Appropriation vs Appreciation - Thought 1

As I sit here enjoying Ryo Fukui for the first time, introduced to me by my young nephew, who just entered the audiophile world of turntables and vinyl.  The thought grows in my mind, is his music appropriation or appreciation?  I’m sure for Ryo, a Japanese jazz pianist, who fell in love with the greats of the genre like; Monk, Bud, Herbie, never would consider his homage to the art ever being thought of as appropriation.   And I, neither qualified to charge or suggest, the life love of an individual is not genuinely from their soul.  However, because of my scars of witnessing Black appropriation, its unfairness, unkindness, its inconsideration and mal-intent to steal, deface and profit, I became triggered on the first listen of Ryu’s 1976, ‘Scenery’.  

I read up what I could on him and the album, and listened with the soulful ears of a Blackman.  You see, for those who may not fully comprehend what that means, soulful music is not owned by any people, matter of fact, we all have a soul-song that we can sing from our hearts.  Soul music is born out of a pain and joy, a despair and hope, sitting somewhere between existence and the ‘thereafter’.  Black folk music, and you can read that as Black-folk music, or just Black folk music, is born from an un-earthly place deep within the ‘somewhere’ of the soul.  It encapsulates not just 500 years of pain and progress but pulls from the land that birthed blackness, African beats and rhythms unknown to this land until 1492.  Notes and rhythms that Black children may have never heard or studied but somehow open their mouths and the melodies resound.  It’s not magic, it’s providential, it’s of divine-knowing, the language of Black folk.

But back to the question Ryo poses to me, particularly, in ‘After Hours’, a backwood-blues run, that you’d here in a sweaty Mississippi joint, or a refined New Orleans ‘Dew Drop’, he calls me to ask...is this an act of appropriation?  An act worse than thievery.  Who is worse than the ‘hyprocrite’?  Who says one thing and does another. Yes, I know appropriation, like the generations of oppressors, slavers, and ‘good’ folk who demean and demolish Blackness, culture and nuance, all while they sweat to Black funk behind closed doors.  

Like Elvis’ popped collar and stanky leg, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin positioned as the posters of ‘cool’ all with their ‘Cotton Club’ swag.  From Bebop to Hiphop, steppin’ to dressin’, from Knowledge of Egypt to ‘Nights Over Egypt’...we can’t have shit, literally, without others desiring to control, manipulate and appropriate, while they deny our value.  

Ooh Ryo...did you just get Baptized in this jawn...the black church keys...naw, this ain’t appropriation, this is true.  I’ll argue, this Japanese icon, loved and appreciated Black folk so, that he wanted his people to learn and appreciate what we created.  Yes, this is appreciation.  Not much different than me bumping his ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen’ on my 1976 Marantz, Japanese made, amplifier.  Good call Nephew.  

....hold up...is that Bob James ‘Heads’ album playing...aww that’s my...wait a minute... 

Why POTUS Needs to Say "Black Lives Matter"

In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), one week following massive racial protests in Selma, Alabama that turned deadly with the violence of Southern Whites, stood before the U.S. Congress and the nation and delivered the historic Voting Rights Act address.  It began with, "I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy" and ended with the mantra that had been the heartbeat, purpose and call to action for a movement started and powered by the poor and oppressed of America.  In these three simple words, that were loaded in righteous indignation, bloated with pain and suffering, considered heretical by white supremacy, LBJ resounded the call of the oppressed in America with the boldness of historic Presidential leadership and the moral courage of a prophetic warrior.  When LBJ ended his voting rights speech with "We Shall Overcome" all of America knew this movement mattered and eminent change was on the horizon.

President Barack Obama stands in a similar moment.  Three simple words can be uttered and it would cause a cataclysmic shift in racial politics in America.  The world would gasp in awe. The sun would rise on the sufferer. The lands would be healed and the dream that humanity laid forth would be realized when a Black man became President and saved the world.  Perhaps, I sound a bit dramatic but reflect on the presidential journey of BO, running on 'Hope' in a world of despair, preaching 'Change' when the salvation of humanity laid in the balance. He became our MLK, our Madiba, our Malcolm while wielding the power of a Bush.

Nearly seven years later, reality has settled in, MLK represents more holiday than freedom, Madiba is gone and the clouds of inequality and injustice still hovers over black and brown people. POTUS has made historic achievements in healthcare, drug sentencing reform and promising initiatives to affect change in communities. However, we still find ourselves waiting on that moral moment when the leader of the Free and Not-so-free world visibly stands with the 'wretched of the earth' not above us but as one of us.

LBJ wasn't as smooth as BO at code-switching but when he resounded, "We Shall Overcome", Black folks didn't have to take out their secret negro-decrypta-code books to decipher what he meant. He frankly and unapologetically validated the mission of the movement. Selma has become Ferguson and BO stands in the same moment as LBJ in 1965.  President Barack Obama can utter just three words that would shift the paradigm and become what we've always wanted him to reflect, support and defend.  Yes, the movement needs policy and congressional bills to legally protect Black and Brown bodies. Yes, the movement needs the presidential reminder that these things take time and commitment, to stay the course and see it through. Yes, the movement needs a President-backed-super-anti-racist-DOJ squad to fight injustice. However, what is needed in this moment, right now, after more than three centuries of white supremacy, the ignominious treatment of black and brown bodies, that the provisional citizenship of blackness and the curse of Ham to finally find redemption through the voice and validation of the most powerful man in the world simply saying...

"BLACK LIVES MATTER".

ISIS has No Friend in Black Liberation

While Jake Tapper conducted an interview during the early weeks of protest in Ferguson, a protestor raised a sign bearing just two words, “ISIS Here”.  A mini-firestorm followed with exploitative  blogs and hysterical articles on possible recruitment from the ranks of the ‘disenfranchised’ of America.  This week, Newsweek followed up with an article, “ISIS Urge Ferguson Rioters to ‘Be Like Malcolm X’”

But let’s get real, the notion that ISIS can somehow co-opt the struggle for Black Freedom is not only deceptive and ahistorical, it's ludicrous.   Press blurbs of ISIS gaining ground, recruiting or even effecting the Ferguson Movement is reminiscent of Hoover's campaign to distort the Civil Rights and Black Power movements with communist and terrorist significations.

Fear-mongering is a science. ‘Islamophobia’ has become passive language for the criminalization of Muslims but the optics of ISIS protesting along-side the original ‘criminalized other’ serves perfectly to escalate the fear-level of ‘privileged’ Americans towards Black bodies.  As we awaited the Grand Jury announcement, we heard ominous warnings from authorities of ‘the potential presence of ISIS’ which further validates excessive militarized force, massed National Guard presence and a pre-emptive State of Emergency that is being used against American citizens.

But let’s get real, the notion that ISIS can somehow co-opt the struggle for Black Freedom is not only deceptive and ahistorical, it’s just silly. Press snippets about ISIS gaining ground, recruiting or even affecting the Ferguson Movement is reminiscent of Hoover's campaign to distort the Civil Rights and Black Power movements with communist and terrorist boogie men.

The history of Black Liberation in America is complex and surely can’t be adequately broken down in a blog, however it is important to briefly address the relationship between Islam and Black Liberation.  Black Liberation or Black Freedom has never been about domination or obtaining supremacy over another, it has always been - and remains - the struggle of the oppressed fighting for fair treatment and equal justice.  During the reconstruction period following slavery, Blacks didn’t seek vengeance for our captivity nor build armies and brigades to get back at previous slave masters.  Black folk sought land, built towns, industry and legally fought for rights of equity to protect their property and their families. Throughout all the Black Freedom Movements were never militia formed to repress White bodies.  Instead, Black Freedom Movements have always been about the repression of White Supremacy.

Islam’s role in Black Liberation is deeply historical and is as complex as our struggle for freedom.  As the curator of the African American Journey to Islam exhibit, to delve into this now would be fun but lengthy, but inshort…’Islam is as American as apple pie and Chevrolet’.  It was our first protest. It resides in our earliest Black Liberation life and provided our first safe spaces of equality in America. 

In Alex Haley’s Roots, we saw Kunte Kinte, reciting Arabic, practicing Islam and resisting slavery.  This depiction, although, biographical was also accurately historical in its narrative.  From the father of Pan-Africanism, Edward Blyden’s promotion of Islam.  To Marcus Garvey’s heavy Islamic influence from his mentors.  To Mufti Muhammad Sadiq’s missionizing Islam in Black communities in America, ordaining Black ‘Sheiks’ who empowered African-Americans to start Muslim communities.  To Elijah Muhammad raising the Nation and Malcolm X, proposing resistance that included self-love and dignity.  To Warith Deen Muhammad leading over 2 million African-American Muslims in peaceful spiritual revolution while still empowering Black bodies.  Never in these manifestations of Islam in America has sentiment been repressively anti-America.  Islam in America has always raised, supported and defended Black bodies against white hegemony and oppression.

St. Louis is home to one of the oldest Muslim communities in America and presently a city of significant Muslim leadership that has always served Black communities.  From agencies providing resources and experienced political leadership, to leaders in education and business communities, Islam in St. Louis has been and continues to be a vital entity in the struggle for justice and equality in its Black communities.

ISIS has no place in Ferguson and no place in Black Freedom Movements.  Our Movements fight against oppression, segregation, discrimination, inequality, sexism, classism and superiority.  The fight in Ferguson is about Justice for Mike Brown, the Ferguson Movement is about Justice for Black bodies.  Let’s keep the focus on the fight against a system that vilifies Blackness,validates its destruction, and perpetuates it through a cycle of judicial impunity… ISIS be damned.

“We declare our right on this earth...to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.”
― Malcolm X

Why Muslims Struggled with Ferguson

Watching the local news Saturday, Aug. 9th, reports of a young black male being shot by a police officer was the top story.  At first glance, as a desensitized American, I listened with one ear, smh… another cop, another black male! Later that night, more details began to come and video of police with AR-military grade  weapons, armored riot gear and dogs directed at a group of angry neighbors, friends and family of Michael Brown in Canfield apartments.  At the moment, none of us could have imagined that this would be a ‘tipping point’ and ignite a world response to racial injustice and crimes against human rights.

Ferguson challenged us all. It wasn't just the fact that an unarmed black male was killed by an armed cop.  It wasn't just the voices of outrage from the community. Yes, it was partly the level of police response and military tactics used against citizens it's oathed to serve and protect. But, what challenged us most about Ferguson were the images of the protesters and neophyte activists. They didn't fit the activist profile, didn't have polite speech, didn't look like the protesters we've seen from the early civil rights movement dressed in slacks and dresses, calmly performing acts of civil disobedience. Nooo, these activists resembled the 'young black' we fear. The ones we see on street corners and on news mug shots. The ones who play loud music, cussin and fussin, sagging pants, exposed underwear, dreaded hair, tatted bodies. No, we thought,  these aren't activists, these are thugs who are causing a raucous. So we couldn't side with them...hell, they looted stores and burned down the Quiktrip!

Just as the demonization and criminalization of our black young blinded us from looking beyond their presentation, the militarization of police and their sheer brute disregard for black life brought the media and world to Ferguson and forced us to pay attention.

As a Black Muslim father of three, two boys, part of my daily consciousness is knowing Black young life is under attack and on a multitude of levels. These conditions existed long before they were born and are as complex as they are dynamic but their awakening can't be timed or predicted it just happens. The 'enough-is-enough' moment rang in the hearts of young black 'tweeners' in Ferguson, much as it did when the thirty-something year old MLK and Malcolm X led and inspired 'tweeners' of their day to stand against oppression and affected change across the globe.

But back to the question, why did Muslims struggle with Ferguson? There's no shortage of commentaries on Gaza or ISIS, Islamophobia or religious oppression from Muslim writers and activists. Muslims have voices and representation available thru every medium from mihrabs to Fox news so why nearly a 'blackout' concerning Ferguson. I could answer this quickly in Kanye speak by saying, 'Muslims don't care about black people', but let's be fair. Islam and Black folk have been together since the beginning of America, even before Columbus. Islam has been to black spirituality to what bebop was to big band, hip hop to rock 'n roll, it allowed us freedom of spiritual expression.  Islam is the 'other'  black religion in America and historically has played a significant role in the liberation of her black people.

it is the African-American Muslim who paved the way for mass Muslim immigration. It was the civil rights struggle that made it acceptable for other 'brown' people in this country, even when they checked 'white' on their census. African-American Muslims were products of the racial conditions in America and were advocates of justice during the early struggle. During the '50s and '60s, Sunni Muslims spoke softly while groups like the Nation of Islam confronted the American dilemma. When Muslim immigrants came in mass to America in the 70s and 80s, being classified as white, many learned quickly it was better to assimilate then side with the 'other'. Not to make 'mischief' but rather accommodate.  

This wasn't a uniquely American phenomenon as Farid Esack, recalls in his book,  'Quran, Liberation and Pluralism', when South African Muslims existed comfortably during apartheid and struggled with the notion of taking a stance against white privilege and oppression. Like Ferguson, no mosques were being destroyed and prayers were not being prevented so...no obligation to act or speak. I could lash out and just say Muslims struggled with Ferguson because of racial subversion, accommodation of the majority or just plain fear but I'll leave with this...

We, Muslims, struggled with Ferguson because of the same reasons the majority of Americans struggled.  We struggled to see how an unarmed, poor, black teen could be innocent because a white cop must've had good reason to shoot him. We struggled to look beyond our perceived 'vulgarity' of black 'tweeners', our recessive discriminations and the 'want' to be 'acceptable'. We struggled  to witness Michael Brown as a creation of Allah, created for purpose, created for our benefit.  We failed to be Muslim in this moment. We were cautious, afraid to be aligned against the majority, particularly, after all the work we've done since 911 to attempt to recapture our 'safe', census status. So we paused, cautiously using language like 'mediate' and 'bridge'. We struggled because of politics, how can we sit on the 'Hill' and protest it's governance. We struggled because we're more interested in protecting 'in God we trust' then protecting what and who we as Muslims have been entrusted with...the poor, the orphan, the sufferer. Muslims struggled with Ferguson because we've lost our core and are more interested in accommodating the majority then speaking for the disinherited of American Society.

I can't say what the prophet would have done in Ferguson because I don't know, I only know what he did in Mecca. I know he wasn't afraid to speak truth to the majority when it wasn't popular, he spoke against systems of oppression and he wasn't afraid to be aligned with disenfranchised 'tweeners' who were suffering in pain, agony and despair. In the Quran, Allah (swt) tells us to be more like the Prophet...that includes at times when it's inconvenient and unpopular....times like Ferguson.

A Blues Jihad

Push play and read.

Listening to the musical genius of the late Yusef Lateef takes us to a blues place.  The complexity of notes, innovative compositions, Lateef blended soul-stirring sounds from all over the world…blues sounds if you will, translated to what he called 'autophysiophsychic' music.  In his masterful sonnets you can hear the blues of Arabia, Africa, Brazil, Asia and America.  His musical lane covered most of the suffering world as his Blues found existential harmony with theirs. The world has always found a common language in the blues of struggle and music.  Music scores across hues and ideologies landing on the spirit of humanity…this is where we find the Blues.  This isn’t an ode to the 'Gentle Giant' but a reflection of the Muslim women and men of his generation who weren't afraid to express their Blues and triumphed in a bipolar world.

To borrow Cornel West’s contextualization of the Blues, catastrophe and struggle lies within the quiet beats of the Blues.  In other words, out of struggle, pain, agony and despair of living with one's 'back against the wall', the Blues is born, bearing testimony to atrocity while applying comfort and perspective to the pain-filled disciple.  This Blues, popularized through African-American music, has roots everywhere there is struggle, it is the elixir of the sufferer, activating them on a spiritual journey, confronting their struggles and finding resolve through compassion.  As the Blues teaches many lessons, there’s an important message for a group of people who culturally rarely partake of its musical feast…Muslims.

The term for struggle in Islam is Jihad.  Like the Blues, it is the struggle against the catastrophic.  Oppression, poverty, abuse, sin are all catastrophic events affecting the body-spirit and community.  Islam teaches its disciples to combat the evils with compassion and prayer.  To uplift and correct the spirit through reflection and community transformation.  Like the Blues, Jihad speaks to and speaks out against injustice to the body-spirit and humanity while covering both with peace and love.

You see, Islam means Peace and Jihad is its Blues song.  Have you ever witnessed a Muslim Bluesman or Blueswoman recite al-Fatiha in prayer? Like any great Blues song, the first verse draws the supplicant in as the disciple's somber tones reflects the difficulties of the day and pains of the community.  By the 2^nd verse (rakaa), the disciple has transported the congregation to the foot of the Creator, crying a Blues hymn for himself and the community, begging for relief and peace from a world filled with catastrophe.  

The Blues is the yang of Jihad, without it, Jihad becomes chillingly misconstrued and out of balance.  If Muslims learn from a Bluespeople who have suffered with perseverance, revolted with compassion and exercised liberation with inclusion and forgiveness then perhaps Islam could become a 'gentle giant' in the world.  A faith fighting against the catastrophic with love and compassion...a Blues Jihad.   

Mipsterz; A call for Acceptance or Freedom

Hipster Muslims are nothing new.  I was raised surrounded by Muslims who were the hippest folk around.  In the 70’s it was nothing to see Muslim men in leather coats, kufis, dashikis and dark glasses walking with a lean and Muslim women in heels and afros with nose rings draped in colorful garb, scarves and hijabs included.  American Muslims have always been hip with social and spiritual swag.  As with every generation there’s a reinvention of what was, a neo-defining of the past…the old Muslim cool is now Muslim hipsters or Mipsterz. 

There’s already been a ton of talk on the Mipsterz video so I won’t describe its contents but let’s just say if you haven’t seen it see it. Visually it’s stunning; socially it’s thought-provoking depicting the humanity of Muslim women.  Muslim diversity is what’s in the ring not Islam the faith. There also seems to be a deeper message, a latent cry for freedom, more than acceptance by the majority and popular, but an underlying message to Muslim families that our women are still wrestling with equality.

The humanness of Muslims makes us as different as snowflakes.  Allah(swt) created us with a variety of styles, looks, colors, views, likes, ideas, etc. so how could we be expected to constrict our community to a monolithic Muslim identity. What would that monolithic identity dress like, talk like, look like.   Should it be like Afghan women under Taliban jurist or like the American Muslim artist Me’shell Ndegeochello (Suhaila Bashir-Shakur).  

Ok, I probably lost some Muslim readers by now but seriously, what amazes me is a faith that has touted the freedom and equality of women for over 1400 years is still embattled with the role and position of women within its own community.  Like Plessey v. Ferguson, separate but equal, African-Americans were legally free and equal but socialized inequalities resulted in Jim Crow rules and years of social oppression and discrimination.  I wrestle with the fact that in too many cases, Muslim women have been given a ‘bad check’ under the notion of ‘equality’ under various interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence.  I’m not a jurist, a scholar or even a wanna-be Imam, neither is this an exegesis on Quran but as a born and bred Muslim I bear witness to the mask we wear when addressing equality. We can’t equal the playing field because we’re playing on the same field.

Whatever side you are on, whether you agree that a Muslim woman should be viewed publically or not, we as Muslims have to take a serious listen to the rumblings in our community for the salvation of our community. What’s interesting, we already know Muslim women like this so why the shock and divisiveness…it’s the mask that Paul Laurence Dunbar describes in his famed poem ‘We Wear the Mask’ or as Jaz Z raps in the soundtrack, “New money, they looking down on me, Blue bloods they trying to clown on me, you can turn up your nose high society, Never gone turn down the homie”.  Muslimahs, let the haters hate, look down on you and clown you but know that they can’t turn you down…only the One that create you wears the Crown.  Blaze a path so the ones to follow know, not that it’s cool to be Muslim but it’s cool to be themselves while keeping their faith.

#Mipsterz

This Might Be Scandalous

 “It’s handled!” The now famous affirmative statement known to ‘Gladiators’ the world over who are not only consumed by, but in love with Olivia Pope and the creator of Scandal, Shonda Rhimes.  I must admit as a big, burly, brash, angry, macho black man…I love the show!  For real, I’ve watched it from the first episode completely enamored with Olivia Pope, her style and sassiness but probably most of all, her get-it-doneness.  This show is about a black women getting it done…I mean seriously…getting it done!  She’s the ultimate fixer fixing the White elite’s problems while dawned in black skin and a white cape.  Every episode is filled with jaw-dropping drama, intrigue and a crazy-mad-love affair with the POTUS.

Now, I can write pages on the show and give a review on each episode but that isn’t the crux I’m faced with today…I actually got beef with my beloved Thursday night affair.  Last night, watching the “Vermont is for Lovers, too” episode we finally begin to get a deeper look into Liv’s family dynamic.  Per usual, the writing and acting was flawless, by far the best since the original ‘Dallas’ and ‘who shot J.R.’ but I couldn't help leaving the episode reflecting on the Pope family.

This affluent, accomplished Black family looked just as dysfunctional suffering from the stereotypical pathologies of poor and disenfranchised black families.  Absent father, self-absorbed, violent; Mom, angry, contentious relationship with Dad, psychotic and in prison. Then there’s Liv, privileged, independent, unstable, can’t maintain or build a functional relationship.  I became frightened at the thought that my favorite show that I call ‘our’ own could be victim to perpetuating a stereotypical image of another broken Black family...however fantastic.

Us ‘Gladiators’ know the love affair dynamic is pretty infectious.  From the first episode, with Liv blowing our minds as she was able to walk directly into the White House, wearing her Sheroic white coat, passing through security and into the oval office.  To the first kiss that made our jaws drop and then with the second…we hit the flo...she and President!  Granted, a passionate and irresistible love affair makes for great television…but…last night I started thinking.  How could she get with POTUS after learning he shot down the plane killing her Momma and conspired with her evil father!  Yea he built the crib for her but seriously... he killed yo mama!

Let’s forgo my momma loyalties for a minute and look again at the dynamic presented.  Perhaps I’m a bit sensitive after seeing ’12 Years a Slave’ but my thoughts went back to the historical placage relationships between white men and quadroon slave women who were courted at 'quadroon balls' to become a common law wife, without marital legal rights or social inclusion. But in these relationships, Massa would provide housing for his slave mate. Or even Patsey from ’12 Years a Slave’ who was adored by Massa but hated by Massa’s wife…hmm…Millie don’t like Liv too much either…

Ok…I said it and I’m sure Ms. Rhimes has no intention of portraying our shero in such a light as I’ve described.  Being of a community struggling with the demonization of our men, the hyper-sexualization of our women, the purposeful incarceration of our young and the scandalizing of our blackness, this subliminal imagery is all to familiar.  Perhaps, I’m just being to sensitive or maybe we’ve become too desensitized, nonetheless….I can’t wait for the next episode! #Gladiatorsrule