My colleague and fraternity brother Darryl McMiller wrote today about the connection between the subprime mortgage crisis and the vicious land grabs that were commonplace in the South during the Jim Crow era in particular. There are some very important differences obviously, but the connection is worth noting.
Niara and Grandma Tootsie, originally uploaded by Unbowed.
My paternal grandmother passed away last fall. Her birthday would have been today. Here she is with my daughter whose birthday is on Sunday. I thought about her when I heard about Rene Marie.
And thinking about Marie brought me back here:
My grandmother and grandfather were able to raise close to a dozen of my grandfather’s brothers and sisters after their parents unexpectedly passed. Throughout their trials and tribulations they remained steadfast, and dedicated to their family. They represented at their best a model of excellence that we should all hope to attain.
By taking the lyrics of the Negro National Anthem and combining them with the instrumental of the Star-Spangled Banner what she did was bring out the best of both. But you had to be awake to hear it.
Gaye did pretty much the same thing, bringing a level of soul and depth to his rendition that was so powerful I’m tearing up as I listen.
At first I thought that what Martin did was hip-hop. But I got it backwards. What hip-hop does at its best is tap into a reservoir of improvisation that begins much earlier. Feel me? We’ve been attempting to imbue our values into the warp and woof of the American fabric since 1619. Hip-hop is just the latest attempt, and maybe not even the greatest.
My grandmother was, an Omni-American. And I honor her memory:
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on till victory is won.
George Carlin dies at 71. I asked whether there was a difference in educating workers vs. citizens. Carlin’s a bit heavy handed here but he’s answering the question.
The first time I recognized his genius?
“I’m going to say a sentence that has never been uttered in the history of the universe. Watch me stick this red hot poker up my ass.“
There are comedians as funny as Carlin, Bruce, and Pryor still around. But the type of critical weight they brought to their craft? I’m not so sure there are replacements. He will be missed.
Jimi asked a bunch of us this question, and one of my partners already weighed in.
I wish I had an answer that would pass muster. I don’t. I can, like Cobb did, pull from a list of my boys–good men all–and use that as some sort of barometer. The graduate chapter I’m active with had a picnic yesterday and there were all types of brothers there. No fights. No beefs. Good eats. Good drink. Omega Oil does the body good. In Baltimore a number of good black men can be found at the Que house, the Kappa house, the Sigma House (do they have one in bmore?), and in the Alpha national hq. You can also find a lot of them at the police department, at Druid Hill playing basketball during the weekends. I run into these brothers everywhere I go except Hopkins.
But I suspect this type of story is rote by now. You’d also find black men walking aimlessly, or hanging out on corners with a purpose. And with the number of formerly incarcerated persons back out on the streets increasing (and the rate of hiring decreasing) I suspect we’ll see a lot more doing this.
Perhaps the more interesting question to me is, what will “good black man” mean given the shifts we’re going through? $3.50 is a GREAT price for gas now, right?
