Playlist Project: Black Women in Country Music

This project is really a departure for me as I have never been a big fan of country music. And that is weird, given that I enjoy most genres of music. I can also sing all of the words to Tammy Wynette's Stand By Your Man and y'all know how much I LOVE Dolly Parton. Well, as you know, people are complex and several things can be true at once, even if they appear to contradict--one can know all of the words to a seminal country song, one can be indifferent to that same genre of music, and yet, one can have a huge woman-crush on one of its biggest stars because she is just that AWESOME in every way imaginable!

Because Dolly is forever...

I grew up in the 80s when country music and its aesthetic were ubiquitous. Everything was either country, soft rock power ballads, or grown-folks R&B. Country was hairspray, unnatural cleavage, aerobics, and cowboy boots (essentially, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on the Love Boat). If you went into the hardware store, into an auto parts stores, or shopping at certain big box department stores, they only played country music. A good number of the popular movies/TV shows were centered around country and/or western themes--The Coal Miner's Daughter, The Dukes of Hazzard, Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, and Dallas. I swear Jim Henson featured a country musical guest on The Muppet Show every other week. And then because Ronald Reagan had been an actor in westerns, I thought every White House Christmas special featured Barbara Mandrell and Loretta Lynn (not so, but both singers were very popular during that time). 

Perhaps the most country thing of all was what we ate. Fast food in DC in the 80s was all about fried chicken, which while not as country as corn pone, was a big deal. I have no idea why that was, but in the era before the Colonel expanded into the city, Roy Rogers was one of the more popular fast food chains. There were three in my general orbit growing up--at the mall, near my dance studio, and across the street from my Dad's job. If you ate in at Roy Rogers, you were getting good fried chicken served with all of the twangiest country music legally allowed in a chocolate city.

Problem was, there were no Black stars other than Charley Pride singing country music back then, but let's be honest, his brand of country wasn't very appealing to kids my age. In fact, I don't know of anyone my age who willingly listened to country music back then, save for some Lionel Richie and We Are the World (and yes, I am categorizing WATW as a country song). But once MTV made everything about pop and rock, country got the boot...relegated to being the music you only heard at the hardware store. Or right before you turned the volume down during the awards shows while waiting impatiently for Prince to perform. Or what you only heard at Roy Rogers.

All American popular music is interconnected, so gospel begat blues and country and bluegrass and folk and rock 'n roll and pop and R&B in one continuous loop along the radio dial. It is sometimes impossible to hear certain gospel songs and not hear a country twang. Or not to hear the blues as anything other Black folks and British pop stars singing country music. Or to hear an interview with any American pop artist and not have them say that they got their start in a church choir. 

So it is not surprising that this journey has taken me to some familiar places musically. I won't stray too far off course here, but this #PlaylistProject was probably inevitable, yet definitely not as urgent until I saw that fateful tweet on my timeline about Maren Morris's acceptance speech at the Country Music Awards. I had been paying closer attention to news about country music because the genre was being called out for sexism in the aftermath of #MeToo. Several female artists complained that they were not getting the radio airplay that their male counterparts received, and a study released in Spring 2019 confirmed their allegations. This was parallel to the complaints of female artists in other genres that they were not receiving award recognition in spite of their commercial successes. The issue became undeniable when none other than REBA MCENTIRE (also revered, just not as much as Dolly) called the Academy of Country Music out for the disparities at last year's award ceremony. 

Perhaps 2020 is the reckoning, an acknowledgment that good music might be defined by a genre, but it isn't confined to a particular group or ideology. If hip hop's biggest stars (Beastie Boys and Eminem) and fans are white men, then it is high time y'all made room at the Grand Old Opry for Black women. 

I posted a playlist on the Facebook page for Maren Morris, and there is still a lot I need to learn about her and the country supergroup she joined last year called Highwoman. For now, I will direct you to this Spotify playlist I created (a work in progress) since the focus here is on the Black women her speech elevated. Just know that if you were as indifferent to country music as I was, you might change your tune after listening to Morris, Highwomen, as well as these six sisters. There will definitely be another country music #PlaylistProject in the future.

Linda Martell

The first Black woman to perform solo onstage at the Grand Old Opry was Linda Martell (born Thelma Bynem), in 1969. In my mind, she should have been a star or at least had a better chance at having a more consistent career, considering that she was unique and had a co-laborer in country music legend, Charley Pride. Alas, the familiar story of racism, accentuated by sexism, had derailed her career by the mid 1970s as recounted in this recent article in Rolling Stone magazine.

Before she made it to the Opry, Martell's career began in the classic way that R&B girl groups typically start out--a group of talented sisters/cousins/friends with beautiful voices and big dreams. In Martell's version, her group was The Anglos (later the Angelos) from a small community in South Carolina. They recorded A Little Tear (Was Falling From My Eyes) in 1962 which sounds exactly like a song that might have been released from Motown or from Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. That association is especially apparent on The Things I Do For You, the B side to A Little Tear, as well as on Lonely Hours released in 1963, so I cannot help but wonder how her career might have been different had she been in Detroit, Los Angeles, Memphis (with Otis Redding at Stax), or with a more prominent record label to promote her prior to her switch to country music.

Instead, she made it to the Opry in 1969, thanks to her cover of Color Him Father, a song that had been previously recorded by the R&B group The Winstons that same year. Her only album, Color Me Country, was released that same year, which included Before the Next Teardrop Falls and Bad Case of the Blues, which she performed on the popular variety show Hee Haw in 1970. Her manager at the time was Shelby Singleton, who initially helped to clear the path that led Martell to the Opry several times before she ultimately left the business in 1974. Check out the Rolling Stones article for the specifics, but I found it interesting that his decision to promote Jeannie C. Riley (Harper Valley P.T.A.) and then Martell's refusal to accept being passed over is what led to her disappearance from the country music scene. 

After Martell, other Black female performers of note were Ruby Falls (nee Bertha Bearden Dorsey) and Dona Mason. Now if I had heard either of these songs by Falls in those Roy Rogers days, You've Got to Mend This Heartache or He Loves Me All To Pieces, I would never have known any different. Mason's claim to fame is that she was the last Black woman to appear on the country music charts in 1987, thanks to her collaboration with Yankee-born singer Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass on Green Eyes (Cryin' Those Blue Tears). In hindsight, that seems pretty remarkable given how music collaborations in the 90s and 00s could have yielded more opportunities for hits; nevertheless, this is exactly why it is so unfortunate that we're only just coming to this moment when Black women are getting a chance to be heard in country music in their own right.

Mickey Guyton

Every listing of contemporary Black country music artists includes Guyton, but as an afterthought at the end of a list of male performers. So her story of consulting Google for a list of the Black women in the genre, and only then learning of Linda Martell in 2014 is not surprising. And to know that Guyton made her debut at the Opry 45 years after Martell's is just...wow. Hopefully, hers will be a name that will be remembered as a trailblazer for the next generation of up and coming artists who want to follow a musical path less traveled.

Perhaps it works out in Guyton's favor that she could be one of the more successful American Idol rejects, along with Jennifer Hudson, Amber Riley, and so many others. Yet, I can only wonder how much further along she could be if she had received the career boost that show gave Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Well, knowing that she's on Queen Dolly's radar is a great start, as is receiving an Academy of Country Music nomination for her debut single, Better Than You Left Me. A couple of other notable singles she has released include: Sister, Hold On, and Heaven Down Here. She released an NPR Tiny Desk Concert at Home earlier this year, which also includes Black Like Me, the single she released on Instagram this past Spring. That song probably won't win her any awards from the country music establishment...but I'm hoping that when Linda Martell hears about Guyton's courage, she feels some pride and vindication.

Rissi Palmer

Speaking of country songs that probably don't get much airplay, Seeds, released in 2019, definitely was inspired by the same kind of discontent and civil unrest that prompted Guyton's Black Like Me. The video features an allusion to the children locked in cages along the Southern border and includes the dramatization of a police shooting of an unarmed Black man. The messages are unrelenting, and Rissi Palmer, who has been paying her dues for more than a decade, is fearless. Since she had the distinction of being the first Black woman to chart twenty years after Dona Mason in 2007 with Country Girl, Palmer has earned the right to say whatever is on her mind.

In addition to Morris's acceptance speech that mentioned her, Palmer drew my attention on Twitter when she tweeted about her podcast, Color Me Country, the morning after the CMAs. Y'all know I will check it out, but in the meantime, here are a few of her songs that I like: No Air (yes, same as the Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown duet), Sweet Sweet Lovin, Soul Message, Revival, You Were Here, and Summerville.

Rhiannon Giddens

I first heard about Rhiannon Giddens a couple of years ago when she was profiled on NPR for having been awarded a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant back in 2017. I posted about it on the Facebook page, so when I listened to her music then and revisit it now, I don't get consistent country. In fact, I would categorize her music as firmly in the folk tradition with a world music vibe (listen and decide for yourself based on this 2019 Tiny Desk Concert). However, as we know these definitions are fluid, and being agile enough to transcend genres is what makes Giddens' voice and influence so powerful.

For example, Cry No More is exactly the anthem for this moment--weary of pandemic, in despair over racism and sexism, yet hopeful for the future if we remain undaunted. And to follow that up, there is the upbeat All You Fascists Bound To Lose, a remake of a Woodie Guthrie song. Not only is the message timeless, it is also timely (I say we play it on a continuous loop every night in front of a certain residence so that its Occupant gets the point). Finally, this duet with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Build A House, released for Juneteenth, is a beautiful fusion of various musical traditions and genres.

But this is a country music playlist, and Giddens' has country in her soul, which can be heard on Shake Sugaree (not nearly as gritty as Elizabeth Cotton's version), Louisiana Man, and She's Got You (an homage to Patsy Cline). 

Yola

The big shock here is that Yola is from the UK, so in the tradition of Black Brits who come across the pond to blow us away with their incredible pipes and unique sense of style, here she comes to break down barriers. Yola makes an appearance as the Freedom Rider on Highwomen, from the album of the same name, from the supergroup and the movement that has us paying closer attention to women in country music. (You real country music fans recognize this as an homage to the 1985 version of Highwayman.) And of course she nails it!

I should have discovered Yola sooner, as she also performed a Tiny Desk Concert, and that is typically how I discover new artists. I also missed her at the Grammys this year, but now that I've found her, I'm all in! I love her take on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (and after watching that video, I feel like we all need to get high). Speaking of interesting music videos, Ride Out in the Country is exactly that...as is Shady Grove (which I had to watch a few times to figure out). Love All Night (Work All Day) is classic country, as is Walk Through the Fire.

Brittney Spencer

How does a young woman born and raised in Baltimore, who grew up singing in the AME church, end up pursuing a career in country music? Did I mention that she said she sang with THEE Twinkie Clark? Well, here she offers an explanation in her own words; there is also this interview she did with a local TV station.

Of these ladies, she is the one on the cusp of stardom, so hopefully Morris's shout out will open more doors for Spencer's career to take off. I found a few of her songs on YouTube via the Communal Hymnal site where her blog was posted. There I found Whiskey Lows and God is Not Abusive, the kind of millennial Christian worship songs that are consistent with the spiritual and musical journey Spencer appears to be following. Because of her youth, it occurred to me that a song like Thoughts and Prayers, which alludes to what we often say in the aftermath of tragic events expresses her generation's frustration, respectful yet earnest. I found more of her music on Spotify, most of it released this year such as Sorrys Don't Work No More, so I'm guessing that the pandemic has stymied her breakthrough somewhat. Thus her choice to release If You Say So, which was apparently recorded at a friend's home, is peak 2020.

Epilogue

If you can believe it, there are MORE artists to discover, more Black women who are going against the grain in pursuing a musical journey off the beaten path of R&B, pop, and gospel. I saw from Rissi Palmer's Twitter page that there are other artists that Maren Morris did not mention, so perhaps they will be included in my follow up. 

As I noted on the FB teaser playlist, these sisters are #WOKE. Some of the music they have dared to record and release is bolder than what has been attempted by artists in other genres. I'm not sure that songs like Black Like Me or Seeds would even get much radio play on the college or local public stations, let alone on the commercial country stations. But the messages are unmistakable and powerful, like some of the women who sang in another era of civil unrest. Nina Simone, Odetta, Miriam Makeba, and Mahalia Jackson went against the grain in their day, so maybe Mickey Guyton, Rissi Palmer, Yola, and Brittney Spencer are following in their footsteps. Rhiannon Giddens invokes the spirit of Sweet Honey in the Rock. And Linda Martell is finally getting the belated recognition she deserves. If we were wondering where to find the artists who are capturing the sentiments of this moment, these sisters are definitely some of the ones we have been waiting for.

Will You Please Go Now!

Growing up, my favorite story books often came from our home collection of Dr. Seuss books. My parents were very serious about reading to us before bed, and we had our choice among a selection of Dr. Seuss, Berenstain Bears, Little Golden Books, African folk tales, and whatever else my paternal grandparents had saved from my Dad's childhood. My parents saved all of our children's books too, and several years ago, I brought a box to my house for reading to my young cousin. We have a few still in decent enough condition to read to our daughter, so we're talking about some books that are at least 45 years old! Luckily, we have many new favorites thanks to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which also includes a diverse collection of stories from various children's authors.

But there is nothing like a classic Dr. Seuss book, so every now and then, I slip one of my old favorites into the Kid's nighttime reading rotation. In fact, I think I will organize a rally of parents to gather every night at the White House to read this bedtime story for the current occupant, Donald J. Trump from now until January 20, 2021.

Donald J. Trump, we don't care how, 

but Donald J. Trump will you please go NOW! 

These next few weeks are going to be exhausting if his current pattern of obstinance holds. He hasn't conceded the Election because votes are still being counted and perhaps his campaign is holding out hope for a miracle. To facilitate his pipe dream of holding on to this job for life, he has dispatched teams of lawyers to file lawsuits challenging the results in a few swing states where he assumed he'd win. Specifically Pennsylvania, where I was stationed as a poll watcher, but also Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. At present, he has lost the popular vote by 6 million and counting (which is double his previous loss in 2016). He had been hanging his hopes on another default win in the Electoral College, which is why the final vote tallies in those particular states are being challenged.

The basis of these challenges are the unfounded accusations of voter fraud in Detroit, Phoenix, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Philadelphia. Not the suburbs, the exurbs, or the rural counties, but the cities where there are primarily voters of color. In other words, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people are so desperate to get rid of the DESPOTUS that we would cheat.

In the words of President-elect Joe Biden, C'mon Man! We don't need to cheat to express our disdain for Trumpelthinskin. Nah. We just voted as if our very lives were on the line. Which, thanks to his continued incompetence in getting a handle on the coronavirus, our lives are on the line. Thanks to his racist rhetoric and xenophobia and anti-immigrant policies and his lies over the last four years, we don't need to cheat. The great Marian Wright Edelman offers a metaphor that illustrates how powerful we can be: imagine a large, menacing dog...then consider what would happen if enough fleas attack that dog.

So you underestimated us, Sir. You thought that your Platinum Plan and the endorsement by Lil Wayne would be enough to sway younger Black voters. Your inroads into the Latinx communities did catch us off guard, but thankfully enough of them didn't get drunk on the Trump kool-aid wine. I'm pretty sure you assumed Indigenous people can't vote in US elections, for if you had known otherwise, you might have attempted some last minute, thrown together, yet comprehensive three-page plan and sent Don Jr. to promote it. Or maybe you were confused and thought it was a rally for Indian Americans, but I heard the Asian American vote also went blue.

When all else fails, when your lies fall short, and people are not persuaded by divisive scare tactics, then accuse us of stealing the election (how's that for racist irony). Make every specious argument to sow the seeds of doubt that something went awry, and refuse to accept that 76 million people (and counting) were motivated to turn the tables and say in unison:

Sure, if anyone really wants to comb through piles of crap evidence to prove rampant voter fraud, have at it. We've got a socially distant Inauguration to plan. We're buying sage bundles in bulk. We're stockpiling all of the Clorox wipes and cans of Lysol spray we can find to disinfect the place for Uncle Joe. We'll reserve a U-Haul and will pay to gas up Air Force Six for a one-way trip to Mar-a-Lago or Russia or North Korea. We'll even let Faux-Five brag that his Inauguration crowd was bigger than Biden's, but I'm guessing folks will brave the cold, the 'rona, and even the dozens of counter-protestors just to make sure that come January 20, 2021 at noon, we will be rid of Donald J. Trump:

The time has come...

Election Day is done, the votes are counted now

You can cling to your lies, you can cry foul

You lost by 6 million, you're a lame duck now

Donald J. Trump will you please go now?

 

You can go by skates, you can go by skis

Put a hat on that mop and please go please!

We don't care, you can ride off on a bike

A tandem with Melania and Barron, if you like

You can go however is most expedient for you

Just be sure to take Jared and Ivanka too!

 

Donald J. Trump, we don't care how

Donald J. Trump, will you please go now! 

 

You can go out in handcuffs, a perp walk (if you insist), 

It's what you deserve for all of this Hell

Biden won't pardon you, you're headed to jail.

 

Donald J. Trump, don't you know

You lost the election, you must go go go!

 

Get on your way, please Donald J.

Don't get it twisted, we don't want you to stay

We're over your bluster and racist schitck

Enough of your whining, you sexist prick

You can go in your trump boat or in your trump jet

We don't care where you go, just get!

Take your wives and your children, you have until noon

The 20th of January, Donald, will be here soon!

 

Donald J. Trump, we don't care how

Donald J. Trump, will you please go now!

 

We said go and go we meant!

The People have spoken,

You're out of our government! 

 

(adapted from Marvin K. Mooney © 1972, Dr. Seuss)

For Our Daughters

This past Saturday morning, I was scheduled to give a presentation on Zoom for the Debutante program at my church. I had been asked to give this talk months ago and honestly had not settled on what I would say until the last minute (as in Wednesday, after the election, in the car on my way back from Philadelphia). Initially, I had this grand idea that I would finally pull together thee comprehensive voting rights Power Point with pictures and voice-over and all kinds of other bells and whistles. But given the amount of time needed to pull that together, my packing anxieties, and all of the other things going on in my life, I decided to just speak from my heart about what inspired me to vote.

The morning of the presentation, we were in a hotel room in Queens because we were scheduled to attend a family function immediately afterward. I had to get myself ready, and the Kid, pack up most of our stuff, and make sure that the room looked presentable. And I had less than an hour to do all of that and beat a full face because y'all know how serious that has become these days! With seconds to spare, I logged on and began my talk. Around 11am, my phone began to blow up with successive text messages. I took a quick peek, but continued on with my presentation. We did take a moment at the end to acknowledge the significance of the news and I think the young ladies were still awake. But as Busy Black Saturdays go, I had no time to really sit to process the news as I had to switch back to Mommy mode in order for us to make our family gathering on time. 

But as the Debutante Program Facilitator said, I will always remember where I was and what I was doing at that very moment. I was sharing my vote story with some young ladies whom I hope will remember that day as the inspiration that helped to shape their voting stories.  

Later that day, we were celebrating with family. We got to meet our Great Baby Niece for the first time and the Kid got to spend time with her cousins. I have had the pleasure to watch all of these young people grow up, so it was quite the treat to watch Zuri interact with them. I thought about the successive changes in the country since the youngest of these cousins (12 years older than my daughter) was born in the aftermath of 9/11. I thought about how these young people were either very young kids or teenagers when Barack Obama was elected, and how in their lifetime, they witnessed the election of the first Black President, the first Black and Asian Vice President, and if things had been different four years ago, the first woman President (no worries, we've got time).

For them, every election has been some major historic first. 

Perhaps that is only significant to us because our family is very diverse, very New York in that respect. We represent several Latinx nationalities (primarily Puerto Rican), African American, West Indian, Eastern European, Greek, and Chinese American. And that is just the Hub's side of the aisle (my immediate family is African American and Puerto Rican). I know that delineating these identities makes some people uncomfortable as they would rather that we just call ourselves American, which is exactly what we are and why identity is so significant in this context. We are the melting pot/mixed salad metaphor that people claim America to be. We are rice and beans, corn bread and collard greens, roasted lamb, empanadas/beef patties/dumplings, ginger beer, coquito, and penne pasta (because this family cannot get together and not eat Italian food) at Thanksgiving dinner. We are descendants of the enslaved, the colonizers, the immigrants, and the Indigenous people that are all apart of the American story.

So when I think about the significance of Saturday, November 7, 2020 at 11am when the election was called; when my phone began buzzing non-stop for ten minutes; when I was telling my personal voting story to a few young ladies; when my daughter was somewhere in a park blithely playing with her Papi; when my nieces and nephews were deciding what to wear; and when my precious Great Baby Niece was being prepared for her christening (because that side of the family is also Catholic)...I am finally able to stop to take it all in.

That night, we were about 20 miles outside of Wilmington, DE when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris made their acceptance speeches. We wanted to drive through, but we had to stop to change clothes and drivers, get gas and coffee, so by the time we made it back on the road, everything was over. Although I have not gone back to listen to Biden's speech in full, I know that he quoted one of my favorite Catholic hymns, On Eagle's Wings. I heard the most relevant part of Harris' speech, which were her inspiring words to my daughter, my nieces, and my Great Baby Niece. Now that we are several days in, we really don't care why the lame duck DESPOTUS is firing folks from his Cabinet or why his followers are floating conspiracy theories about the Arizona vote count, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Our four-year long national nightmare is almost over.

More importantly, my daughter, nieces and great nieces, young cousins, Spelnieces, Deltanieces, their classmates, play cousins, imaginary princess/mermaid/fairy/dinosaur/pirate friends, athletic, poetic, analytic, fashionable, awkward, and every nonbinary, cis and transgender girl have witnessed another major crack in the Glass Ceiling of American politics!

I won't speculate what could happen in 2024. I will relish what is happening now. I will think back to that glorious night in November 2008 when I was in another hotel room watching election returns. An energetic young family took to the stage, followed by the man who will now lead our country through its next great series of challenges. I can't say whether Joe Biden is the next one we have been waiting for nor will I put that burden on Kamala Harris just yet. But I will say that this song and scene from one of my all-time favorite movies hits a lot different now:

There are 70+ million people who were hoping for a different result. I know that they are watching our celebrations with intense resentment. I bet the plans are already underway to undermine everything this new Administration proposes to undo--what some regard as near-fatal and irreparable harm caused by the DESPOTUS. The GOP Senate leaders have already said as much in admonishing us to be more sensitive to their hurt feelings. And in my one petty post for today, here is my response:

I am happy for Uncle Joe because clearly, three is the magic number. There is a sermon in his persistence that we will come to appreciate one day, because this man accomplished what other perennial candidates such as Eugene V. Debs, David Duke, Alan Keyes, Lyndon LaRouche, and Ralph Nader did not. And the answer is not that he won--it is that he convinced us to take his candidacy seriously enough to put him in a position to win. After four years of the Trumpacolypse, we need someone who understands and respects government enough to put things back on track. I know that there are many who believe our political system is corrupt and broken, and a look at the amount of money that it took to oust the single greatest threat to America other than this coronavirus pandemic does lend some credence to that belief. 

We trust Biden, and that extends to his soon-to-be Vice President. I need to draw the contrast here between the selection of Kamala Harris in 2020 and Sarah Palin in 2008, because many of the party-switchers then cited their lack of confidence in Palin as part of their reason for backing Obama over John McCain. I am sure that there were some who faced a similar dilemma this time, because of Biden's advanced age. And it should be noted that in 2008, his age and experience were assets. This time, Harris' youth and experience provide the same assurance, just in reverse. Palin had relevant experience and certainly had the youth, but she was not perceived as smart enough for the job...which seems totally ironic given the last four years. So in hindsight, I would definitely argue that sexism worked against her, which is why we need to accept at the outset that elevating Harris to the Presidency will be even harder than ousting the current Occupant. Because:

Ageism < Sexism and Racism

Sexism² = Racism

We are so giddy now because we know that this is just as seismic as 2008. It is just as inspiring. Four years ago when it seemed inevitable that we would elect Hillary Clinton, I don't think we were this enthusiastic. Even now, our joy is tempered lest one of these frivolous trump lawsuits decreases the vote count. Some of the mobs have threatened violence, such is their fealty to the Troll King. However, the prospect of change has already generated some of the same global accolades that made Obama such an international rock star. And the world has changed a great deal with 29 countries led by women. Yet, we need to anticipate that this election will garner the same intense backlash as 2008. Once we get past the hysteria, those who attempt "reasoned opposition" against systemic racism and sexism will claim that holding Harris to a higher standard is proof of their evolution--they don't see race or gender, they just see and hear an insufferable bitch...but that's okay.

Since I have alluded to it, I will share some bits from my voting story presentation, which perhaps may inspire some young person reading this blog years from now. I had grown up on the stories and seen the black and white photos of civil rights marchers and protestors being beaten. I knew about Fannie Lou Hamer and John Lewis. I knew that my Dad had participated in the movement in Mississippi. I was in college the first time I voted, and Sister President had demanded our participation in the process, either as registered Georgia voters, or as absentee voters in our home states. I had grown up immersed in local DC politics (Marion Barry, Mayor for Life) and observing federal politics. What cemented my desire to vote in every election and ultimately work as a voting rights advocate was the South African election in 1994. I saw color photos of miles long lines of Black voters, young and old, voting for Nelson Mandela. That was the first time Blacks could participate in the political process in a country where they were the majority, and they elected their first Black President. I have never taken the right to vote for granted since.

Therefore, for my Daughter and your Daughters (and our Sons), I will fight voter suppression. I will do my little part to keep voters informed of their rights. I will remain engaged in the process. For our children, I look upon the election of Joe Biden as a new beginning for this country. These last four years, a cruel, merciless Pharoah occupied a position of great power, which he abused at every opportunity to trample on the weak and vulnerable. It went beyond mere policy differences. Therefore, my hope is that the Biden-Harris Administration will represent the limitless possibilities of every man, every woman, every child. Children will look up to our President, a man like a modern David, flawed but wise. They will see Vice President Harris and will understand that America is a nation of immigrants--welcome from every country, every island, and from every caste. 

E pluribus unum.

History Has Its Eye On You

In the summer of 2019, my parents traveled with us to Maryland's Eastern Shore. We drove through Cambridge, the location of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, where there are several scenic sites that were significant during her enslavement. We've driven through this city many times, stopped for gas, and gotten something to eat. I suggested that we make a special visit to the historic site with my parents since this would probably be the only chance they would get to see it.

Since there are several points of interest along the byway, we visited the Visitor's Center which opened in 2017 and is operated by the National Park Service. That meant that we were headed to an out of the way, off the main road attraction, and we drove for several miles past fields and farms. My Dad commented that everything looked as if it had not changed in about 50 years, and as we continued into the void of bad cell phone reception, it definitely felt as if we were traveling back in time. 

In recent years, the Eastern Shore has embraced its history as the location where both Tubman and fellow Marylander, Frederick Douglass, were born and enslaved several miles away in Talbot County. Tour buses full of eager visitors were lined up in the parking lot. Yet, in the towns and cities along this same stretch of highway, there are plenty of Trump signs, a few Confederate flags, and in the town of Easton where Douglass was born, a monument dedicated to the Talbot Boys stands on the grounds of the courthouse.

Once inside the Visitor's Center, we saw a mock up of the recently abandoned federal effort to re-design the twenty dollar bill. We saw the letter that Douglass had sent to encourage and applaud Tubman's bravery. We saw various artistic renderings of Tubman, including a portrait of Tubman re-imagined as the Statue of Liberty. In the exhibition area, I was drawn to a mural that depicted scenes in Tubman's enslaved life. One scene in particular struck a chord for me:

I had made this association in my head many times, but seeing it in a life-sized full color rendering gave me the chills...family separation on the slave auction block is no different than family separation at our Southern border. Or when Indigenous children were 'adopted' from their families. Or when we see those black and white images of fire hoses and dogs unleashed on protesting children. Or when police dressed in riot gear fire tear gas cannons on urban protestors. We have seen this evil many, many times before.

Someone will read that and accuse me of hyperbole. They will offer a justification for every single example--how children brought to this country illegally don't have any rights that we are bound to respect (which should sound familiar to those of us who studied the opinion written about the rights of Black people by another Marylander, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in the infamous Dred Scott case). That fire hoses, dogs, tear gas, pepper spray, and riot gear were/are all needed to maintain law and order. That removing indigenous children from their families offered them a chance at a better life, and that they were well cared for in those adoptive homes, just as those 545 children will be better off in America...if they aren't deported.

None of this is new, as there are historic parallels to many modern atrocities and absurdities. When this Regime fought to keep the number of undocumented immigrants out of the official Census tallies, Black people remembered when we were counted as three-fifths and that Native Americans were excluded entirely. When the DESPOTUS boasts that he has been the greatest benefactor to HBCUs, we think of all the benevolent white philanthropists whose names are etched in stone on the buildings they dedicated on many of our campuses. We think of Julius Rosenwald, who was both a real millionaire and philanthropist, whom we know this President will claim that he doesn't know and never heard of. Likewise for another Republican Sen. Justin Smith Morrill, who wrote the Second Morrill Land Grant Act of 1890 that actually created public HBCUs.

So when trust fund pundits like Jared Kushner suggests that Black people don't want the success his father-in-law offers, that is just another way of calling us stupid and lazy (a common refrain ever since we stopped picking cotton for free). When he trots out their Black best friends (BFFs): Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, Diamond and Silk, Herschel Walker, Candace Owens, and the rest of the prosperity preacher-pimps, and our eyes collectively roll, it is because we aren't entertained by blackface. Then they act astounded that we aren't more gracious.

I started this piece more than a week ago. It was supposed to be one of my closing arguments, but I got busy and anxious and focused on other matters, namely my day trip to Philadelphia where I had signed up to be a poll monitor. Now that the election is over and votes are still being counted, I am not sure how I feel about anything right now...(well, yeah now I do since we have a declared winner, but I will address that in a separate piece)

I know that the way forward is uncertain, and perhaps if I were a better student of history, I would be able to cite another example of racist evil to demonstrate how history repeats itself, and how maybe this isn't just about the possibility of four more years of this Administration. There are people in this world who live under corrupt governments for a lifetime. At least we get a chance to change course. So instead of American history, I am being drawn to the Bible and the stories of Jewish occupation. The people of Israel found themselves in captivity numerous times, which is why half of the Bible consist of stories about deliverance. Keeping the faith. Holding out hope for a Savior. 

If I were a preacher, this would be the part of the sermon where I lose folks by challenging them to question conventional wisdom. The foundation of our faith is the Resurrection. But before that triumph, Jesus had to die by the edict of a foreign enemy (Romans), engineered by the corrupt leadership of his people (Pharisees). So if our hope, as the song says, is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness...then we should already know that moral goodness alone is never enough. It always costs blood, toil, and sacrifice. Thus, in order to topple Trumpism and to dismantle other systems of oppression, those words need to be more to us than just verses in an old hymn. In moments like this, we need to ask ourselves where have we built our hope?

Reflecting back on that visit to the Harriet Tubman site, those images that were supposed to be unfamiliar to me in modern times haunt me. I heard the anguished wails of enslaved children in my soul as clearly as I heard the cries of immigrant children from cages in real time. Yet, we proclaim that scenes like that don't represent who WE are as Americans, as if we have evolved beyond basic human brutality and cruelty. If anything, Americans are quintessentially human, flawed like everyone else on the planet. We are Cain and Abel, Pharisee and Zealot, undoubtedly good and ruthlessly evil. 

Slavery persisted in this country for 400 years. It didn't suddenly become morally wrong because a few of us escaped and shared the horror stories. As long as there was a benefit derived from the exploitation of enslaved labor, there was no amount of righteous indignation sufficient to abolish it. Folks are still debating whether this peculiar institution was the catalyst for the Civil War and whether the effort was some noble Lost Cause crusade. Regardless, slavery was replaced by other forms of exploitative enforced labor (convict leasing, sharecropping, migrant farm work, gig employment) and Jim Crow segregation which only ended 50 years ago. The fact that we now laud Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass but still debate what to do with the public monuments erected to honor the men who died to keep them in bondage informs this present moment.

Of course this election is/was this close. Of course we find ourselves caught between the better angels of our nature and the worser spirits of despair. It is easier to claim an anonymous space in the crowd, to disavow direct responsibility for the actions of others. You did not imprison those children, but did you look away? You didn't march at Charlottesville or in Ferguson, but on which side of the street would you have stood? Are you more ashamed that the truth makes some of your heroes look bad than you are of the lashes, the welts, the scars, the brands, the strange fruit, the lingering wounds that they inflicted? Would you take the time to venture down a back road or to the other side of the tracks to visit an obscure museum dedicated to a formerly enslaved woman? Or would you rather visit the historical landmarks on prominent display that were built on stolen land? When did this American experiment begin, in 1492, in 1619, or in 1776--take your pick, but know that no executive order is powerful enough to outlaw the facts. 

America, History has its eye on you...

Signals of Virtue

For anyone who has yet to decide between these two candidates, I won't browbeat around the bush anymore...

225,000 Americans dead from COVID-19.

 545 children separated from their parents. 

That's it. Those are just two of the headlines that symbolize the current Occupant's reign of terror for the last three and a half years. Now, if you can think of other reasons to maintain the status quo that allow you to sleep peacefully at night, then well, you probably should stop reading.

If you are still reading, it might be because you know the deal, unlike a few of the not-so-nice Canadians who visited my Facebook page recently to tell me all about my racism. One person was kind enough to offer his explanation that my racism was in the temerity to try to tell a Black man how to vote. This was after I criticized one particularly well-known rap personality for announcing his decision to support the re-election of the trumpet because of his tax plan. Furthermore, that I would take offense at someone else's choice branded me as a virtue signaler:

First of all, who knew Spare Change had such a rabid Canadian fan base?

Second, that we are now in this place where 'virtue' has become an insult is just about as 2020 as anything else. Instead of debate, we defend ourselves and our choices by making the other person feel guilty or ashamed. We respond with petulance when confronted with a moral dilemma. Do I buy the single-use plastic water bottle knowing that it will pollute the ocean? Or do I shout YOLO, chuck it in the trash, because fuck Jason Momoa and fake Hollywood liberalism? Or do I say yes, I am drinking water from this plastic bottle because I am thirsty, this is the only container accessible to me at the moment, however thanks I will recycle or reuse this. (And think yeah, still fuck you Jason Momoa, because you probably have a kitchen cabinet full of reusable water bottles like everybody else.)

So to the extent that I get the point that Half-a-Buck can vote for whomever he wants, there is no argument. He can still go to hell or Canada if his preferred candidate loses. 

However, I will still make my case that voting for this DESPOTUS, for whatever reasons good or bad, still won't make those numbers disappear. You can argue that neither of those numbers are his fault and that you sleep just fine because you're rich (or you were rich, are now bankrupt, but hope to be rich again someday...or will die trying). Or that you just don't care.

Because your money insulates you from the ravages of coronavirus. You have a nice stately home. You have servants who can run the errands for you. You have no issues with technology that make virtual meetings any kind of challenge. You can hire private tutors for your children. You can work from home because you own the company, or the White House where you temporarily live is also where you allegedly work. And if by chance, the virus still finds its way over your big, beautiful wall or walks right through the front gate because you hosted a super-spreader event, you have health insurance. Or you have access to the best medical interventions that taxpayers can buy. The fact that your wife was sick for three weeks and may still be suffering from lingering effects is of no consequence since you can always get another one.

Your money is also why those children being separated from their parents are not your problem. Your money makes it so that you don't need to make a desperate trek through one country to get to another one to seek asylum or just subsistent economic opportunity. If these people wanted to keep their children safe, they should have saved their money, hired immigration attorneys, and applied for the necessary visas that would have given them proper authorization to be in this country. Furthermore, if the situation they left behind is that dire then these parents should be grateful that their children will have better lives here. They are well cared for in the private detention centers that are masquerading as border orphanages. Perhaps some these children will be adopted into loving homes, maybe by these good folks and a few of their closest friends:

I get it. You don't want me to call you out on your indifference to the suffering of others because their suffering is not your problem. You just want life to return to normal. You just want a haircut and to eat a soggy Subway sandwich without having to wear a mask. You want America to be great again, which for you it was until this pandemic. Except for many others it wasn't...

You want me to believe that the Black and Latinx unemployment figures pre-pandemic prove that the Occupant is better for the economy. You don't want to acknowledge that the reasons for that are overstated--that so many of those employment figures are based on participation in the gig economy, which has all but evaporated or operating on the margins. People who made extra money to pay bills by renting their homes on Airbnb. People who drove Ubers and Lyfts and between shuttling folks from location to location, managed to pull off a few Instacart shopping trips or DoorDash food deliveries. People who worked for tips at restaurants and bars, in retail, at movie theaters, or at other small businesses that may never re-open because they never got approved for their PPP loans. The least of these, people who worked multiple minimum wage jobs? Tough luck. This President said we couldn't afford to raise wages as businesses would suffer, and because corporations are people too, haven't they already suffered enough?

One of those nice Canadians who called me a racist also told me that I don't understand money. That because I am not rich, I am not smart. I've decided not to even address the racism accusation because, eh maybe the definition in Canada is different. Surely there is no similar history of systemic racial marginalization North of the border...however, I do understand money and how those who have it will do almost anything to keep it, and those of us who don't have it will do almost anything to get some. Almost...

What I take issue with is the false equivalency of intelligence to affluence. Money can buy all kinds of things, including entrance test scores, fake college admissions credentials, diplomas and certificates, padded resumes, deferments from military service, crooked lawyers and professional fixers, the silence of extramarital sex partners, quickie divorces, and an entire propaganda machine disguised as a reputable news organization. But money will never buy back wasted time or lost souls, erase childhood trauma, nor will it ever buy character. And it won't buy a ticket to Heaven, if you believe what Jesus had to say on such matters. 

I know, more virtue signalling.

True Colors

Maya Angelou once said that when people show you who they are, believe them. Believe them because if they got comfortable enough to show you their naked personal truth (Jeffrey Toobin), then you know all you need to know and can now respond accordingly.

In this case, two weeks before the Apocolypse, we have been given some valuable insight into the characters of several well-known men. We have been told by Robert Johnson, the founder of BET, that he prefers the devil he knows to the devil he doesn't. We have been advised by Rev. Fred Price, Jr. that Christians should abstain from voting between the lesser of two evils. Now that his children are mostly grown and he's too old to be dancing in the background of music videos, Diddy needs something constructive to do. We learned that O'Shea 'Ice Cube' Jackson has proposed a Contract with Black America, which is being touted as part of a Platinum Plan, not to be confused with any other platinum delicacies he once sold. Formerly respected economist Dr. Boyce Watkins applauds Cube's efforts, along with that other public intellectual heavyweight and author of The Art of Mackin, Tariq Nasheed. Now that Curtis 'Half Dollar' Jackson has indicated his support for the current Regime, we're just waiting on Dr. Umar Johnson to tell us when his school is opening.

I don't want to hear another person tell me that they can separate the con from the artist. I don't want to hear that being rich and successful equals intelligence. I don't care that occasionally some of these brothers have said something insightful because we all know that even broken clocks are right twice a day. Now YOU know who they are.

Four years ago a well-known public intellectual suggested that Black people could forgo voting for President in favor of down-ballot races. He assumed that Hillary Clinton would prevail, so he argued that the real struggle for racial justice should be fought on the local level. Even though he was half right, that brother is still apologizing for his lapse in judgment. Meanwhile, these dudes...

 

I'm not sure if I should waste the effort in even addressing it, but it needs to be said for those who have yet to believe me when I tell you that some Black people who claim to love us do so until they don't. Actually, I have usually said that in the context of sexism, which I believe is also at play here (with respect to the timing, and I will get back to that), but for the sake of keeping it real, it applies in the broader context as well. As some wise elder in your family has said all of your life, all of our skinfolks ain't kinfolks.

I am not questioning their Blackness. I am not doubting that these dudes thought long and hard before taking what they believe are lucrative political stands for the culture. We all have that friend who is always starting a new business and talking big about the good it will do for the community. Then after getting your money, they ghost you until the next time they need something. Out of politeness, you never ask for an accounting of their last venture, but because you know better, your decision to pass on investing in their latest scheme then becomes the basis for them gaslighting you about not being down. 

For example, Dr. Umar has been talking about building a school since the early days of Twitter. He's been filming video fundraising appeals and trying to shame folks into investing in his dream. But has anybody ever wondered why it is still a grassroots effort? Why is this dude building a school when he could have bought two with the money he's already swindled collected?

There there is Curtis 'Five Dimes' Jackson. Remember he came on the scene bragging about how he survived being shot nine times and nobody ever asked to see the bullet holes. But it fit the persona, and he's been nothing but a relentless nasty troll for the past 20 years (makes sense, right). So of course, he aligns with the Troll King, beefing with folks just for the hell of it, not giving a damn about the harm inflicted on others. All because his Ten Nickels azz doesn't want to pay more in taxes.

Earlier this year, I was complimentary to BET, but let's clarify that the niceties do not extend to Robert Johnson, its founder. I peeped his game years ago when he determined that being woke wasn't as profitable as being ratchet. Because he is a businessman first, so his primary goal is to make money, not be some kind of upstanding citizen. And as one of the first Black billionaires, what do we expect from him, integrity? 

O'Shea 'Ice Cube' Jackson had the bright idea to promote a Contract with Black America, something that you might have remembered from its previous incarnation when former NPR/PBS host Tavis Smiley authored a similar pact in the early 2000s. Smiley's Contract got cancelled...so perhaps it was time for a new one. And who better than a reformed gangsta rapper who now makes kid movies? Like any other informed American citizen, Cube has every right to plagiarize the work of others, put his government name on it, and then go on a PR media blitz to tout his access to those in power. At least he set the record straight with Chris Cuomo that he didn't go when summoned to the White House for a fake photo.

The rest are a bunch of old school hoteps who hate Black women. Of course that isn't how they see it, but how else to describe the barbershop of bitter old men who built up their social media notoriety by defending sexual predators and bashing outspoken and successful Black women? Why should Bill Cosby rot in jail while Harvey Weinstein awaits trial? Mad that there was a documentary about R. Kelly, but not as mad that he urinated on a child and married Aaliyah when she was 15. Offended that a Black woman is in line to become the Vice President because her husband is...white? 

Tell me something Judge Joe Brown, are you that salty that Judge Judy is still on TV while you are peddling conspiracy theories on YouTube? Still in your feelings, Dr. Boyce Watkins, that when you tried to holler at Kamala Harris at Howard's Homecoming, she snubbed you? Pimpin' ain't easy, so is that why you hate smart Black women who can see through your latest hustle Tariq Nasheed? I am pretty sure Rev. Fred Price, Jr. that Jesus will not be as understanding in judging those who wouldn't choose between the guy who tear-gassed protestors so that he could wave an upside-down Bible in front a church, or the boring guy who doesn't hate the gays.

What have any of these dudes done for the culture other than monetize it for their own ends? We came of age in a moment of consciousness in the early 90s, and as one of my astute friends connected some of the dots back to when hip hop did a 180-degree turn towards vulgarity, it was then that we got hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok. Here we are on the verge of disaster and some of these same jokers--purveyors of misogyny and cannibal capitalism who aligned themselves with power instead of progress are doing what they have always done. In the words of Two Quarters, they will get rich or die trying.

Meanwhile, other Black billionaires are using their wealth to bless future generations. Lebron James' school is up and running. There are Black artists who are still conscious and woke and using their talents for good. Some of these old farts who are riffing on Black women that marry outside of the race weren't even checking for these sisters because they were too smart and don't fix plates for man-babies. What causes do these dudes advocate, who are they mentoring, and are they patronizing Black businesses or supporting HBCUs? Two weeks before the end of days, nearly 220k thousand deaths from COVID-19, and Ice Cube is proud that he got us Juneteenth off next year.

See how their true colors are shining through?

Thank You Lindsey Graham

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Black South Carolinians that they can go wherever they want in the state if they are conservative, and it has generated all kinds of interesting responses. Mine won't be much different than this popular meme:

 

Thank you, Lindsey Graham, for telling Black (and by extension Latinx, Asian American, and Indigenous) people that in South Carolina, we still cannot traverse political territory that has not been previously approved without the appropriate credentials. I know that isn't what you said, but it is what you implied (here is what you said) and you need to own what you meant by what you said. You need to own it because the best examples of your words are Exhibits A (ex-Governor Nikki Haley) and B (Senator Tim Scott):

And it isn't lost on anyone that your revelation of South Carolina being a sundown state came at the end of a debate with Jaime Harrison, the Black guy who is challenging you for your seat. In essence, you were igniting a little cross as a signal to your supporters that here is one of these uppity Negroes who doesn't know his place. How Strom Thurmondly of you.

I know, this is going to get under your skin because you definitely did not mean it the way I am interpreting it (even though it is what you said) and I am taking you at your word...so what did you mean Senator? Because if you wanted to dispel the idea of structural and systematic racism still at work in South Carolina, there were plenty of other things you could have said.

For example, you could have mentioned the fact that South Carolina finally got rid of the Confederate flag in 2015 after activist Bree Newsome scaled a flagpole to take it down. I know that the official decree was to remove the flag as a symbolic act of compassion after the massacre at Emanuel AME in Charleston, and you could have invoked that too. And it would have been a great side-note to add how the terrorist who committed that heinous crime is now on death row instead of interning at your office.

You could have mentioned all of the great Black South Carolinians who have made the state proud, such as astronaut Ronald E. McNair, actors Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis, boxer Joe Frazier, jazz trumpeter Dizzie Gillespie, educator Mary McLeod Bethune, politician Robert Smalls, and my favorite TODAY Show anchorman Craig Melvin. In a gesture of bipartisanship, you could have mentioned Rep. Jim Clyburn and the Rev. Jesse Jackson as prominent sons of the Palmetto State. You could have talked about your two HBCUs, Claflin University and South Carolina State University. 

Instead, you decided that your one last shot at keeping your job was to reveal the truth that you didn't think Black people already knew about politics and life in general--we can only ascend as high as white folks allow. (Trust, it happens on the other side of the political spectrum too, but they do a better job of not saying it out loud...although the Clintons came close and got rebuked by your fellow South Carolinian Jim Clyburn back in 2008.) 

As my Daddy says, white folks in the South don't like it when Black folks get too big (in the North, they don't like it when we get too close). Either way, y'all prefer knowing where we are at all times, and Black people with too much power threaten your worldview. That's why all of these instances of us occupying non-traditional spaces, i.e., jogging in suburban neighborhoods, bird-watching in Central Park, using guns in self-defense of our homes, running for Senate in a toss-up contest in South Carolina, etc., has y'all risking COVID to set things straight. 

Speaking of which, let's discuss this little gathering at the White House -->

So what in the Herman Cain were these people doing at Ground Zero, the nucleus of the highest coronavirus spike in DC since early August? At least most of them wore masks, but really, is there anything this DESPOTUS has to say that is worth this kind of risk? I know it was a job and times are tight, but seriously.

And no, Candace Owens doesn't deserve credit for leading lambs to the slaughter. She bribed those people with a free trip to DC, and even if some of them came on their own dime, she still should have thought better of hosting a rally for Black conservatives at the White House less than a week after the COVID King was released from the hospital. For someone who is allegedly pro-life and pregnant...yeah, stop trying to make Blexit happen.

But this is exactly what Graham meant. We can only enter certain restricted spaces if we can recite chapter and verse every talking point that has been written about the benevolence of the good white people in power. Apparently, South Carolina politics are no different than gaining access to the White House these days, which has reverted to being a country club since the current Occupant moved in. Invitations to Black people have become rare since he no longer hosts championship sports teams or popular artists not named Kanye.

Back to Lindsey Graham, who might either win by the skin of his teeth or lose in an historic upset. It has been past time that some bold soul channeled the courage of our ancestors and issued a direct challenge to the conventional order of the Old South. We have just as much right to political power in South Carolina as we do anywhere else in this country. We've already stormed The Citadel, Bree Newsome retired the flag, and Jaime Harrison is not throwing away his shot. It's 2020, and everything is possible.