta ji daɗin ƙirar rigunan maraice, da kuma Marjorie Harding, fitacciyar matar shugaban kashe gobara na farko na birnin New York, Robert O. Lowery .   An nuna ƙirarta a cikin *Vogue*, *Glamour*, *Ebony*, da *The New Yorker*, da sauran wallafe-wallafen kayan kwalliya.  Blackman kuma memba ne na Kwamitin Ci gaban Al'adu na Magajin Garin New York John Lindsay . 

A shekarar 1970, Blackman ya ziyarci San Francisco don taimakawa wajen kafa ƙungiyoyi biyu na haɗin gwiwa na kayan kwalliya da ƙira, a San Francisco da kuma Oakland.  A shekarun 1970, Blackman ya kuma koyar a Cibiyar Al'umma ta Jackson da kuma Masana'antar Tsofaffi ta Cottage. 

Blackman ta shaida wa wani ɗan jarida cewa, "Yadin Afirka sun saba wa dokokin ƙira. Rigunan ba su daidaita ba kuma ba su da bambanci da juna. Ya isa ya sa mai zane ya haukace. Duk da haka, yana burge ni!"  Da take tunani game da kasuwancinta a 1971, Blackman ta ce, "Ina da matsalar jari koyaushe, kuma ina tsammanin da na ci gaba da tafiya fiye da haka idan na sami goyon baya lokacin da nake farawa. Duk da haka, na ji daɗin abin da na yi." 

## Aikin dinkin bargo
Blackman ta fara yin dinki bayan ta yi tafiya zuwa Alabama a shekarun 1960, inda ta yi zane-zane ga Ƙungiyar Ƙungiyoyin Ƙungiyoyin Kudancin, ƙungiyar haɗin gwiwar yin dinki, kuma a cikin wannan aikin an yi mata wahayi zuwa ga fara aikin da kanta.   Shekaru da yawa bayan haka, ta taimaka wajen kafa ƙungiyar Women of Color Quilters Network ta New York.

A wata hira da aka yi da Blackman a shekarar 2005, ta ce, "yin bargo mai motsi kamar rawa ne," kuma ta nuna cewa "yin bargo shine ƙarshen shirina." Ta yi bargo da yawa na labarai, ciki har da waɗanda suka nuna tarihin Jamaica, kamar bargonta "The Black Star Liner," wanda ke nuna jirgin ruwa daga kamfanin jigilar kaya na Marcus Garvey. Bargonta, "Unity of the Mind," wanda ke nuna Garvey da sarkin Habasha Haile Selassie, yana cikin tarin Liberty Hall: The Legacy of Marcus Garvey, wani gidan tarihi a Kingston.

## Waƙa da rubutun waƙa
An nuna ɗaya daga cikin barguna na Blackman a bangon littafin *Patchwork: Poetry & Prose and Papers & Pictures Anthology* (1999) na Dale Benjamin Drakeford. Da yawa daga cikin waƙoƙin Blackman na asali an nuna su a cikin littafin tarihin rayuwar Blackman.  Blackman ya kuma rubuta tarihin rayuwarsa wanda ba a buga ba mai taken *My Romance with Paint and Fabrics.* 

## Mutuwa
Blackman ta koma Jamaica bayan ta rayu shekaru da dama a Bronx, New York, sannan a Tampa, Florida . Ta mutu tana da shekaru 93 kuma an binne ta a Dovecot Memorial Park da ke Kingston, Jamaica . 

## Manazarta