Great Mother's Day Rhyme for my people

 
"You created me, Mom
so I guess you're to blame
For the love that I feel
just from hearing your name.
You're as tender as corned beef
and warm as pastrami
I wuv my Mommy!"

Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet: On Pain and On Death

And a woman spoke, saying, "Tell us of Pain." And he said: Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears. 
Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death." And he said: You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light. If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one. In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour. Is the sheered not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling? For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
 

 

Langston Hughes

Harlem

Jacob Lawrence, 1946

Watercolor on paper

 I read a collection of Langston Hughes poetry and a book on the Harlem Renaissance last month. This poem is one of my favorites. Enjoy!

This is a song for the genius child.
Sing it softly, for the song is wild.
Sing it softly as ever you can -
Lest the song get out of hand.
Nobody loves a genius child.
Can you love an eagle,
Tame or wild?
Can you love an eagle,
Wild or tame?
Can you love a monster
Of frightening name?
Nobody loves a genius child.
Kill him - and let his soul run wild.
Langston Hughes

Poetry, Songs, Art, Philosophy, Hats: The Finer Things

So I've decided to just write some poems for y'all. I don't care for iambic pentameter, formal poetry structures, etc. because I don't care enough about this to actually look up these rules for poetry. So here are some random poems I just composed.

When I look in your eyes
I can only hold my head high
And resist the urge to sigh
You see, we were born to fly
You and I might die
But then we would die free
Free from the shackles of earth and sea
Free to be, free to see the greatness in you and me
Can't you see?
Like our ancestors before us, we could fly away
Fly away to a land, where joy shall never fade
If you could open your eyes you would find it already made
Our chains that keep us enslaved can be destroyed
Really nothing more than toys for those who exploit us
You and I must do for you and I
Cuz the Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Open your eyes and free your mind.

Another random poem composed on the spot

I would love to go home, if I had one
From here to Avalon, I aint got none
Trapped in between 2 worlds divided
I'm a bridge in between that collided
Is there any hope for this land?
The so-called land of the free, home of the brave?
Is there any justice for the other world, below the sand?
In this netherworld, too many only find a grave
As an observer of both worlds, the situation is dire
People suffer on both sides, through wind and fire
In truth, the ghetto is in much greater ire
The people labor and tire in the mire
The cesspool of America, where people only want a chance
They're despised, forgotten, and thrown with the trash
Indeed, what more can I say
Hopelessness seems to rule the day


Sing a song for the man who defied all expectations
The hope and fervor built up in this community
Was only dashed and gassed by his deceptions
So while we wait and pray for some immunity
This man lives well and pretends he can't see
The great sea of poverty in our communities
We should've known better
Of course, who would've known?

Okay, I give up. Poetry is much harder than it looks...

Anger

I've added this picture of Hello Kitty because I was hoping it would alleviate my anger and sorrow. Alas, if fate would but avail me a sword to vanquish this lugubrious mood! Anywho, I'm tired of this break from class. I'm running out of things to occupy my time with and my hovel I call home is falling apart. Indeed, I just paid 300 dollars to install a new toilet because our previous one was backing up. Now the new toilet I paid the plumber 300 to install is now malfunctioning! So now I can't even use the bathroom in my own house unless I go outside like an animal or use a bucket! This is the worst kind of discrimination: the kind against me! It seems like fate is testing my patience.
In addition to my general boredom and the crumbling of my home's plumbing, my crazy brother is becoming too much. Like pretzels in that one episode of Seinfeld, "these pretzels are making me thirsty!" Or in this case, my brother is driving me crazy. Even when he tries to be helpful he only gets in the way or makes things worse. For example, today he shoveled the snow. Seemingly nice, right? Well, then he decides to put salt on the sidewalk even though there's no ice. When he's done, he puts the large bag of salt back in the living room when he's done and spills salt all over the living room carpet. Does he clean up this mess? NO! What a useless fool. His condition seems to have deteriorated since summer, so now he's even more unbearable
Even worse is my boredom. I don't have a job or any project to occupy most of my time. In the beginning of break, I read 3 books and watched episodes of Futurama on DVD to kill time. I love reading and I love Futurama so this was great until I finished. Now's there absolutely nothing to do and hanging out with friends from home is boring. I can't wait to be back, even though Madison is not much better either. At least I will have working bathrooms and not have to pay for repairs, though I will be paying way too much for housing.
Life's a bitch.
Perhaps a good song from Big Boi's solo album will turn my frown upside down.

Reflections on the Bill Cosby Show

Due to a request from a friend, I am going to post a conversation we had on the Cosby Show and race relations. Since I'm feeling lazy, I'm just going to copy and paste it from facebook...Enjoy! Or even better, comment and let me know what you think! And just so y'all know, I do respect Bill Cosby and I think he does have some valid points when he criticizes black America but why do people like him and Al Sharpton always try to assume the role of spokesperson for black America, especially an entertainer like Cosby? My biggest problem with Cosby's recent words has more to do with how he's fueling the conservatives and moderates who like to pretend racial discrimination and institutional racism don't exist. I'm all for open dialogue and criticisms though. I'm glad people are talking now (though not as much as they should). Anywho, just enjoy.

My friend's question to me: 

"I was recently thinking about the socio-economic impact and implications of the Cosby show. Have you read any essays on the subject? Looking back at it, the Huxtables were a depiction of an above-average affluent African American family living in an expensive brooklyn neighborhood. How did this image influence and resonate with average african americans living in the us at the time?"

My very long response that my friend wasn't expecting:

"I feel like we've discussed this in high school

african-americans were glad to see a positive depiction of an

African-American family during the 1980s and early 90s on television

However, Bill Cosby deliberately chose to stay away from racial ...and

political issues in his comedy so the sitcom never approached the level of

Fresh Prince or even Wayan Bros. and other black sitcoms like A Different

World when it came to race. Indeed, part of the reason for the Cosby Show's success was the absence of racial and political content because whites felt comfortable and non-threatened watching it. It is about a bourgeoisie

African American family that lives in a fairy-tale world where race doesn't really exist and whites and blacks live in harmony. In fact, I remember

episodes with the Cosbys just hanging out with white friends and colleagues, like their nerdy neighbor who they introduce to Claire's rival from another

law firm. Then there's Ruby's fat white friend who never talks. The issue of race never comes up in these relationships.

However, near the show's conclusion they made an attempt to appeal to a more "urban" audience by adding Claire's niece, a ghetto youth named Pam, to the show. They also changed the show's intro music theme to a hip-hop song and brought additional young, urban blacks to the show. Pam's best friends, the

girl who talks too much and her boyfriend, represented young blacks of the hip-hop generation. Furthermore, Theo started working at an after school

program center as a teacher and worked with impoverished inner-city youth.

So I would argue that the show became more political in the final seasons. Despite the lack of politically-charged material, the show was very

pro-black when it came to African American culture, history, music, and art.

For example, several episodes were about music and art. I remember an

episode about Claire buying a painting done by an ancestor of hers and

paying thousands of dollars for the piece. They also feature

African-American and jazz musicians such as Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Art Blakey, Tito Puente, an African singer whose name I can't recall, and

everyone knows about Cosby's love of jazz music. They also promote funk and

soul music of the 50s and 60s, my two favorites being Ray Charles' Nighttime

is the Right Time blues cover and James Brown's I Got the Feelin'.

Furthermore, Claire and Cliff Huxtable met at a fictional Historically Black College/University and their daughter Denise briefly attends the same

school. So in somes ways the show promoted aspects of African American

culture for mainstream audiences who may not have had any exposure but it

stayed as far away from political issues as much as possible.

Another interesting episode involved Denise's step-daughter, played by Raven Symone. In one episode about multiracial Santa Clauses she observed at a

mall, Raven refers to them as black, white, and Chinese. Denise then tells

her to use the politically-correct terms African American, Caucasian, and

Asian American. This is one of the few instances that directly dealt with

race.

Personally, I never enjoyed the Cosby Show for its comedy. I know my mother

and her aunt enjoyed the show and watched reruns but Bill Cosby is really

not funny at all. I watched the show a lot in elementary school solely

because it was one of the few black sitcoms that wasn't stereotypical or offensive. The Cosby Show also introduced the black middle-class, or Afrostocracy as Michael Eric Dyson calls it, to me. I personally never knew

too many African-Americans and the ones I did know were actually Haitians, Jamaicans, and Africans. The show's emphasis on family was also interesting

to me because the Cosby family obviously has two parents, something I have

not experienced. So it shows that black men are great fathers as well, contradicting the stereotype that black men don't care for their children

and African American families with 2 parents are anomalous.

So about this extended reply but it had to be said. matter of fact, i have more to say about the Cosby show but I won't inundate you with information and commentary.

I should write an essay about the Cosby Show which would be relatively easy... because of my encyclopedic knowledge of the program. As for African-Americans during the show's run, I'm not entirely sure how they felt about it. I know it was popular with both black and white audiences but I can't really say what the consensus for blacks was.

This is also somewhat irrelevant but Michael Eric Dyson has a fascinating book on Bill Cosby and the black middle class. It's called Is Bill Cosby Right or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?"

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Gil Scott-Heron, the proto-rap musician and spoken word artist has been occupying my time lately. I've listened to 3 of his albums repeatedly in the last 2 days. Pieces of a Man, Winter in America, and I'm New Here represent Gil Scott-Heron and his musical parter Brian Jackson at 3 different stages in his development as a musician. Personally, Pieces of a Man is my favorite and has a great mix of jazz, soul, funk, and spoken word.

Pieces of a Man is famous to the hip-hop world for the number of times "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" have been referenced and sampled by rappers. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" on this album is the 2nd recording of the song, featuring the inimitable Ron Carter on bass and Hubert Laws on flute. Scott-Heron previously recorded the song on his 1st live album with only congas to accompany his spoken word performance, so this rendition is probably the more famous one. The following video is the 1st live rendition of the song with only congas accompanying Scott-Heron's politically-charged poem. Indeed, one could argue he laid the foundations for conscious hip-hoppers such as Common and a lot of the underground rappers out there nowadays.

The next video is the live version featuring jazz bassist Ron Carter and Hubert Laws on flute
In my opinion this version is better for adding more instruments and a funk backbeat to connect it with contemporary African American music and the music associated with the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. It perfectly caught the mood of the Black America: the anger, anti-establishment and radical leftist sentiment, and racial pride. The message is an unforgettable and necessary one for all of us who want change: if you want revolution you have to get off the couch and make that change because it will never come while you're sitting on the couch and watching the T.V. set. This poetic piece is filled with 70s cultural and political references as well, with a touch of humor and irony making it one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard. Indeed, this song surpasses Marvin Gaye's What's Going On as the best socially-conscious soul album I've ever heard.
Here are some funny lines that I like from the song:
"The revolution will not be right back after a message
about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat."

In addition to the legendary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Pieces of a Man has two of my favorite Gil Scott-Heron Songs of all time: "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" and "Lady Day and John Coltrane." "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" is the most powerful song about drug addiction I've ever heard. Just listen to the lyrics: Home is where I live inside my white powder dreams. Home was once an empty vacuum that's filled now with my silent screams. Home is where the needle marks try to heal my broken heart." You also have to love the funky beat and guitar solo. Scott-Heron's vocals, though not great, show anguish and are beautiful as well.

Lady Day and John Coltrane is another great funky song about the power of music to alleviate sorrow. In this case, it's the music of Billie Holiday and John Coltrane. I'm sure both Billie Holiday and Coltrane would be proud of this.

The rest of the album, Pieces of a Man, is more jazz-fusion/soul with Scott-Heron mostly singing. "When You Are Who You Are," "I Think I'll Call It Morning," "A Sign of the Ages," "Pieces of a Man," and and the rest of the album, are mostly jazzy soul songs with heavy acoustic basslines from my boy Ron Carter and beautiful acoustic piano from Gil and Brian Jackson, co-composer of several of the songs. Another favorite has to be the "The Needle's Eye."

My next Gil Scott-Heron album is Winter in America, another jazzy collaboration with Brian Jackson, was much weaker than Pieces of a Man. Most of the songs are long, jazzy pieces with Scott-Heron singing and piano and Fender Rhodes organ accompanying him. "Rivers of My Fathers" is one example of this, with interesting piano improvisations but doesn't really seem to go anywhere despite it's length.

"Back Home" is a better song because of it's significantly shorter duration and better vocals from Scott-Heron. The Sentimental Your Daddy Loves You" and "Song For Bobby Smith" are also good songs. The latter shows how much neo-soul owes to the jazzy electric organ of this soulful song.

The epic talking blues, "H20 Gate Blues" is a scathing attack on the Nixon administration and the state of America at the time, especially foreign policy and the destruction of the Vietnam War and Southeast Asia. Obviously most of the songs refer to political and social events of the 1970s. The lyrics speak for themselves:

America!
The international Jekyll and Hyde
The land of a thousand disguises
Sneaks up on you but rarely surprises (Yeah!)
Plundering the Asian countryside
In the name of Fu Man Thieu.

Afraid of shoeless, undernourished Cambodians
While we strike big wheat bargains with Russia
Our nuclear enemy
Just how blind, America?

But tell me, who was around where Hale Boggs died?
And what about LBJ's untimely demise?
And what really happened to J. Edgar Hoover?
The king is proud of Patrick Gray
While America's faith is drowning
Beneath that cesspool-Watergate. (Yeaah!)

How long will the citizens sit and wait?
It's looking like Europe in '38
Did they move to stop Hitler before it was too late?
How long. America before the consequences of
Keeping the school systems segregated
Allowing the press to be intimidated
Watching the price of everything soar
And hearing complaints 'cause the rich want more? (Alright!)
It seems that MacBeth, and not his lady, went mad
We've let him eliminate the whole middle class
The dollar's the only thing we can't inflate
While the poor go on without a new minimum wage
What really happened to J Edgar Hoover?
The kind is proud of Patrick Gray
And there are those who say America's faith is drowning
Beneath that cesspool-Watergate.

We leave America to ponder the image
Of justice from the new wave of leaders
Frank Rizzo, the high school graduate
Mayor of Philadelphia, whose ignorance
Is surpassed only by those who voted for him. (Hahahaha)
Richard Daley, imperial Napoleonic Mayor of Chicago.
Who took over from Al Capone and
Continues to implement the same tactics.
George Wallace. Lester Maddawg
Strom Thurmond, Ronald Reagan-
An almost endless list that won't be missed when at last
America is purged (Yeah! Alright~)

Of course the best known song off Winter in America is "The Bottle," a great song on alcoholism with a Caribbean beat and flute by Brian Jackson. This song is still popular today was a popular hit back in the day for its danceable beat. Of course it has a great message on the universalism of alcoholism, including a doctor, a sista, and a brotha.

See that gent in the wrinkled suit
he done damn near blown his cool
to the bottle
He wuz a doctor helpin' young girls along
if they wuzn't too far gone to have problems.
But defenders of the dollar eagle
Said "What you doin', Doc, it ain't legal,"
and now he's in the bottle.
Now we watch him everyday tryin' to
chase the pigeons away
from the bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.

But defenders of the dollar eagle
Said "What you doin', Doc, it ain't legal,"
and now he's in the bottle.Damn! This song is so powerful and a beautiful funky tune. The lines quoted above likely refer to the doctor giving abortions to young girls then being stopped.
Here's a video link.

The final album, Scott-Heron's 2010 release I'm New Here, marks a significant change in his life. Brian Jackson is no longer his partner and he hasn't released an album since 1994. He spent time in prison and was addicted to drugs. He's grown older and his voice is rougher. Times have been hard on him. Musically, the album samples Kanye West's "Flashing Lights" and uses elements of contemporary hip-hop and electronica. I like to see it as his comeback album, but at 28 minutes long, it doesn't feel complete. Also, a lot of the tracks are short spoken word interludes and the songs are covers. However, it's still worth checking out and shows that Scott-Heron is following current trends in music. You have to love the powerful spoken word tribute to his grandmother, the elderly southern black woman who raised him. And as he concludes, he was raised by women in order to become a man. "My life has been guided by women but because of them, I am a man."

Part 2

"New York Is Killing Me is another favorite moment of mine. It mixes urban blues, gospel, and hip-hop to express how hard the past 20 years have been for Gil. Indeed, as he says, "City living aint all that it's cracked up to be. I need to go home and slow down in Jackson, Tennessee." My favorite line: "It has 8 million people and I didn't have a single friend."

So in the end, I'm New Here is definitely worth checking out. The dark spoken word interludes are very short and bring down the album a tad bit, but the extended spoken word pieces are definitely worth checking out, especially "Running." "Me and The Devil," an interpretation of blues legend Robert Johnson's "Me and the Devil Blues," sounds horrifyingly modern and gloomy. Folk influences can be found in the title track as well, which is also a cover song.
"Me and the Devil" might be the 2nd best song on the album, after "New York is Killing Me"

So I don't really know how to conclude. Gil Scott-Heron's music was a huge influence on hip-hop and neo-soul. His minimalistic production on his early albums, such as Pieces of a Man, his spoken word vocal delivery, and the jazz and funk influences he transformed demonstrate his significance in African-American music. Furthermore, his 2010 release illustrates that he is not out of touch with contemporary music scenes, including hip-hop, electronica, trip-hop, and folk. For decades he was able to survive as an artist without sacrificing his integrity for commercial success. One must also admire how personal his last album is. In fact, his lyrics refer to his drug addiction, loneliness, depression for nearly 20 years.
Indeed, one could easily interpret the spoken word piece "Your Soul and Mine" and its references to the vulture as narcotics. Furthermore, the magnificent "I'll Take Care of You," the most traditional Gil-style song on the album, shows that he hasn't lost his ability to sing soul music. Therefore you should go listen to Gil Scott-Heron right now. Don't deprive yourself the pleasure and enlightenment.

I'll take care of you