Election 2008: It's All About Color

Like most 30 year old urban professionals, I am completely thrilled with this election season. I am awe struck by Barack Obama’s ability to navigate the shaky political landscape that has been set before him. Between the unnecessary or ill planned wars, economical travesties, the class warfare, and the never ending battles over the government’s role in legislating morality, there are so many tangents to get lost in. Barack seems to navigate them so effortlessly. What impresses me most about him is his ability to explain color in this country. Not the black, or the white, the brown, the blue or the red, but the all important and encompassing gray. Yes, the gray area in between the dead end corners our political parties, religious views and ethnic loyalties paint us into. When it’s all said and done, more and more Americans are comfortable stating, or finally fully understand, that most issues we deal with in this country come in ambiguous shades of gray.

It’s hard getting excited about gray. Technically, it’s not even a color, but a shade. It is drab and inconspicuous; you can’t slam your fist down and proclaim it. You instead have to shrug your shoulders, in acknowledgment of the complexity of our world. Most people in blue states, or blue cities swamped in a sea of red, are forced to deal with conflicting views and perspective of the world on a daily basis. Major metropolitan cities like here in D.C., where the flags of Ethiopia and El Salvador, and Kenya, and India, and Iraq, and South Korea swirl around to make a true American flag, we understand the concept of nuance. Where mosques, and synagogues, churches, cathedrals, temples and other places of worship are all crammed into a tiny space, we are forced to recognize the common good in our paths to spiritual enlightenment. Where one block takes you from poverty and violence to affluence and frivolity and we are forced to reconcile hard work with hard luck.

Here we understand the truth to be stable, simple and plain, but seen through the veil of every ones separate and fluid reality it can appear in a myriad of ways. We understand how religion conflicts with reason, but see how it bolsters our spirit where reason has not supplied answers. We understand the power of branding, of 30 second commercials, with slogans, mottos and tag lines, but realize that any real solution to a question is long and drawn out, with caveats and variables. We are accustomed to answers that cannot be boiled down to catch phrases or repetitive chants like “drill baby, drill”. Even though we want the sun to shine bright, we go outside looking for the shade. There is a comfortable median in gray.

We do not live in a world where we see circling “all of the above” as a lack of decisiveness. We understand that between conflicting views lies the truth. We don’t waste time arguing nature versus nurture, or big bang versus intelligent design, socialism versus capitalism, and good versus evil. We accept the fluidity of reality, not as some new age, eastern “yin yang” philosophy. We understand it to be reality. Obama answers questions carefully and measured. He leaves room for change, retraction, and addendum as the situation requires it. That might be what we admire about him as a politician more than anything, that he can be bring excitement, definition and energy, to gray.

Americans have seen what happens when their politicians paint with a broad brush. We’ve experienced what it’s like being racist xenophobes under the current administration. The inability to tell one Arab/Muslim/bad guy from the next allowed us to mistake Saddam Hussein for Osama bin Laden. The inability to see gray allowed us to miss the fact that nothing is more unsettling for a secular dictator than a religious zealot, no matter what your ethnicity or geographic commonality is, and therefore any alliance between them was ridiculous. I understood that, thousands who marched around the world before the Iraq war understood that, Barack understood that too.

Americans are tired of being treated like children. We are tired of our politicians thinking that we cannot understand the finite detail of world affairs. We understand that all of our friends and allies aren’t saints (Saudi Arabia, Israel etc) and we understand that our enemies are not the spawn of Satan (Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea). We understand that we make alliances of convenience, and that the civil rights violations and potential threats a country might bear against us are always weighed against their value as trade partners and strategic military allies.

Die hard republicans are exasperated because they believe that they haven’t yelled Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers and Tony Resco’s names loud enough. They don’t believe what is really happening, that Americans HAVE looked at Obama’s associations and have decided that we are tired of caricatures and unrealistic expectations. We understand the black church’s need to be a political and social force, and to remind it’s congregation of this countries past transgressions, so as to stay on guard for new ones. We also understand how a man can be overwhelmed by his position of ecumenical power and forget to speak with clarity and wisdom. We understand that it is possible to enter into a righteous cause with someone, who unbeknownst to us has, at one point, committed unrighteous acts. We understand that if you do enough business, with enough people, you will eventually do business with a criminal. We haven’t blindly turned away from Obama’s nefarious associations; we understand these associations as a gray reality of dealing with people. We understand that if you have never interacted with someone of questionable character or intentions that it is more of a reflection of you not expanding your circle, than some remarkable “spidey sense” to be able to stay away from evil.

That is why we are not encouraged by McCain’s bold claims that he can capture Bin Laden, but are instead fearful of that level of arrogance and certainty. That’s why we are not swayed by McCain’s cries of Obama being a socialist, because we understand that capitalism unchecked is cannibalistic and must be tempered by human hands that put people above profit. That is why, at the last debate, we stood in awe, as Obama offered an olive branch of working together to reduce unwanted pregnancies instead of bickering over the issue of abortion. More than any other argument, this one needed to be painted gray, a color McCain refuses to see, because his base responds only to black and white, red and blue, good versus evil.

There is a large but shrinking violet part of the country that is comforted by absolutes. They hear, speak and see no evil when it comes to God and country. They sleep easier knowing that communists and Muslims are bad guys and that the poor slacked their way into homelessness. Their religious leaders fail them, the beloved free market turns on them, and their military might fails to protect them, yet they cannot see that any absolute in this life is destined to disappoint. The rest of us see the absence of black or white, and long for a leader who brings us together, to explain the gray.

"Light Skinnededed"

“So, I have to ask… are your sons mixed?”

Did you really have to ask? I’m not really offended, but thank you for confirming one of my biggest, deepest, darkest, and most shameful insecurities. It reminded me of when i did this event for a black sorority. They loved my presentation, took me out to dinner afterwards and everything …I’ll get back to that story.

So here’s the thing. I didn’t realize I was so color conscious until after the initial shock and awe of the birth of my beautiful sons. Olu and Dela were 5 lbs 1 ounce, and 3 lbs 9 ounces respectively. It had been a trying, complicated pregnancy. The second born, Dela, looked like a sleeping frog, including the narrowest butt in captivity. Among his many nick names (bantam weight champion of the world, skinny mini) “frog booty” is probably my favorite. He initially had problems breathing and drinking at the same time, but he worked through that just fine and they both look like handsome humans. He’s going to be Andre 5000. He can dance, beat-box, sing and play the jembe at the same time, despite the fact that I can never get the camera on in time to catch him. If he’s supposed to be the next Einstein I hope to know how to help him get there too. The first-born, Olu, is a stud; early sonograms show him kicking the crap out of his smaller brother. He walks around with legitimate (and overly used word these days) swagger, and is fiercely independent and alarmingly smart for a 2 year old. He’s at that cute stage where he can be smart ass and be applauded for his intelligence instead of sent to the corner for time out, and he knows it.

Almost immediately after they where born I noticed that these where the palest people I’d ever seen in my life. They were lighter than all the white doctors and nurses in the delivery room. I can’t even remember how my mind tried to rationalize it. I think I kept waiting for the color to kick in, some of my friends told me that’s what happened when they where born. But no, they are still at least 3 shades lighter than their mom, whose at least 2 shades lighter than me. Ahhh, and the blond hair around the edges of their face…

Okay, lets take this even further back. Their mom is half Cape Verdean. No, that’s not the made up ethnicity Tiger Woods said he was 10 years ago (that was “Cablasian”). It’s a small island of the coast of West Africa colonized by the Portuguese, a major stop in the Portuguese slave trade with Brazil. The people there are of every complexion you can imagine. Her grand father, one generation removed from Cape Verde, could’ve passed when he joined the U.S. military in WW II, but didn’t. They eventually made an all Cape Verdean division. There are now more Cape Verdeans in the US then in Cape Verde. They have damn near taken over New Bedford. When we first started dating, she told me not to be surprised if our children have hazel eyes and blonde hair, because Cape Verdeans are a hodgepodge of DNA. She has cousins, brothers and sisters with the same parents, who look black, Puerto Rican, and “mulatto” respectively. Neither of us knew how serious that possibility was.

It’s funny, but with my African last name people often ask me where my family is from. They look at me side ways when I say South Carolina. I haven’t done the whole “Skip Gates” thing and traced my DNA. I’ve traced my fathers family on his mothers side, the Hancock’s, through a 150 year old family tree scribbled in a bible to the “Hancox” plantation, lord knows the gumbo of combinations that happened there. My fathers mother, my grand mother, was about the same complexion as my children. She deserves a whole article to herself, but that’s for another day. We keep saying we’re going to go to the county seat and check the property records and track it even further. My father tells me that I have Cherokee or Katawba in my blood lines on his fathers side. So, basically “I got Indian in my family”. My mother side is black, as simple or complicated as that is in South Carolina.

Until I can find a way to narrow that whole explanation into one sentence, I just tell people, “nah, my sons are black, just mixed the way all of us are”.

Which is a much longer answer than the, “why should it matter?” that I want to say. But in reality, I feel like I understand. I would have the same questions, I wouldn’t have asked, but I think those things. The “black power” part of me is offended that people think their mother is white. I don’t judge anyone for deciding to be with someone of another race. It’s hard as hell finding love, and I don’t stand in the way of any one who thinks they have found it. At the same time, I could never see myself dating someone who didn’t identify themselves as black. I’ve never thought someone not black could relate to me because my blackness is a huge part of my self identity.

I’ve dated black women exclusively my whole life, of every complexion and shape. I must admit, however, that I’m as partial to light skinned black women as most black men. As sort of a nod to our conditioning, a favorite club game in college with one of my best friends and I was called “is she REALLY fine? or is she just light skinnededed?”. (you’ll find that if you really look at a lot of “fair skinned” women, they don’t have as much in common with Halle Berry or Alicia Keys other than their complexion). Talking black peoples obsession with race can get you on many tangents. So…

The look on black womens’ face, especially older black women, when I’m in the mall with my sons away from their mom, shifts from “They are the cutest little things in the word!” to “Shoulda got a sista!” in half a second flat. I get all the unspoken flak from being with a white woman, without any of the perks (you know, good credit and stuff like that), and I hate that I care. I become, in their minds, what is wrong with black men. On some level I feel like I should be able to relate to people in mixed marriages who go through that on a daily basis, but that’s not hardly what I signed up for. “They’re black dammit! I’m not your favorite basketball player or successful businessman who needed a white woman to complete his assimilation into society!” That thought is wrong on so many levels, but exactly what goes in my head.

I’m worried for my sons, and the strong African names I gave them, knowing that there is no way someone from African would ever consider them black. I’m also worried, because the few group physical confrontations I got into when I was younger, where always about jealous guys going after my light skinnededed, mixed friends. I’m more worried than anything that my own latent color consciousness will affect how I interact with them.

…So, I’m at the dinner table with a group of beautiful educated black sorority women, who are all laughing and engaged because they think I’m clever and a positive role model. They think I’m admirable because of my concern for our community and our children. I’m grinning from ear to ear because “This ‘Read a Book’ guy is the kind of black man we need more of in our community”. They love the way I speak glowingly of my sons. Naturally, they want to see a picture. When my wallet gets passed around, (they try not to, but non of them or theater majors) their faces change dramatically. After seeing that, so does mine.

Real Sex…for 10 Year Olds: Why Abstinence Only Doesn’t Work

Imagine for a second, a 50 year old adult with their eyes squinted shut, their pointer fingers jammed in their ears, and their whole upper body swiveling like a water sprinkler yelling “La La La La La!” at the top of their longs. That is the personification of the abstinence only program many socially conscious organizations are hauling around as dead weight, after being lured by the carrot of federal funding. On any given week day you will see 12 years olds being taught a perfectly valid social value, without being give any of the necessary tools to practice it.




Abstinence only doesn’t work because of a basic credibility problem. Yes, we want our young people to wait to have sex until they are at least mature enough to understand the ramifications of their decision, if not until they are married. But abstinence only operates in a vacuum, where your children will never hear about condoms, contraceptives, abortions or same sex relationships. That reality doesn’t exist. Your child will listen and take to heart everything you tell them about sex and sexuality, applying it to their daily lives, until they are exposed to something else that you didn’t prepare them for. At that moment everything you taught them about sex comes into question.

“If mom didn’t tell me about condoms, what else did she not tell me about?”

This will serve to do the exact opposite of what you intended, pushing your child to experiment on its own, instead of trusting your judgment about sex. How can you blame them? Your advice has proven to be partial at best, and a lie at worst.

Now, at a crucial time in our countries history, the epidemic of teen pregnancy and the policy makers who decide how we combat it has come together to form a perfect storm. And we have been forbidden to talk about it. Not only are we closing our eyes and acting as if we not acknowledging our children’s sexuality will make the problem go away. We must also pretend that we don’t notice that a conservative republican, who believes in abstinence only education, has a daughter who is pregnant at 17. We are not allowed to ask her what her conversations about life and sexuality are like with her children. We cannot ask her to explain how poor, single parent households are suppose to turn the tide of teen pregnancy when the Palin’s, with an obviously strong and cohesive family unit, cannot seem to get it right.

Please don’t misunderstand my position. I too feel like attacks on the Palin family are distasteful and crass. I have no urge to rub this in their face, call them bad parents, or question their core beliefs and values. I am, however, determined to make this a national conversation about how to protect our future through proactive understanding and education about our countries sexuality. As I’m sure Governor Palin’s eldest son will be the new mascot for why we must get it right in Iraq, her infant son will be the poster child for special needs children, her daughter’s situation should be a spring board to a much needed conversation on comprehensive sexual education.

I’ve worked as a counselor and then as a consultant for a non-profit organization federally funded to teach abstinence only classes in the Washington DC public school systems. My main task eventually evolved into making the abstinence curriculum “hip-hop friendly”. I incorporated popular music videos and radio hits into the curriculum. Those extremely overt songs about promiscuous sex that your pastor rails against, we spend 3 to 4 one hour sessions dissecting in detail. It’s amazing how much 12 years understand, or at least retain, about sex from popular media, their peers and the adults around them. One of the first exercises I would do when I begin as a counselor was to ask the students to act like their were no adults in the room and give me all the slang terms for sex and genitalia they could think of. On top of the typical old sexual jargon of violence and construction terms (bang, screw, nail, smash, hit) their where some new ones (cut) some regionally specific ones (bop) and one that I only thought would creep into the minds of those brave enough to read “savage love” on a weekly basis. I am amazed how few adults know what it means, but without fail every classroom of 7th graders yelled out “tea bagging” within the top 5 responses when asked to give me slang words on sex.

Even the most protected child has to acknowledge his or her parent’s naivety about modern sexuality because of all the information blatantly omitted from their sex talks. And while this might not lead directly to loose girls and gigolo boys, it is a seed that can grow given the wrong set of circumstances and friends. This is one of few subjects, if broached early and delicately enough, that you will have your child’s undivided attention. Their natural curiosity about their body and the complete lack of concrete information about the amazing transformation they are going through makes them wide open to suggestions at the ripe old of 10 to 12 years old.

Sex is not a private matter, it is an urgent matter of public safety! For the sake of our society’s future we need to agree upon some basics facts about sex and sexuality. Your values are your own, and should be passed from parent to child in ways that you are culturally comfortable. But a shared reality is that this is a world of penises and vaginas that are constantly colliding, sharing microbes and making more penises and vaginas. This affects public health, the economy, psychological and emotional health. This reality is older and will last longer than any language that is taught in school, whether it’s Latin or html. When your 11 year old daughter hears the term “getting some head” for the first time, it would be a lot more empowering for her to be able to say “my father explained what that was, and why I shouldn’t do it, you’ve got it all wrong” instead of “what does that mean?”.

And when we are given a chance to discuss this reality publicly we cannot pass up on the chance. We can be tasteful, we can be respectful and scientific. We cannot do the age old “hear no evil, see no evil” policy that has gotten us to this point. Too many lives are at stake.

Palin for President

Did you notice that tremendous thunder this Friday following the awe-inspiring speech by Barack Obama from over a mile high in the sky? No? That’s because the McCain campaign stole it with it’s out of this world decision to select Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate. This announcement made her the first women to ever be considered for the position in a Republican Presidential campaign. So what makes someone qualified to by Vice President? As John McCain so famously stated, “the only job of the vice president is to check up daily on health of the president, and attend funerals”. The Vice President should be able to carryout the policy of the President if the President isn’t able to do so. That being the case, who has made the best vice presidential choice in the 2008 presidential race?

Before I compare their choices, I must say that I’m loving the idea that now all of my favorite talking point hungry, right wing pundits, are going to have to give their heart felt argument every night that they believe a mother of five with a pregnant teenage daughter and a special needs infant is completely capable of running the country. Can you imagine Sean Hannity ever thinking he was going to have to make that argument? If this had been a Democrat he would have ripped her for not paying enough attention to her family. He, and many others, have already said that Obama was neglectful and arrogant to want to be president with two young children. I’m not going to incite the wrath of million of super-moms out there who balance careers and families, but the idea that her families age and size have no bearing on her ability to perform her job is ridiculous. Especially considering the social conservative understanding of the mother as family’s primary caregiver. I’d also love to see how fervent Obama supporter, Oprah, is going to respond to this. Sarah Palin should just have “future hour long guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show” highlighted in bold on the top of her resume. No matter how you feel about the woman, her story is compelling, and if champions for women’s advancement ignore her it would be very hypocritical.

Also, following the earth shattering news on Monday, I understand that direct and unscrupulous attacks on Palin’s daughter would be tasteless and out of place. But to say that teenage pregnancy of a conservative Vice-Presidential candidate is irrelevant is insane. Cultural conservatives are active in bringing policy and legislation that affects how people live their everyday lives. From abortion rights, to sex education, to gay rights, they don’t just have theoretical conversations about how people should live. They are actively writing laws and campaigning on sexual morality. When their personal lives directly reflect or interfere with public policy position, it has to become fodder for debate. The same as when the social conservatives where planning a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage (an amendment that would have been the first to take a right instead of grant one) and Dick Chaney’s daughter was out, openly gay, and trying to adopt a child. Being unable to discuss the real life instances as it is affected by government policy is unreasonable. Besides, the teenage pregnancy in the Palin family will be exploited by the religious right, as evidence of Palin’s firm commitment to life and example of her being a super-mom dealing with real world issues. Discussing the conservative position on sex and abstinence education only makes sense, and asking how current and future policies would affect Mrs. Palin’s current situation is a fair question that the American people should demand an answer to. That would not be an unfair attack, but a necessary step to further the dialogue on the subject.

Now lets compare their choices. Barack Obama selected Joe Biden, after running his entire campaign based on change, on being a new face in the White House that is not beholden to the old ways of Washington. After basing his entire movement on that concept, he selected one of the oldest and most familiar faces in Washington to carry out his legacy if he is unable to continue it. If Obama was trying to find someone who most closely reflected his background and outlook on the future of American society, one would tend to think he would have selected fellow political newbie, Virginia first term Governor Tim Kaine. But seeing how he didn’t want to scare people with too much change at once, he went with a “safe” choice, hoping to quell any doubts about risks involved in voting for him. Despite the fact the Joe Biden had echoed many of McCain’s concerns about Obama’s experience during the primary campaign, Obama is betting on him making voters less nervous about his Presidency.

John McCain selected the first term Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin. Mrs. Palin, who is renowned in Republican party circles as a reformer and social conservative, and whose foreign policy experience, according to some bright people at Fox News, comes from her close proximity to Russia in the Berring Straight. After running his entire campaign based on the idea that the country needed someone with real foreign affairs and war time experience he selected a candidate with no experience or (by her own admission) interest in either. What McCain did do was find the biggest poster child for feminist social conservatism since Mary mother of Jesus. He has successfully satiated the desires of the Dobson crowd while trying to pilfer votes from disgruntled Hillary supporters. Whether or not ex Hillary supporters are willing to jump ship just to see a women, any women, get a step closer to the White House is yet to be seen.

Let’s take a closer look at both of these selections. The job of the Vice President is to carry out the policy of the President in the event of an unforeseen circumstance. So who is really selecting the best choice? As pointed out earlier, both candidates have picked someone who seems diametrically opposed to some of their major arguments for their own legitimacy as President. But in reality Obama’s main focus is based on a philosophy. Obama’s campaign is based on an articulated vision of America, and though it wouldn’t have the same gravitas with someone else bringing the message, it shouldn’t be impossible for another individual to carry it out. Even though Biden’s career does not represent Obama’s movement of change, it’s not impossible for someone to over see the implementation of his ideas if they truly had the desire to. McCain however, has made real life experience a major point. There is nothing you can do to replace McCain’s experience in Vietnam, or a quarter of a century in congress. McCain and Bush, until recently being exposed by Obama and the Iraqi government, have contended that the wars in the middle east over terrorism are a fluid situation that demands a long-term commitment and wisdom to act on the changing reality there. They’ve argued that his wisdom can only be gained through real world experience. This isn’t a philosophy; this is a real tangible qualification that can be accounted for by a quick check of someone’s resume. Nothing on Palin’s resume, except complete faith in the supremacy and wisdom of a Christian God, matches what McCain says we need at this critical time in history to run our country.

So what are the Vice-Presidential selections really saying about the position. Without any heads up to the Robert Rules of Order, the “vice” has been replaced by “co” when it comes to running for second in line to the President. Instead of looking for a candidate who’s resume is similar to the one that each party has ordained as THE man for this crucial time in our history, the co-president is seen as someone who is filling in the gaps in experience (and voting demographic) of the Presidential nominee. Now we aren’t selecting the next best thing in the party, but the person who represents the most polar opposite demographic of the party in order to sell the other half of the party on coming out in droves to the polling booth and be a divergent view point in the White House. Now Barrack is not only a pioneering black man from the mid-west, but he’s also a white northeast baby boomer with military and foreign policy experience. Now McCain is not only a war veteran and foreign policy guru, but also an expert on family values and energy exploration.

The McCain campaign is hoping that they will be able to counter anyone who notices the hypocrisy in their selection with the claim that they are being anti-woman. But in reality, other than successfully stealing the spotlight on Friday, how can the Republican Party possibly justify their selection of Mrs. Palin as Vice President. I’ve already heard many talking heads argue that she is not running for President, but for Vice President. No one has called them out to define the job, which in my book involves a whole lot more than stealing headlines in the weekend news cycle

Reflecting on Read a Book

The end of last summer I felt that I was in the midst of a perfect storm, that place where conscious/socially relevant art was clashing with commercial media and the on going battle that BET likes’ to call “Hip-Hop vs. America”. This storm is causing a shift in the movement to uplift blacks, and the FEMA trailers of the old movement that are not able to stand in this environment will only be able to hold on in our memories.

With the emergence of non-traditional black sports stars like Tiger Woods and Venus and Serena Williams, the business success of Oprah Winfrey and Bob Johnson, and the political clout wielded by Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Barack Obama, the plight of the “poor Negro” is becoming irrelevant to the modern white America. Yes, there is still a legitimate case for government and and social institutions to aide “poor negroes”. There is still a battle to be fought, against this countries expectations and limitations, a battle against our educational and social enemies. All of these issues are an off shoot of the Imperialistic racism that caused us to be here, but expecting this country to solve this problem, especially after we’ve achieved so many token victories, is becoming more and more difficult.

The new battlefield is for the minds of our young people, specifically the battle over what it is to be authentically black. Unfortunately, the glorification of material things, the objectification of ourselves sexually, and the use of profanity has come to epitomize the essence of “realness” in commercial hip-hop. Most surprisingly, our young people are keenly aware of this fact, as evidence by the hundreds of emails and myspace messages I received from teenagers, they just feel powerless to change it. They’ve been programmed to think that popular culture happens to them, instead of something they can create the way the forefathers of hip-hop did.

Another major element of backlash that I received comes from the idea that nothing good can come from BET. The method by which the message was delivered probably had more to do with why it was effective and was it was rejected by some black intellegencia. This has led me to another valuable lesson. Yes, the major multi-media companies that hoard cable, radio, and record labels are life-sucking vultures that prey on the African American community. That knowledge does not negate the fact that real people, who want to find a way to change the message without affecting their companies’ bottom line, run these companies. You don't understand how many record label A&R’s (my age and complexion) contacted me after seeing the video and then peeping my music on myspace saying that they would love to find a way to prove to their boss (a middle aged non-black man every time) that this is marketable in black society. Outsiders don't think we want this, a message with our music, despite the reactions I get from middle school, high schools, night clubs and correctional facilities when I bring my music and message directly to them.

Honestly, I don't always want a message with my music. To stretch around and pat myself on the back, Read a Book rocks no matter what your socio-political affiliations is, just because of how fun and live it is. This speaks to a larger issue, a level of compromise that needs to come from both directions. I’ll begin with a quick personal survey. How many positive, conscious (what ever you want to call them) message songs can you think of that you would put on when you want to start a party! What songs do you hear that actually motivate you, prod you to take action? Even some of my favorite conscious songs are for listening, dissecting and then agreeing with, but they don’t push me to anything. Music is a motivating force for me. It affects my attitude, my outlook for the moments while I’m listening and the moments immediately after until I’ve moved on to the next song.

Conscious artist have to start making pop songs! Most conscious cats think their music has to sound like Premo or Pete Rock did the track and that you have to rhyme like Nas or Thalib Kweli. No disrespect to any of those artist, I am definitely a fan, and they have paved their own lane and are still speeding down it from now until the foreseeable future. But many times when I talk to like minded artist, those who want to reach out to the youth, they send me to their websites where I hear a track that sounds like the “golden age of hip-hop”, which is completely irrelevant to the young people we are trying to affect.

Quick note to all edutainers, there is nothing inherently evil, anti-community or anti hip-hop about Mannie Fresh, Lil Jon and David Banner beats. The idea of equating real and potentially uplifting music with the digging in the crates style of production is what makes conscious rap irrelevant to under 25 year olds. Besides, the synthesized/live music feel of current commercial hip-hop has more in common with old school hip-hop than anything that happened in the Golden era. When I say old school I mean really old school, not 88 to 94, more like 78 to 85. The synths and simplified drum patters with claps for snares are a lot like the original stuff Bambataa was doing. The inability to embrace the style of production seems to come from adultism and regionalism. “There’s no way these young bucks know real hip-hop” or “That down south shit isn’t real, gimme an Alchemist beat!” Once again, every style has it’s place, but when was the last time a generation was able to successfully convince the next generation that their chosen style of music is some BS? NEVER!! So let’s embrace your 808 booms and thunderclaps, even that pitter-patter snare roll that you hear in everyone’s song now, for no other reason than to incorporate into our arsenal of tools to use when reaching our young brothers and sisters with music.

These are a few of the ongoing lessons I’m learning on this journey. I thank ya’ll for coming along for the ride!!

Join My Campaign to Ban the "N-Word"

This is your official invitation to join my campaign to ban the N-word. This word, since it’s inception, has had a deleterious affect on the attempt to further dialogue on race relations. Whether on television, radio, college campuses, and spoken word poetry nights at quaint coffee shops, you hear people spew the n-word liberally. For the sake of our tenuous racial relations, and the future of our children, I propose we ban the n-word.

That’s right the N-word. Not the word nigger, the “N-word”.

This is one of the most ridiculous inventions in American language. A word is only what you mean. If you say “N-word” and you mean nigger, it’s the same thing. We need to stop treating the word nigger like it’s a magical chant similar to “hocus-pocus” or “abracadabra”. People avoid the word like every time it’s uttered a dead Klu Klux Klansmen earns his wings. I know the NAACP officially buried the word, and there are numerous lessons on life in America to be learned from this groundbreaking institution, but I’m not taking vocabulary lessons from the National Association for the Advancement of COLORED People!

Our dialogue on anything consequential in this country is crippled by our refusal to encourage people to listen and comprehend. The need to publicly and absolutely ban any word speaks more to a deficiency in our educational system than an advance in our race relations. Words like satire, nuance, innuendo, inference, and context are lost on the vast majority of our population. Those words have been replaced by “blurb”, and “sound-bite”, giving the speaker fifteen seconds to expound and the listeners two seconds to decide how to react. We have lack the ability to see hypocrisy or irony (depending on the speaker and situation) for terms and phrases like “support our troops” or “bringing democracy”. Politicians and pundits alike, intentionally latch on to any language that can possibly be misconstrued. This allows Hillary Clinton supporters to restate Barack Obama’s words about Reaganism, or his grand mother, like they honestly did not comprehend their meaning.

Nigger is a hateful word. It is spoken under the breath of intolerant classmates, yelled at belligerent protestors gathered at lunch counters, and screamed at broken brown bodies swinging from trees. The weight of the word, however, is carried in the actions that it implies or emboldens the speaker to do, not by some mystical combination of letters. Therefore the power of that word can only be cured through transforming the actions of people, not the omission of the last five letters. To think that replacing nigger with “n-word” equates to real progress gives us a false sense of accomplishment as a society. It allows us to replace “dirty nigger” with “urban”, and “uppity nigger” with “articulate” with out anyone being insightful enough to catch the racism embedded in each statement.

African Americans sit around and rationalize over the top responses to any infraction of the “white people can’t say nigger” rule. Brothers and sisters, the next time you think you over heard a non-black in a crowded room say the word nigger, ask them straight forward and honestly “What did you say?” Then pay close attention and comprehend the response. Use their response to your question, your knowledge of who that is, where you are (and your ability if necessary to escape a physical confrontation unscathed) to determine your actions. You might have heard a co-worker warning his co-worker about racial epithets other colleagues used about him, or fan fondly reminiscing about Tupac Shakur lyrics. You more than likely over heard a racist, but to decide how you are going to respond to a trigger word before analyzing the circumstances is unhealthy no matter what the word is, be it “love”, “hate”, “ice cream” etc.

The “n-word” makes well meaning non-blacks tip-toe around very basic statements. Can you honestly call Tom Brokaw a racist if he says on air, “The fight in Jena Louisiana was caused after a white student called a group of black students a nigger”? Are we really that uneducated and unsophisticated to not understand context and intent. The word is supposed to make your toes curl and your hair stand on end. It is meant to transport you to that place of intolerance and hatred we loath to visit. It should be our goals to be skillful enough speakers to use the word when that is the response we are trying to engender from our audience.

From now on you must either say the word nigger, or “the word I am not permitted to say due to eminent violent pavlovian response from people of color or the social ostrisization from European Americans despite any way I might have intended to have said word” or (wipsdevprpcsoeadawimhisw for short).

As for the use of the term nigga (with an a), who can dare tell someone what is an acceptable term of endearment? I would never call Jesse Jackson my nigga, because he’s not, but my friend Everett is my nigga for life. They should change that aspect of the ban to the “I am not your nigga” campaign. Blacks from all over the country could sign a petition and have their picture taken and put on a website stating plainly and clearly that he or she is not your nigga. In all honesty, that’s not really necessary, most people know who their niggas are. I would never, and most blacks for that matter, call someone a nigga without some indication that the word would be taken indifferently or as a compliment.

Now, something can be said for the idea that the frequent use of the word belies a deeper meaning for how we, as black people, value each other. Even if that’s the case, you don’t rid your home of a fire by getting rid of the smoke. A dormant hate or contempt for your own can only be cured through constant affirmations of our shared history and future, combined with a recognition of the beauty we have as a people. If this is done, slowly and deliberately, not in token grand measures like marches or speeches, the words we use that tear us down will die a natural death.

The goal should not be to get people to say nicer things. Our goal should also be to get people to feel differently, that way we won’t have to worry about them saying what they feel. Our next goal should be to mean what we say, to expand our vocabulary to the point where we can use the appropriate word to address different degrees of emotion, urgency, context etc.

After successfully riding the planet of the n-word, I will go on to ban more words that are an insult to intelligence like “gosh darn”, “shucks”, “frickin’” and others to be added accordingly.

Image is Everything

It is always awe inspiring to stand in the shadows of momentous historic events. On my way to Jena last year we stopped and toured the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama. An odd mixture of solemnity, reverence, and accomplishment was felt in the air, mixed with the images of the girls, the explosion, and the community coming together afterwards. I spent this past Tuesday night standing under the sign of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia. This unexpected pause from sound checks and cd sales let my mind scan through a slide show of all the protests and near riots I was shown during black history month. The sense of community and camaraderie that must have existed amongst the thousands who came out to decry the evils of a racist social system had to have been palpable. This was a time when our community’s adversary was clearly defined, wearing uniforms, and based on nothing but centuries of hate.

You might have the fortune to travel down Massachusetts Ave a little later today (March 1, 2008). If you happen by the home of Debra Lee, CEO of BET, you’ll see Rev Coates and his congregation, along with numerous other volunteers getting all 60’s civil rights era on Ms. Lee’s block. Picket signs and raucous chants disturb this upper class neighborhood for hours on end during the weekend. This battle is also about images. Enough is Enough is up in arms over the portrayal of young black people in their video programming. The images synonymous with this generation seem to be the “blinged” out rappers/pimps/drug dealers with scantily clad, physically blessed and racially ambiguous women. They are there protesting the negative images shown on BET and have chosen an old school, outdated and inappropriate way to cause the change they seek. Too many people with righteous intentions are trying to cure the ills of our society like bulldozers, dealing only in absolutes with no understanding of nuance. Like Denzel Washington said in Training Day “This ain’t checkers, this is chess”. Enough is Enough, who uses my video “Read a Book” as an example of BET’s debauchery, is so caught up in reenacting the images of five decades ago that they can’t perceive what they are really protesting against, capitalism!

Picketing a corporation to make them change their practice from a proven business model is a direct attack on capitalism. Now, if you want to attack capitalism we can all turn off our cell phones, do a bug sweep of the room and discuss that in detail. But in real life, very few of Rev Coates' followers probably understand the awesome undertaking they are participating in. All they know is back in the day, if you had a problem in the way your community was being treated you folded arms with your neighbor and sang “We Shall Overcome”. That was a completely different situation though, when the enemy was the local, state and federal government, not a multi-billion dollar corporation. Social institutions respond to social pressure, businesses react to the business pressure!

Enough is Enough’s website makes a very interesting point, that they can’t just affect the profits of BET by not turning to that particular station because most cable packages make you pay for BET whether you are turning to the station or not. They are currently working for legislation to remedy that. Until then they are reduced to chanting in front of Debra’s house. But there are ways around that, ways to affect Comcast or your Satellite provider. They can collectively decide to not buy cable until they make BET an option instead of part of the standard package. Now, this would entail missing out on ESPN, CNN, The Food Network, Oxygen, a plethora of gospel channels etc.. This might be a bit of belt tightening that is too much for his constituency, but if they are really serious about affecting BET, this seems to be the most effective technique.




The organizations website also makes another interesting point, one that Al Sharpton likes to make on a regular basis. You can’t imagine someone portraying such consistently negative depictions of Jews or gays or any other minority group the way the video programs on BET do. But the power that these groups have in thwarting negative images of them is based in their spending power, and is only bolstered by the media coverage that comes from staging demonstrations, not created by it.

Can you imagine the amount of money you lose in this country, in consumers and investors, if you offend the wrong group? The question then becomes, why haven’t black people flexed that kind of monetary muscle? The only explanation is that we, as a group, have not made the connection to the images and music on BET and the problems that we’re having in our communities. When we battled Jim Crow there was never an issue with convincing people that the system was evil, only whether or not it was safe to protest. Our mission seems to be convincing the masses that they need to be upset and take action. Maybe we are over estimating the importance of the imagery? I doubt that, but I must believe that our lack of understanding of our young people’s real issues and aspirations leads to the inability to be able to guide them away from such negative images.

Beyond the fact that BET is not a social agency and therefore won’t react to social pressure that’s not connected to any financial pressure, they’ve also seemed to miss a very important distinction. Viacom is a corporation, Debra Lee is a person. During the build up and the height of the “Read a Book” hoopla I met numerous executives from the most powerful media and entertainment companies in the country. Beginning with the staff of BET’s animation department and including sub-divisions of every major record label in the country (there are only four). I had numerous lower level executives and A&R’s explain to me how much they loved what I was doing, beyond Read a Book. They all told me in detail how they would love to sign me, but they couldn’t find a way to convince their higher ups that there is a viable market for “conscious” or “positive” hip-hop. We would talk about how tired they are of putting out the same cookie cutter thug rap, and have tried to inject some creativity into their label. At the same time, each of these label exec’s had a platinum plaque or a poster on their wall from one of the recent “ring tone” rappers. They would listen to my project and applaud the lyricism and musicality, then start talking numbers.

This experience led to a very important lesson for me. The employees of these companies know that their programming is acting as a leach, sucking the economic and artistic energy away from their own communities. But they have a job to do. Some of these A&R’s and program directors are trying to find creative ways to circumvent the current programming, but haven’t come up with a formula to beat the proven “Sex, Drugs and Money” fascination that’s rampant in our culture. I would love for Rev Coates to do a poll of his congregation on their jobs and how what they do as a 9 to 5 conflicts with the over all well being of their community. Attacking people for doing their job belies a basic misunderstanding behind the driving force of our economy.

Michael Moore made an outstanding point in the great documentary called The Corporation. He explained the puzzling phenomenon of how a billion dollar corporation would support, through production and distribution, films and other mediums exposing the negative affect of that said corporation on our community. The explanation is simple. They only look at the bottom line. Blind to actual content and intent of any particular product, these corporations don’t care if you’re chanting down Babylon, as long as people are paying to hear it. That’s also why the hilarious episode of the Boondocks (banned from TV and leaked onto the internet) is insightful and entertaining but inaccurate. The execs at BET are not planning the downfall of black people; they are plotting how to make money. If you want to debate the merits of putting making money over the welfare of your community then count me in, but realize that once again you are battling capitalism, the very root of our country. That is a much more daunting task.

Reverend Coates has tapped into something incredibly powerful. To mobilize dozens of people to protest on a Saturday or Sunday instead of watching football or going to the mall is no small feat. This shows strong dedication to a cause and a willingness to sacrifice. I applaud there willingness to take action instead of just complain, like many social commentators do. Couldn’t this energy be directed towards constructing something healthy instead of destroying something you don’t agree with? Let’s use that energy to advocate a viable alternative, or at least inform us if you already are. Give your proactive efforts as much air time as your reactive ones.

In 2008 our young people have so many options to receive their information and entertainment from. My company has various new contracts to create video content for the internet; because the surge of blogs and social chat rooms has created a market for media that many believe is going to compete with the cable television and commercial radio. There are also fledgling cable alternatives targeting our communities like TV One. The production cost of the one episode of the Oprah Winfrey show when she berated hip-hop artists and executives could be used to start a record label or online magazine that would display music and images that Oprah would be proud to support.

If you let someone choose between the obviously clean and the dirty glass of water, he’ll pick the clean one every time. This has to be a concept that Rev. Coates is already familiar with. I doubt if he protests outside of brothels and drug houses, but instead tries to make his own church and congregation a beacon of light for people to be drawn to.

I would love to see Enough is Enough endorsing a hip-hop artist, a concept that my friend and collaborator Cedric Muhammad has cleverly called a “buycott”. Someone who’s message they agree with and whose music moves young people. These artists exist all over the place but are often ignored by main stream media. The mainstream is hard headed about anything different, but I know from personal experience that when you expose a teenager, even ones who are hard core “gangsta rap” fans to a positive and creative song that addresses their real concerns and/or projects an image of their desires and possibilities that they will flock to it. Enough is Enough could stay home in their comfortable chairs in front of their computer and work as said artists promotional team. They could spend that time sending messages to their favorite radio stations, informing the hoards of music fans on myspace and facebook about this artist. They could volunteer to be apart of Nielson ratings and keep their stations turned to positive programming, both edifying themselves and affecting the all important numbers that every media corporation watches.

Wouldn’t it be gratifying to walk into Debra Lee’s office and demand that she plays the video of artist “x” because you have empirical evidence (through the work of your organization) that this message sells, that this is the clean glass that every is thirsty for, that this is the image of the future that our young people can relate and aspire to.

I believe that Coates and Co have not advocated on behalf of any music or videos because they are operating under an old activist model and it just hasn’t occurred to them to be “pro” something instead of “anti” something else. His organization even protested outside of the BET Honors Awards! Someone had to have thought for a second that it would be in their best interest to encourage this program, which was specifically designed to honor our community’s accomplishments in every aspect of society, not just sports and entertainment. At some meeting to plan that protest it didn’t occur to anyone to support this program? They then could let BET know that if they create more programming like this they can expect more support from concerned citizens.

I don’t want to believe that they avoid supporting anything because he knows that the mass media will come and give you much more than 15 minutes of fame if you are protesting something bad in our community, but won’t give you the time of day if you are working diligently on something constructive. Career civil rights activists like Jesse Jackson would never support a grassroots hip-hop movement because at its outset CNN and MSNBC would not be calling him to pontificate about it on their networks. If it became successful, however, he would jump right on and claim to be part of spearheading the movement. The grassroots movement does not have the immediate gratification of seeing people marching arm in arm, but has a long lasting affect on the issue, including the building of an actual infrastructure to combat the ills they are protesting. It will be a slow process but one that will benefit hip-hop music and whatever new art form our young people are naturally cooking up right now that will emerge in the next decade. As the great historian John Henrik Clarke once said “we must begin projects that our grand-children will finish”.


I haven’t met Rev Coates personally, but colleagues who have tell me they believe he is earnest in his intentions to improve our young people’s lives by protecting them from negative images. My challenge to him would be to use the momentum he’s created and begin inundating our youth with positive messages. This effort wouldn’t have to be created from scratch. A quick Google search and you will find numerous organizations with the same concern as Enough is Enough, but who have chosen to take a proactive instead of a reactive approach. Organizations like the Hip-Hop Assocation, Hip-Hop Caucus, and Words Beats & Life are making moves to provide our young people with creative and positive alternatives. Artist all over the country like Strange Fruit Project, Blu and local artists like Tri-Flava and Asheru project a real image of black life and aspirations.

This is what the new movement looks like, young people in front of the camera or behind the microphone, making art that deals with their life and reality, being supported and guided by the adults in their community. It’s the image of young people on their computers and cell phones, forwarding pictures and songs from their new favorite artists. They are still reachable, and they are yearning very hard to be a part of a movement bigger than themselves. It is our job to show them what they can and should be, not just fight against what they should not be. When it comes to outdated tactics, enough is enough. It is time to become proactive.

Is Barack Obama WHITE Enough

"That's why I chose you. See . . . you one a 'dem!!"
- Samuel L. Jackson in "A Time to Kill"

So the hubbub has finally subsided. The King of Black People (Jesse Jackson) and the Prime Minister (Al Sharpton) have officially knighted Senator Obama as black enough. Of course it took a gang of white people in Iowa voting for him before anyone felt comfortable anointing him, but it happened none the less. I personally take credit for Obama solidifying the black vote because every time someone asked me that asinine "is he black enough" question, I would quip "what do you expect the first black president to be? A dashiki wearing, afro with a black fist pick having ex-black panther?"

Since that question seems to be settled, it's time for Barack to switch gears. Okay, maybe not Barack himself, he does a good job of appearing to be above the political and racial fray. But his supporters need to start pushing the idea of how white he is. Yes, that's right; Barack Obama is as white as he is black. The one drop rule is not a genetic law or a social fact; it is a construct of this countries racist imagination. For Christ sake, he's distant cousins with Dick Cheney. We need to start stressing the idea that his universal appeal is partly due to him being white, like all the presidents before him.

"But Bomani, we need to appeal to the historic significance of him being black, or try to make him non-racial!"

Nothing is further from the truth. In all honesty, the more I watch him talk and interact with people, the more I'm convinced that he is a "soul brother". He walks with a rhythm, slaps skin when he shakes hands with even the most white-bread politician, and speaks in a cadence that would make Rudy Ray Moore proud. Even though these attributes are part of the reason he has garnered support in the important blocks of voters like African Americans, liberals, anti-war activists, and the highly educated, it will also serve to galvanize a voting block that hasn't had to come together in the history of our country. That is the all important "Aw Hell No!" voting block.

That's right; the "Aw Hell No!" political block in our society has lain dormant for 200 years, waiting for a moment to flex its political muscle. Don't forget that this country is over well over 60% white and well under half of the population votes. That means there are a lot of white people who could care less about the political process. They believe that national politics are really out of their reach and that it's not worth taking off work to participate. As long as the Federal government stays within some superficial norms, they aren't worried about who does what in November. That's until a black man (and to be honest a, woman) had a chance to be president. This attack on the laws of the universe is destined to cause a spike in once apathetic voters.

This is the part of the editorial where I resist the temptation to stereotype all the members of the "Aw Hell No" voting block as backwoods, tobacco chewing, and cousin screwing hicks. That would be too easy and probably in accurate. This group has young and old members, in the rural areas and urban communities. "A.H.N." members are comfortable in their existence and just aren't ready for such a dramatic change. Most surprisingly, some members of this block have spoken glowingly of Senator Obama, maybe even attended his rallies. They won't realize they are members of this group until the curtain is closed behind them in the voting booth.

For this reason, Barrack's white heritage needs to be played up as much as possible. He needs to start posing with his mother's family a lot more, not the United Nations crew of brothers and cousins he's normally seen running with. Staffers need to start snapping as many pictures as possible of him putting mayonnaise on his sandwiches and shaking hands straight up and down (no more low fives that evolve into a shake with that pat on the back). He should also be banned from speaking at any kind of Baptist church, just churches that have only a pipe organ as an instrument and sing their songs solemnly and straight from a hymnal. Barrack should be given diction lessons so he can stop cutting of his y's (like "li-ber-teh" and "e-kwa-li-teh"). And for heavens sake, when he's campaigning this summer, avoid outdoor rallies!! We can't afford him getting any darker. (Is there some cute, anglo sounding nick name that we can use as short for Barrack? I'm open to suggestions.)

"But Bomani, playing into racial stereotypes has to be counter productive! And having him fake anything takes away from the realness that gives him such broad appeal!"

Look, after he wins the presidential election I will personal show up on Pennsylvania Ave during his inauguration procession to the White House, wearing red, black and green and screaming "Barrack, Bomaye!!". Until them I am not taking any more chances acknowledging him as a black man. If you want him to win the election I suggest you do the same.