I Know Black People

In a nutshell, I think the race issue is rather absurd. But what I find more absurd are people's ideas of what Black people are. The funniest and the most disturbing things I hear always come from people who are not Black. But, because they "grew up with Black people" or "all their friends are Black" they some how understand what it means to be Black. This is even more apparent with the younger MTV generation who equates material possessions as status and culture. To begin, and what actually started me writing about this was an article on MSN that was about the "Mega-Church". And at first there was absolutely nothing about race in this segment. Usually I don't defend the state of rap at this moment, but then after reading a seemingly harmless line about how converting the traditional style of churches to be more modern was like converting Shakespeare into Hip-hop, I felt compelled. Now I understand that there is probably no ill intent meant by that statement, but I have to argue that it reeks of ignorance. Because if they actually read Shakespeare and listened to some rap lyrics, they would hear the same tragedies, the same laments and fateful happenings. I maybe stretching all this a bit thin but I'm sure you see what I mean. Plus I just watched Titus the other night so I know all about Shakespeare. But now for the meat. A while back at work I was asked by a co-worker what the smelly stuff that men put on their faces before they shave. Being a Gillette man I was confused because I never took the time to smell my shaving cream but figured there was no adverse odors. Being frustrated with my and my other co-workers answers, she turned away saying "well you're not really black anyway". Screech! Now because I don't know what Magic Shave is that makes me not black? Obviously she had another reason for saying that. Which would include the way I dress, talk and treat others with some form of respect. So I enlightened her that I don't wear baggie clothes because I like to run and jump and fall down and an oversized jersey and sagging pants would only get in the way. That and I don't feel the need to prove how "black" I am by wearing all the same clothes, listening to the same music and front like I'm some kind of gangster when I live in Wichita, Kansas. I am not a Clone, I have never been nor will I ever be. I let her know how my entire family is proud of their culture and what she knows from dating all her black boyfriends is not what black culture is, what she sees on TV. In the book "Invisible man" by Ralph Ellison, he writes
"A conscience of a race is the gift of its individuals who see, evaluate, record... We create the race by creating ourselves and then to our great astonishment we will have created something far more important. We will have created a culture (Ellison, pg 354)."
That is exactly how I feel about my culture, which would be impossible for any one to fathom who didn't grow up in it. But what really upsets me are the youth that will never know who Ralph Ellison is or Jacob Lawrence or even someone who I really don't know too much about but still respect greatly, Edmonia Lewis. She was a sculptor who crafted "The Death Of Cleopatra" in 1876. Amazing for a black woman at that time in history with the quality of any of the masters. All that goes along with something a co-worker of Sarah's said of Lenny Kravitz. She said he was not black because he wasn't "ghetto" like he was supposed to be. Of course my smart ass had to chime in that he was drafted by the Jews, courtesy of Chapplle Show, episode one, season two. But seriously, not ghetto like he's supposed to be? What the fuck does that mean. That all Black people are supposed to be this dumbass jungle bunny, "I don't know, boss" cartoon versions of Nelly singing it's gettin' hot in hur. That shit pisses me of the point that I need to spit. Lenny Kravitz represents what I feel black people used to be in days of yore. Originality. Despite what lines people want to draw to Hendrix, he is doing something that no one else is. And he is exhibiting a talent that I have to say overshadows those of any rappers, because to play an instrument is beautiful (another reason I'm not Black is because I think it is and am willing to use the word beautiful instead of tizzight, fo shizzle my nizzzle). And as Sarah brought up, what about Hendrix, Billie Holliday, and Ella Fitzgerald. Were they "ghetto"? What about Duke Ellington or Dizzie Gillespie? If what it takes to be Black is a lack of education and a loud speaker system in your burnt out hoopty with 20 inch spinning rims, then count me out. The guys on http://www.wiggaz.com/ probably have a better idea about what it takes to be Black than me. It's a sad day when our Malcolm X's and Martin Luther King Jr's are replaced by Jay-Z and P Diddy, or just Diddy or Sean "Puffy" Combs or whatever the fuck his name is this week. I really don't know when rappers replaced real men of stature but it's pretty disappointing when the spokespeople for us are rappers. Probably because the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons are too busy blaming the federal government for their slow response, all the while jumping in front of the camera to show how much they care. Some old woman shot Jesse Jackson down from his high horse for not bringing any form of relief when he went to visit New Orleans to complain about the feds. Proving the fact that he and others only care for their own agenda rather than for the disenfranchised that suffered before Katrina. He got rich off the masses of Black people but he wasn't able to use any of that money to charter buses or at least buy groceries to make some sandwiches. But all these "supporters" of the black community would rather get all their rich friends together to tell my broke ass and my college student broke ass girlfriend to give what we can. Motherfuckers, did Diddy and Jay-Z give all they could? A million dollars between the two of them? That’s sick.When they own boats that they can land their helicopters on. And Bush hates Black people? All our leaders are useless so there is no wonder we only can look forward to being rappers and basketball players. Unless you are too short and can't rap, like me. Shit.