Brother can you paradigm?: Revaluating my relationship with"White" America

I need to qualify what I am saying in this blog dear reader before I make one single point about the title of this post . When I say "White America" I mean the historical force that created Jim Crow to dismiss the humanity of my ancestors, the need for a civil rights movement, and conditions that in many cases require almost super human abilities to rise above. My paradigm for so long needed fortification obtained through knowledge of the struggle and achievements of my people so that i could learn and teach others about the conditions of being black in America. Langston Hughes, Malcom X, DR. King, The Black Panther Party, Richard Wright, Maya Angeleou , Chester Himes, Lonne Bennett Jr, W.E.B Dubois, Mary Mcloud Bethune, and many other writers of color helped me in trying to make sense of a country that in many cases "Bell Curved" and rejected us simply for our melanin. Ironically my white third grade teacher (Mrs Kent) is the person who introduced me to Black authors. I am forever greatful to her for giving me the gift of counciousness . She looked at it as a positive thing to do for a kid who was struggling even at that tender age for role models that could affirm him in a way that showed him the intellectual achievements of the American stepchild . I Too Sing America indeed. She also taught me through her caring and action that there was not a monolith group called "White People", but that there were(and are) people who did not subscibe to the ideal of White Supremacy. She planted the seed in me that allowed me to process a world around me where White privlige was taken for granted by people who implied that Black people should get over slavery and move on. Until I went to college , Black History was relegated in my all Black and racially mixed schools to Slavery, Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, and the" I Have A Dream" speech. Mrs Kent was the opposite pole of those teachers later in my experience who dealt with us Black students with so much subcouncious or intentional bias. There is a quality that reminds me of Mrs Kent in all of my non Black friends. It's not that they are giving me Black literature or anything like that; It's that our friendship has not been shaped or blocked by racial bias. Because American life has been so harsh for so many Black folks in my lifetime, it has been hard for me to belive that I haven't just been incredibly blessed to have non predjudiced whites in my circle. I don't deny the amazing progress that has also happened in my lifetime. Black Americans have succeded in almost every aspect of American life. It's the paradox in the paradigm( or is it?) But it has seemed to me that whenever we have hoped for or believed in full participation of the American idea, some event has thrown a cold bucket of water into the melting pot. It's been particulary hard to believe when capitalizing on White fears of people of color(Willie Horton starring as the Black Boogeyman) has been the trump card as an election strategy. It clearly didn't work this time( Reverend Wright as The Angry Black Boogyman).
Do I believe that all of these stereotypes have gone the way of the Dinosaur? No, I don't. I do believe that Obama tapped into a consciousness of folks of all colors who are rejecting the old way. The oppostion was clearly about a lot of the status quo. Black folks alone didn't elect President Obama. Clearly the American public was smart enough to recognize the real call for change. I am ready to believe that young people in particular are not operating from the old paradigm. Their numbers are added to the numbers of all Americans who are finally ready (I hope) to judge a man by the content of his character
President Obama won. A Black man as President of the United States is cause for a major paradigm shift. I honestly did not think that he would win. Of course I voted along with other Black Americans with a sense of pride in terms of the long hard journey that produced his candidacy, but I never believed that enough White Americans would see the content of his character as opposed to the color of his skin.
I am ready to let go of my cynicism . Although , I am still a strong advocate for teaching and learning about the history and reality of our struggle, I am ready to let go of my assumptions that only exceptional White folks care about our common humanity. I am ready to believe in "change" Are we ready for the shift? So far , so good.

One Nation Under A Groove or Songs In the Keys Of Your Life

One Nation Under Your Groove.
I have had the great fortune of seeing/hearing a lot of live music being played by some of my favorite artists or groups over the past few months including Ahmad Jamal, Stanley Clarke , Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Living Colour, The Family Stand, Esperanza, The Black Rock Coalition's Tribute To Prince, Sergio Mendes, Al Green, The Roots, Dianne Reeves, Raphael Sadiq, Dionne Farris, Me'shell Ndegeocello,and Danielia Cotton,Zapp Mama (and many more). The music for me has been manna from heaven. Music Sweet Music has touched all of our lives in so many ways. I can't imagine a day without a song in my heart. Can you? I mention Summer 08 because It was the first time in years that I had both the time to go and the acts that I wanted to see all in alignment. Now that the fall is here( and my birthday near) I have been reflecting a lot about the huge role that music plays in my life. My schedule ( or budget) is not as flexible anymore. This means that I'm back to the Cd's on home system rotation-or through my headphones during long commutes on the subway to different Teaching Artist gigs Although I have 30 gigabytes on my Zune, I still play a lot of the same CD's over and over again. Clearly these cd's are comfort food for my soul.
I'm curious about other folks favorite albums/cds. Here are my top 10 in no particular order:
What about you? What are your top 10 of all time?

1 Innervisions - Stevie Wonder "Don't You Worry Bout A Thing, Living For The City, Higher Ground, Golden Lady, Visions, Mista Know It All, All Is Fair In Love, Too High, Jesus Children Of America.- Every single song is a classic. The album was hope and despair all rolled into a higher force

2 Plantation Lullabies - Me'Shelle Ndegeocello Funky , deep, melodic , lyrical, hard, and soft

3 Mothership Connection - Parliament P Funk Uncut Funk The Bomb- Chocolate covered freaking habit forming Milky Way. We Want The Funk!

4 Moon In Scorpio - The Family Stand - In my universe this would have been #1 " Was I too funky? Should I go pop? Excuse me for trying. Mind If I rock? All across the nation, I hear plantation radio." Sandra St Victor is the Mack Diva for real.

5 Purple Rain - Prince " Let's Go Crazy"." Darling Nikki,"" The Beautiful Ones" "When Doves Cry" e.t.c The title song still moves me

6 What's Going On? - Marvin Gaye This music is still relevant and sounds great all of these years later.

7 Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On ? Hardcore Jollies/ One Nation Under A Groove-Funkadelic O.K I'm cheating a bit here ; these are actually 3 different albums,but they collectively embody all that I loved about these brothas with guitars, synths, and George Clinton's James Bown, Sly, and Jimi's propensity.

8 Talking Book - Stevie Wonder . Is he really blind? His heart sure isn't.

9 Pride - Living Colour - It's a collection of many of my favorite Living Colour Songs from their first few albums.

10 Band OF Gypsies - Jimi Hendrix- Jimi got back with the brotha's on this one. You can hear it!

Ok , I did say 10 , but that is almost impossible.

11 Songs In The Key Of Life / 12 Aquemeni ( Outkast) 13 Fufilingness First Finale 14 3+3 ( The Isley Brothers) 15 Black Music ( Chocolate Genius) 16 Heijera ( Joni Mitchell) 17 Introducing The Hardline ( Terence Trent D'arby) 18 Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite ( Maxwell) 19 The Score ( The Fugees) 20 New Moon Daughter ( Cassandra Wilson)

Let's face it ; Miles and the Roots would take another 5 places .

I'll stop here.
Please share yours

Kudzu, Mon Amour: joe the plumber

Kudzu, Mon Amour: joe the plumber

Black Music Summer O8 The Children OF Funkadelic and Jimi's Band Of Gypsies/ Black Folks with Screaming Guitars ?

"If Music Be The Food Of The Gods Play ON"
Man , what a summer of live music for me and all of the lucky music lovers in NYC. Seeing all of these live acts and their genre bending or pure soul essence made me reflect on what a blessing it is to live in this particular time and place of sonic freedom coupled with audiences created by seemingly unlimited access to their cosmic slop via the internet ( youtube, myspace, facebook, twitter, i tunes, e.t.c) and word of mouth. This reflection was also triggered by a twenty something woman who couldn't understand why I thought that the afro-punk festival was unique and essential for black kids who wanted to fly their freak flags high. Her position was (is) that young people today don't have apartheid walls around the music that they enjoy. " If we like it, we listen to it." The color or style doesn't matter" She said with the conviction of someone who doesn't even keep physical cd's in her home. Do I agree with her that the walls have fallen down? Not really. I do believe however that she knows her generation better than this born in the sixties man ever will. Plantation radio is still programmed by the keepers of the tradition . Genre radio is the norm not the exception. With that being said, I have not gone to one concert this summer that wasn't filled with multi colored,/culture knowledgeable fans who loved the music as much as I did. All of the artists that I speak of are Black (albeit different genres). A little background here:
As a little Kid in Harlem and Upstate New York in the 70's , it was all about Soul Music. The Jackson Five(later the Jackson's), Aretha, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Curtis Mayfield , The Temptations, Barry White, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Taylor, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Ojay's The Motown Canon, Natalie Cole, and too numerous to mention other purveyors of Classic Soul were the soundtrack to all of our lives. I used to wear my mom's 45's , eight tracks, and lp's out. I would create my own radio station by recording songs on my tape recorder. I would introduce them by recording my version of D.J voiced interludes . The songs lost a bit of crispness because they were filtered through the stereo speakers and my cheap microphone. No matter, I was THE SOUL MAN. Issac Hayes didn't have anything on my hot buttered soul. There were a lot of messages in that music also. I truly believe that they helped to shape my burgeoning social consciousness. Dig this lyric from my favorite elementary school song by Timmy Thomas (I think) " You may not have a great big Cadillac, diamond in the back, sunroof top, digging the scene with a gangster lean, gangster whitewall tv antenna sitting in the back. You may not have a car at all, but remember brothers and sisters-you can still stand and talk. Just be thankful for what you got" OK maybe that 's not the best example, but it was simple enough for me. I couldn't drive anyway( but I sure could talk) In all seriousness Stevie, Marvin, Curtis, The Main Ingredient, and many others were singing about the hopes and dreams through a 70's microphone that smelled of incense and visually took the place of a Black Power fist. We loved our sweet soul music. I assumed that the White Folks only liked their own music. We had posters of Pam Grier . They had Farah Fawcett Majors.
And Then we moved to Texas right as I was entering Middle School. The Soul music station went off the air at sundown. What was a hip young brother to do for his music fix? Why , I discovered the "white music" Elton, Pink Floyd, Traffic, James Taylor, The Stones, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Heart, and all of the other extended jams found on FM. One night the sound that would blow all of the cobwebs out of my mind came through the cheap speakers like a personal present from GOD- JIMI HENDRIX. Man, all of the music prior to that was just to prime my ears for the truth. Funky , hard, bluesy, and otherworldly are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what it all meant to my virgin ears. I wanted to walk and talk like this man. I wanted my fingers to produce magic like his did by merely touching a guitar string. I wanted to drink out of the same well that created my super hero. I wanted to wave my" freak flag" in the faces of all those plastic businessman trying to judge me. I smoked weed to just to hear the" wind cry Mary". I belonged in Electric Lady Land even if I wasn't "experienced" "Not necessarily bold, but beautiful ", "Just Ask The Axis" . Even though he had been dead for years I was so eager to share my newfound rockstar ; I tried to share him with my fellow new teens only to be told that it was " White Music". I learned to keep Jimi to myself. One day my cousin Karl turned me on to the music of this Jimi sound alike. His name was BootsyCollins. Whoa! This dude was no shower for a week funky! This dude was chitlins before they were cleaned funky. This dude was Hendrix for the black masses. I ate it up. Working my way through Bootsy, I discoverd the sound and movement that along with Hendrix defines me to this very day>Parliament/ Funkadelic. They had radio songs, so you weren't ostracized for listening to them. . They had concept albums that took me from my Texas which was full of rednecks, ignorance, guns, violence, Jesus everywhere, and kids who thought that I was weird , all the way to space and the bottom of the ocean." P Funk, uncut Funk, The Bomb" Afronots, Dr Funkenstien, members of a chocolate covered milkyway , Sir Nose D'Void of funk, and all kinds of Freak flag wavers dominated this universe. Other funk came to me through them ; the Ohio Players, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Confunktion and all types of groove masters dominated my earholes. Parliament had the hits, but Funkadelic and their funk mob guitar army turned it out! Two words-Maggot Brain. They out soloed the "white" boys. Sadly it all came to an end for them all too soon. The Mothership flew off and left me looking around for the next guitar carrying Moses. He came not a moment too soon. His name was Prince and he was Funky! Rock Funky. Freaky Funky. Soft Funky. It's like Hendrix had an a.d.d son. I was at the alter of Prince quicker than you could say dancemusicsexromance. Purple Rain made him huge, but those of us who loved to knock down the barriers, loved him like a brother, sister, friend.
There have been many people throughout the years that have appealed to many cultures, but these were some of the few folks of my youth who really opened my eyes and ears to so much more. Maybe one towering person or group is not needed to open our minds anymore. There is so much music to access both past and present. I still believe that it is still more of an anomly than not to hear Black folks straight rocking out. I love Living Colour, but when have they ever been played on both urban and rock radio. I dig this woman named Daniela Cotton who can rock with the best, but I still believe that most folks would still consider her to be "White Music" I saw 3 of the most amazing bass players of all time ( Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten) last week in concert. The audience was more white than anything else. Raphael Sadiq was mostly Black folks when I saw him in concert a few days ago. But these may not be the rule. When I saw Al Green at Carnegie Hall with Dianne Reeves, I was fascinated by the interracial balance of the sing along crowd. Other concerts have shown me the same.
Is my 20 something friend right? Have we come to the place where music is just music? Is it the arist that you identify with as opposed to their race . Hip hop is consumed by Black and other youth in the same quantities now. That certainly wasn't the case when hip hop was young. When I saw the Roots at The Apollo Theater, I was sandwiched between Whites. Do Black kids today need a Hendrix or a Prince to show them the way to a bigger world? Do White Kids?

A Shoutout To Teaching Artists-Including Myself

This is a combination love and appreciation letter to all of the Teaching Artists that I have had the pleasure to know and work with. I have been a teaching artist for all of my adult life. Some of the finest people and greatest friends who have had the greatest influence of my life share this profession. In light of the fact that many organizations that hire us out rarely give any praise , it is imperative that we celebrate ourselves and the multitude of people who have benefited from us sharing our craft.
For those who are unclear about the definition of a great teaching artist I define the artist as a person who is a qualified professional in an artistic endeavor who utilizes that skill to teach understanding of a topic(s) . Examples include a playwright using monologues to teach A.I.D.S prevention, an actor doing role plays with a group of teens to teach conflict resolution,, a storyteller helping children to create and act out their own fables, or muralist painting a wall with handicapped children in an institution. One of the many differences between an actual subject teacher at a school is that the Teaching artist also exits as an artist. Another difference is the amount and variety of settings in which a T.A 's work takes place. I have seen more jails, schools, mental institutions , group homes, hospitals, homeless shelters, and even bombed out theatres in war zones than even the clients or residents of these facilities. I do this challenging work with the joy and satisfaction that comes with seeing that lives have been touched and in some cases transformed.
Although the lack of health insurance, organisational respect, territorial or lackadasial school teachers and incompetent administrations, treks through snowstorms in shady neighborhoods, problems with the I.R.S , seeing some of the worse of the human condition , and constant quibbling over fees can wear out a teaching artist. The good however still far outweighs the bad. I have seen so much positive change come out of brief encounters. My ability to act, write and teach have allowed me to guide people to worlds of information far larger than my talents.

Blackout day/ Wearing Black For the Cause. I'd wear Black everyday if.......

Today11/2/07 is being presented as a day for African Americans to refrain from spending money in America. This is a protest against the treatment of the Jena 6 and the proliferation of statement nooses that are appearing in greater numbers throughout America(kkka). I'm always down with collective mass action against the powers that be. Attending The million Man March was one of the highlights of my life. Although I'm no fan of Farrakhan I was on that from the very first moment that I heard of it. When I was informed of the " wear black for solidarity with the Jena " day last month, I did it however with a divided soul. On one hand , I completely loved the visual idea of Black Folks showing a united front to the rest of the nation. On the other hand , it just felt like empty symbolism. My daily hustle requires me to be in many places throughout N.Y.C. I looked around at all of the folks wearing black. Of course I tried to figure out who had intentional Black on. Unlike the "What's up Brotha? " greetings all day at the million man march, even people wearing the color seemed to be in their own worlds. There seemed to be a bit of the absence of the knowing head nods, the conspiratol glances , or the proud and defiant statements in the air. Statements like "I wish that one of these(fill in the blanks) would mess with me and my Black people today!"
I know that on some levels, that my disappointment lies in my slightly naive Utopian ideas of a unified Black nation within this nation. I know that the definitions as to whom is even a African American vary a lot from the one drop of Black blood makes you a part of us whether you want it to or not. I know that one point of view limits you as a human being. I know that we all should get along. I don't believe that some mystical Africa exists that we need to get back to so that we can be happy. I don't believe that every loc headed person is conscious. I don't believe that every permed, pressed, or weaved person is a self hater or race traitor.
The one thing that I do know is that this nation is far from color blind. The nooses are happening. Imus will be back on the air soon. The prisons are still full of Black men. Black women are receiving H.I.V at ridiculous rates. Many of our youth are not making it through the school systems. The list goes on and on.
Here is a list of some more things that I feel that we should wear Black for:

1 : A Nigger, Nigga, Niggaz , free day. Lets wear Black and refuse to say it for 24 hours. Maybe we can loosen it's grip some.

2: A Million White Men march on Washington to atone for their sins against People of Color.

3: Turn off our televisions and read a book day. I know that people tried to do it for a week last year, but the drug was too strong.

4 : A truce in the Sistah/Brotha battle. On this day we would restrain from making statements like" You know what's wrong with these Black women( substitute the word woman)? You know what's wrong with Black men( substitute the word men)?

5 No unsafe sex today.

6 . You fill in the rest. What would you wear Black for?

Beauty, Blackness , and a heartbreaking statement from a 14 year old Black Girl

As long as I live,I will never understand the level of cruelty, self hate, misogyny, various phobias( homo and others), and forgetfulness that happens in our African American Community.

Now I'm no" Pull yourself up by your bootstrap" Booker T Washingtonian republican with disdain for our people. I don't subscribe to Bill Cosby's pound cake stealing thug who should stay away from the pristine Spellman College debutantes theory. I recognize that we have never collectively recovered from slavery, Jim Crow, the murders of our leaders and warriors, or the myriad ways that White Supremacy has worked it's number on us. I even understand first hand how hard it is to escape both the ghetto and it's psychological effects on your brain. Just erasing the word Nigger from my thoughts took a mental revolution of epic proportions that didn't happen in a day or two. What I don't understand is how in this day and age I could hear the statement that I recently heard from one of my 14 year old girl drama students.

" I didn't know how Black and ugly I was until I came to this High School."

What??????

With 40 -50 years of Maya Angelou's, Essence and Ebony Magazine, Roots, Malcom, Spike Lee, The Panthers, Oprah, Toni Morrison, The Color Purple/Alice Walker, e.t.c why are we still here in 07? This is a school that exists mainly of students of color. There are no nooses connected to dubious and arbitrary prosecutions of Black children. There is not a chapter of the KKK presided over underground by the principal or the math teacher. She was not being escorted by the National Guard while the good White citizens of the town spat on her. This happened in Brooklyn ,NY. Jackie Robinson ( a dark man) led the Dodgers to the baseball promised land. Spike Lee admonished us to do the right thing. Dark Shirley Chisolm ran for President of The United States here. The community of Weeksville was built here by a Community of free Black folks who owned their own property and businesses . The most diverse grouping of African Diasporan Peoples on the planet lives here. So where in the hell did this 14 year girls tormentors get the idea that dark skinned people are ugly?
It's and old idea that has been perpetuated by both white supremacists and lighter skinned members of our race. Why won't it die? Why is it still the show stopper of insults? Why are the darkest people on the planet some of it's most oppressed?
I don't want to cast aspersion on Brooklyn as the self hate capital of the U.S. Here's another story that involves a friend of from Harlem: My friend, a well respected actress was involved as a volunteer on a trip that took a group of Black and Brown young people on a trip to perform as part of a national theatre festival. At some point during the trip a discussion took place amongst some of the girls about hair. One of the hair weaved young ladies got into a heated argument about good hair with some of the more conscious young ladies. Finally in exasperation one of the young women asked her to point out an example of good hair. Hair weaved 16 year old pointed to my regal short Afro wearing friend and said "It aint that". My friend was crushed. You see this is a person who spent time in the movement. This is a person who has dedicated all of her adult life to an aesthetic of Black Pride and upliftment through the arts. This is a person who although not a star, has major peer respect in the business. This is a person who brings quality Art In Education with an equal passion to the children. This is a person of beauty.
There are many people who feel that the ideas of the sixties and below are outdated . Many believe that "Say it Loud , I'm Black and I'm proud " belongs in the museum of quaint played out old school. But maybe those Langston Hughes Poems aren't meant for the oppressor to see our "beauty and be ashamed". Maybe we need to dig into those crates to find the beauty in ourselves. Are little black girls still reaching for that blond doll as the standard of beauty?
To fling my arms in some place of the sun
Dance whirl dance
Till the white day is done
Then rest at cool evening
A tall slim tree
While night comes on tenderly
Black
Like Me
quote from Dream Variation by Langston Hughes