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JGBOCCELLA, I have just started to check out your Op-Ed and youtube series about a
"Totally Unique Way to Talk about Race Relations" . Your undertaking to take on the defining issue of our country ignites the mind and inspires the soul. I will think on how best to join this dialogue and expand upon it.
My intuition is that independent artists and venues such as fuzz [and similar vehicles] working together with our political leaders using the viral leverage of "pop culture" may be a potent combination to continue the unfinished business of this country. There are few things that inspire and promote change in our societies like indie artists and their music and things that are considered "cool".
With your kind permission I will repost your original note to me [see below] on a few more fuzz pages to get this important subject about race in AmeriKa started. TCC [Tom]
ps: I started to address this topic on the fuzz site awhile back following on Dr. James Patterson's essay posted here and I take the liberty to revive this important discussion with my note to Dr. Patterson:thecapitalclinic said:
posted on Jun 19 at 1:13 am
While surfing the Fuzz site by using the new word search facility on the Buzz page, I was sent to your essay on B-Boy Rules and Hip Hop Intellectuals several times on the basis of random words that have been turning over in my head recently.
With apologies and the caveat that I am not familiar with the literature of Hip Hop, in reviewing your essay and the views of other Fuzz blog participants, I thought I would offer a few random comments on your blog that center on a few points embedded in your piece in respect of what Hip Hop means for the future of the inner city and the broader American experience.
1. I recall fondly the days of my youth, when we played "the dozens", a game of insult and fun for those of us in the inside, largely poking fun at ourselves, but often in the context of a distinction between those on the "inside" separated by race or economic circumstance from others on the "outside". The dozens began to take on the rhythm of the streets and may well have provided important elements in what was to become Hip Hop [of course, together with many other influences on the genre/social movement you discuss in your essay].
2. I also am old enough to remember that to be "cool" [now a mainstream sentiment] was a sentiment that connoted the delicious and dangerous inner city experience. It would be instructive to analyze how and why what was considered "cool" then as an inner city experience is now considered "cool" globally as a positive mainstream sentiment. Surely, the Hip Hop movement as a culturally framing phenomenon is part of the evolution of "cool".
3. Having lived overseas for almost two decades, upon my return I have been struck almost every day by the growing disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in our country in terms of material wealth and opportunity. The "inside" and the "outside" is a distinction that is becoming even more pronounced and the dozens and its successor in sentiment, Hip Hop, becoming more strident and desperate.
4. Those in the inner city are becoming daily less and less invested in mainstream social norms. The plight [if I many characterize it as such] of the inner city and a way forward should be developed on the basis of a clear-headed [if you will, intellectually grounded] understanding of the framing phenomenon at work, as exemplified by Hip Hop and its possibilities to become "way cool" as a mainstream sentiment. This is easier said than done [witness the sturm and drang over Cosby before and now Imu]and I appreciate that Hip Hop speaks to mind, heart, and soul at many levels as you point out in your essay; but we are all in this together, brother.
5. Back to the Fuzz platform, music, and what I refer to as Cottage Industries 2.0. It is my intuition that we have a unique opportunity to use Fuzz as a vehicle to "disaggregate" many of the things that are broken in our system and rebuild the damn thing step by step. Perhaps a useful first step might well be to take another look at the many dimensions of Hip Hop and see if we can use this platform to develop clarity on what each element in the Hip Hop "movement" means.
original note of JGBoccella to me follows:
------- Original message (Apr 21 at 1:12 pm) -------
Hello CC -
I just read your reply to Marion Kind's Obama post and I wanted to share some stuff with you.
I wrote a song called "CHANGE" and I would love to hear what you think of it and my OP-ED piece about Barack (FYI: I wrote it before his speech on race)
-JG
J.G. Boccella
"CHANGE TOUR" WEBSITE:
www.TheChangeTour.com
CBS RADIO INTERVIEW:
www.YouTube.com/jgboccella
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE OP-ED PIECE:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08055/859696-35.stm
=============================================
We Are Pleased to Announce a Visit by Recording Artist and Civil
Rights Advocate, J.G. Boccella
For a speaking program on:
CHANGE: A Different Kind of Conversation about Race in America
"This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been
stuck in for years."
- Senator Barack Obama
What if white people had a doorway into a conversation about race that
felt like an invitation and not an indictment? What if people of color
across the country felt as though their voices could be heard on a new
and different channel?
Using music as a catalyst for dialogue, musician and speaker, J.G.
Boccella, is inviting America to a different kind of conversation
about race. With his "CHANGE" Tour, he has created a unique approach
to this often-thorny topic.
What makes it so unique is that Boccella has an uncanny knack for
"speaking the unspoken," in a way that puts people at ease, on a topic
that usually tends to make people uncomfortable.
In this special speaker-program with J.G. Boccella, he will talk about
how we can, as a nation, fundamentally change the manner in which we
discuss race. Asks Boccella, "What happens when we try to talk about
race in America?"
"I think a lot of white people are uncomfortable having a real
conversation about race because they think someone will try to blame
them or make them feel guilty for something they didn't do"
Boccella says that what makes his approach different is a new paradigm
for dealing with the topic. Instead or the "Either/Or" polarities of
political correctness vs. angry intolerance, Boccella employs the
"Both/And" approach.
TESTIMONIAL:
"I heard wonderful feedback about your performance from the students
who attended and I'm so thankful that you came to Rollins and made
such a positive influence on our campus." - Erika Shoemaker, Office of
Multicultural Affairs, Rollins College
LInks:
What Up, America?
The Next Level In Our National Conversation
Then you have the additional interesting phenomenon of an increasing number of black kids using racially based rude language and an increasing number of politically conscious people hating racially based rude language all joined happily on Fuzz (in between some guys like old punk me who cannot decide if the kids' rude language or the grown ups' conscious stance are cooler).
So lots of stuff to be discussed.
For example the N word discussion is mainly an inner-black-community discussion, which involves differences in education, generation, cultural socialization, consciousness, awareness and so forth, all inside of the black community (if you wanna call it so).
The problem is you can basically only discuss with the opponents of the N word, while supporters of the N word (and according language) do not discuss. Which does not mean that all of the N word supporters do the same thing, they might do completely different things, e.g. fighting or rapping or dreaming or business or partying or intellectual reading. They are united only in their use of the N word - but even that use can have different reasons, e.g. conscious provocation or mindless imitation. Btw opposing the N words can also be based on consciousness or imitation.
A lot of this reminds me of early punk: The brainy ones and the stupid ones and the conscious ones and the drunken ones and the mindless ones all united in a few things like so called rude and seemingly reactionary language which other groups of society hated, from conservatives to the wannabe-hippies (notes: this kind of punk was different to the one of today, whch basically is guitar rock music with coloured hairdos; and real hippies of course were cool).
Nowadays in the hip hop scene (which I can judge) and presumably in the black "community" (which I can't judge) things are even more complex than in those early punk days. But the N word scene includes the seeds of a new freedom (just as punk did) as well as of a new reactionary rightwingish regression (just as punk did). I assume both will develop, and presumably this will spill over to white people too, so that in the year 2038 when all the black kids will sit together in the robotic artificial intelligence cafeteria and the white kids will sit together at another table in the robotic artificial intelligence cafeteria these black and white kids will unite in one thing: They will laugh about their parents use of the N word back in those old fashioned 00s and the even more funny discussions their parents' generation had with their grandparents' generation about using the N word. And they won't understand why their parents thought they should use the rude language and why their grandparents were sad about this.
There is a lot of misinformation go on online, in schools and in homes when it comes to black history for it seems as though children and parents are not taking the time to understand truly African American history from the days of physically being brought to America without any true knowledge of our ancestral roots. I am not saying that I know everything which I do not however being raised by a mother who was heavily involved in the civil rights movement on the legal side and who is still an activist to this day she has been my best teacher when it comes to understanding black history. I have to thank various individuals who reached out to me while in school although I went to all private prep schools growing up and my teachers were extremely ignorant of African and African American History. This is why I consciously made the decision to attend Spelman College and not Wellesley College (Sen. Clinton's alma mater) or William's College which I did get in and not sure if it was through affirmative action (who knows?) but I was #1 in my high school class out of a very competitive environment which was not nurturing to me in my development as an African American female.
The book, "Why do all the black children sit in the cafeteria" was actually written by the President of the college that I graduated from and I have never had a desire to read the book because I know why I choose to sit anywhere I go. I sit with those I feel comfortable with. Whether it may be the black kids, white kids or whomever will respect me. In elementary school up until high school I could not sit with all the black kids because there were hardly any of us and at times they had issues with me and I had issues with them. That was extremely hard at a young age to get shunned by your own people but then I had to learn that was human nature. Kids are kids.
As you get older sometimes you do not feel like having to explain yourself every minute to individuals who are not sensitive to who you are but for me as someone who is visibly black I know I have a certain responsibility to educate when I can if asked to if by my peers or by anyone who may be inquisitive to know something about my rich history.
This N word discussion will NEVER end regardless that the NAACP, Paul Mooney and a host of other people said that the word is buried. That is BULL. Right here on fuzz.com today I was alerted to an individual who was using the word in her tag line. Guess what? She is a young black woman using it and I am not to sure if she fully understands what she is doing and how she is portraying herself. I have to thank tibii for allowing to see what she was doing.
Last but not least, the black community needs time to bond, be educated, nurtured loved and adored by our own right now for so many of us are hurting not being able to truly express to the outside world all the trauma we are going through. All our dirty laundry is out there for the entire world to see and it has come to a point where some are becoming too self destructive to themselves and our community. We are killing ourselves off at a rate that is unacceptable.
This is a discussion that can go on and on but I had to chime in and share another view point of race relations and how some of us feel. I never hide away from the problems for I confront them as I did with the young lady here on fuzz.com but I am still very concerned why she felt it was necessary to use foul, vulgar and inappropriate language to describe herself. I know she is a child, a kid or teenager but regardless of her age all of us need to realize the internet is a public forum with the entire world watching and for tibii in Germany to tell me of how another American black lady here on fuzz.com was describing herself inappropriate that has proven to me with my own eyes again how much the media has brainwashed our children to believe it is OK to use terminology that is poisonous to anyone.
Further, it ANGERS me that the black people who I feel could actually reach out and help individuals like that poor soul here on fuzz.com said to me that basically it was not worth it.
This is why I try not to complain but to take action and do what I can when something is inappropriate.
Thank you for opening the discussion here and I hope other voices chime in and share their point of view.
1. If we want to overcome discrimination in general, we should be aware of the things that seperates us (gender, race, religion) but not attach too much value to it. Black pride and the use of the term nigger often exclude people with a different color from being part of the discussion. Any discussion primarily focused on taking place within a certain ethnic or religious community confirms the stereotyped thinking of the majority and the minority. If we want to close the gap filled with differences we should reach out. If a minority uses its very own code of speaking and its very own symbols that's when the whole damage is already done. All those niggaz out there are by no means creating a black self-esteem and don't help building one society built on variety.
2. Let's talk about being cool. It's simply the attitude that you are better than someone else. Being elitist is fine if your goals are targeting a change for everyone. If your cool attitude has the potential to gather positive results for all people, it will be a legitimate way. As long as coolness broadens the gap between different groups and communities it is not helping at all. Rap and hip-hop are good examples. Both genres were once political but turned out to emphasize the sheer differences of races by developing a bad black proudness. Wearing shiny clothes like 50 Cents and thinking that material wealth will solve all problems cannot be the fundament for a change.
3. I could not care less if tibii is white or if TheCapitalClinic regards himself as part of a minority or not. It doesn't matter for me if 2Serenity is proud being black or not. Although it is important for everyone to define himself/herself by religion or race or gender in order to develop a sound picture of one's personality! In fact what seems important to me is what you actually say and do. The reasons and motivations for being wise or doing good deeds aren't that interesting, the key is that you are acting that way.
I am more familiar with the race topic in movies + television. As I am a huge fan of "Grey's Anatomy" and it's creator Shonda Rhimes I followed her blogs about the casting for Grey's Anatomy and her trying to overcome the stereotypes in TV series.
Further there is a woman named Damali Ayo who goes directly into the discussion of race through her work in art. http://damaliayo.com/pages/blog_LJ.htm
Last but not least Taalam Acey is someone everyone needs to know for he is a poet who gives you the history of the problems in our community See here: http://www.taalamacey.com or add him as a friend on myspace here http://www.myspace.com/officialtaalamacey Read his blog which goes into the discussion of the race problem:
http://blog.myspace.com/officialtaalamacey
I will personally reach out to them when I have time and let them know that I shared their information there but it is best to go to their blogs for their schedules are extremely hectic but I know they are receptive to sharing what they can or providing the information that is necessary to educate you on how they see the race issue.
All of us speak from different experiences.
Damali Ayo is originally from Washington,DC and she attended Brown University and now she resides in Oregon where she completed a graduate program. Damali and I have similar stories for I lived in Iowa and it was hard for us both to adapt going from an urban city (DC) to an environment that does not have a lot of minorities. And, race does matter when you cannot find anyone who you can truly talk to at times who understands your experiences as a minority in a world that is not favorable of you. This is why black people try to find out other black people who have similar views so that we can share some of the blahs because online we are all attacked constantly by individuals who are not open minded and do not share with us but tend to box us into believing we are inadequate in many ways.
Further some of us are exhausted in trying to share what we know only because some people in the universe will not listen to us.
Best start in all of this is from Barack Obama and his speech on race. I agree with him 100% because of this resentment factor that individuals have and if I am making anyone angry I apologize but I feel this resentment a lot personally as an individual who has had to work my butt off just to get anyone to listen to me at times when it is easier for an uneducated person to get through that door. And, I know Affirmative Action open doors for me (and I am thankful for it) but I do have the academic credentials to testify that I can continue to excel. Just know that for Barack Obama to get into Harvard University Law School is extremely hard. I even had an application but threw it away in fear of getting a rejection letter so I admire him for going through the process and being at the top of his class in law school. That is not an easy experience especially at Harvard where you deal with race, class and gender in so many ways that some of my friends who attended their for both law and college do not care to discuss it too much but they are thankful they can say they are a Harvard University graduate :
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/03/18/us/politics/20080318_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html
This is him: http://happen2bblack.com/ Profile here on fuzz: http://www.fuzz.com/fan/happen2bblack
I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for coming onto fuzz and attempting to talk to this young lady who is scaring the complete mess out of me but she is definitely unaware of how we are looking at her. And, I am not saying she is the problem but it is the environment that our young children are exposed too and I do blame the mainstream media for perpetrating these images of women and men that are completely distorted from the reality of how we live.
Not everyone is a size 0 or 2, has money, long hair, perfect skin, nails, etc. But unfortunately the children see these images and try to attain it not knowing that they are brain washed into appreciating their true beauty.
However, back in the 1960s during the black power movement, black people wanted to share the pride they had in themselves in their natural state with how they wore their hair, wearing the African pride clothing and sharing thought on embracing African culture. Remember James Brown song, "I'm Black and I'm Proud." Listen here to the song: http://www.imeem.com/joopie/music/mjcf-hyM/james_brown_say_it_loud_im_black_and_im_proud/ Lyrics:
http://www.metrolyrics.com/say-it-loud-im-black-and-im-proud-lyrics-james-brown.html
Back then the USA was going through racial turmoil and people were at a lost of whether integration would work when historically the black and white communities were separated by the Jim Crow laws (segregation of the communities. There was a black section of town and white section. In a way this still exists but you just do not have the signs but people know where the black sections are of some urban cities: Good Link here: [url=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-segregation.html).]http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-segregation.html).[/url] Though so many people fought for integration the sad thing is that people did not understand how to truly be open minded and accept and talk civilly with one another in understanding how to relate to someone who is physically unlike you and may have different thought processes.
This again though is where there is a problem in the lack of education for some kids I know will read about the Civil Rights movement whereas others may have known it happen. And, sadly some kids do not even know who Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is but that they get a day off from school.
Another problem too though is that the media is preventing the true voices that need to heard to be heard in mainstream media about their struggles in life. Though there are select stories that are shared this is when some black people like myself reads Jet Magazine and Ebony Magazine. Those periodicals are staples within a family that wants to share true and factual stories about the black experience in America and nationally.
See here: http://www.ebonyjet.com/
Also in some urban cities there are local black papers which are instrumental in sharing the black American/world experience:
See here: New York Amsterdamn News http://www.amsterdamnews.org/news/default.asp Washington Afro News http://beta.afro.com/
[many more but I do read the ones above]
My views on BET are conflicted for I was a teenager who worked at BET in 1988 to 1992 and in 1996 to 1997. No, I am not famous but I did work one on one with a lot of celebrities but I realized that was not a lifestyle that I wanted for I felt as though the real power would be for me to make changes in either my community in various aspects. I prefer the one on one mentoring for to me that is more immediate in trying to help someone out. At the time I was at BET, gansta rap was not truly prevalent and the hip hop was truly about something fun, educational and silly. Now, it truly has evolved into self-destruction of many communities. Blog Entry I did on Hip Hop with the Don Imus Situation: http://www.last.fm/user/2Serenity/journal/2007/04/17/398709/
Thank you for allowing me to share here but just know that I am one of so many diverse voices on these issues. Some of us choose to share and others either are not into sharing or even incapable of sharing because it is too painful or they are honestly so brain washed into not knowing their history (I know plenty of these too):
A List of Some Black Blogs are here:
http://www.negrophile.com
I am probably not listed in any of these web catalogs for I failed to include myself in some of these blog directories or I tried to list my blog and I was not to sure what I was doing.
Further, some black people are afraid of having a blog identified as a *black blog* because their target audience may be worldly. I have no problems with that but for me I know I am a black woman who looks at the world in a variety of dimension and one huge lens that I see is through the race factor.
Failed to raise this point:
Not all African Americans though are as brain washed as the media wants you to think though and that is another factor that is truly not being shared. That is why some black people are getting back by blogging and sharing what is really going on. Further, some black people have to play mind games with other black people to get them to listen to us and this is done through rhyme and lyric. So this is why I do not bash all hip hop for some truly makes you think quick on your feet and tells a story of what is going on but again I have an issue with the vulgarity because some of it is inappropriate but then you have those who do not want to listen to **clean** rap because they cannot relate. Why do you think there is a market for explicit lyrics and clean?
Parents buy the clean hip hop and kids some how find a way and get the explicit lyrics. I can testify for as a child I bought all of Eddie Murphy's comedy albums not knowing the true vulgarity of what he was saying but it was funny to me. It was not until my own mother found out what I had done and she almost had a heart attack.
See here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2serenity/481340606/ [I was 14 and I can take the laughs!]
But this one video by this brother tells it to me every time and maybe this video needs to be shared with the individuals here on fuzz.com that are concerning me.
See here: http://peaurl.com/Qgs9
Sorry for taking up so much comment space but I had to get all this off my chest to share. I appreciate anyone who even reads what I say at times and I am honored when I get comments from people who say thanks. You have know idea how that makes me feel that at least someone gets it too.
[[praying for all of us]]
It is not so that I like the implications of this Money+N-Word approach among youths (which by the way can be found in a similar appearance among white kids). But societal mass phenomenons cannot be "cured" by sorting out an individual.
On a lighter note, that Eddie Murphy picture with you in it makes me smile. Can't help it, but there is something about his face that makes you want to.