FROM AFROS TO SHELLTOES BLOG » Damn Good Albums That Changed Our Life

Obama Drama: When Racial Identity Goes Wrong

Edward M. Garnes, Jr. — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:20:12 +0000

Editor’s Note: The following piece appeared as a cover feature in the Atlanta Voice No.43 Issue 32

Obama Drama: When Racial Identity Goes Wrong

By Edward M. Garnes Jr.

There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.–James Baldwin

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Real change is often met with reluctance; and sometimes layered in resentment. Such is the case of the new America before us.

In the past, rubbing elbows with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or claims to have some sort of connection with him and/or the Civil Rights Movement– even if meager or grossly exaggerated– was a prerequisite for leading black America.

According to Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy, the rise of Barack Obama threatens to redefine not only preconceived notions of leadership, but also the delicate framing of ” blackness” as a organizing principle. Why? Because Obama is his own man, one not beholden to the whims of traditional leaders accustoming to having an unquestioned monopoly on black public opinion. But more importantly, his support from white folks and people of mixed heritage have the identity police wondering if Obama is on the right side of black or a mischievous racial turncoat; an alluring sell out in disguise.

Mired in treacherous territory, racial identification has long divided the black community’s loyalties. Know one knows that better than Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy, who authored Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word, which garnered great criticism, earning him the label, “Sellout.” He has added fuel to the fire with his latest tome Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal, which explores how the polarizing term “sellout” truncates necessary dialogue and serves as a racial barometer for who is down with the black community..or not.

For Kennedy, the Obama debate is rooted, simply, in fear. “Quite frankly some people are afraid of success. We all come habituated to expectations. There are black people whose psyche is simply not ready to accept a black man who might rise to the highest office in the land. They are actually made afraid by the prospect. In my experience, it’s been older people by in large…younger people (say) why not.” Oftentimes, blacks are so socially conditioned to losing the very thought of winning is unfathomable.

Kennedy further asserts that due to the heavy burden of historic inequalities many in black America feel attacked on all sides. And while organizing against “the man” was once a source of group solidarity, new opportunity and advancement has created a state of racial paranoia.

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“Some black people feel really besieged. White supremacists policies, segregation, etc, buttressed black solidarity. For some people, this anxiety about racial abandonment has become greater in the current period precisely because people have choices today that they didn’t use to have. There is fear that blacks will choose to identity with others outside the group.”

Besides igniting fear, Obama successes also changes the face of what constitutes a “Black” leader. Obama is not as racially obscure as Justice Clarence Thomas or as radical as the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. But, he occupies a curious public space where his “Blackness” is palatable across race and class fault lines. A trait many Black ‘leaders’, who are all too often campaigning to be the H.N.I.C., can only dream of. A point Kennedy is sure to underscore.

“We have a black American who is seriously contending. This is not a symbolic run. This is not a guy who is putting on a campaign because he wants to be the president of black America…that is not what this is about…this about a person who thinks he has the wherewithal to occupy the White House… (and) is being taken very seriously by everybody.”

With everyday folks still navigating the inconveniences of black life, Kennedy is quick to point out one of the greatest achievements of Obama; restoring internal belief. “Whether he wins or loses on of the great consequences of his campaign is that he has expanded the sense of the possible.”

If anything, Obama has proven black identity is far from static and provided a much needed ideological remix to contemporary discourse. For Kennedy, accepting our rich diversity is essential to true liberation.

“You can disagree with somebody in a profound and vigorous way and after you disagree you can still eat dinner…and maybe after dinner you may find something on which you agree. If however in the course of disagreement, you call me a sellout, we are no longer just ideological antagonists/foes…we have now become enemies. In our community, we should be careful of making enemies of anyone especially; other black people.”

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Award winning writer, educator, counselor, and activist Edward M. Garnes, Jr. is the founder of From Afros to Shelltoes: Art, Action, and Conversation, a nationally acclaimed series of cultural productions confronting the social divide between elders and hip hop heads, and holds a B.A. in English Writing from DePauw University and a M.A. in Counseling from Michigan State University . His seminal essay, ” Sweet Tea Ethics: Black Luv, Healthcare, and Cultural Mistrust,” currently appears in Not In My Family: AIDS in the African American Community, a 2007 NAACP Image Award nominated collection edited by Gil Robertson. (www.afrostoshelltoes.com).

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Damn Good Albums: Erykah Badu

admin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:32:11 +0000

Baduizm (Universal; 1997)

video: Badu’s Other Side of The Game

Sugar’s Review: Senior year in college, second semester to be exact, and i was doing my best to get my degree without jumpin over a bridge from the stress. baduizm floated onto the synthetically labeled neo-soul arena like a butterfly on a georgia peach patch. i didn’t know anyone, man or woman, that did not have or want to have that album, especially after seeing the video for “on and on”. soft inuendos, real love songs (and by real i mean situations that you could truly believe happened to regular folk) and a savoir faire that shook the world out of its complacent boots. it was and still is an album we talk about. some brothers acted like they hadn’t heard it just to slip in a fine girl’s room for an impromptu booty rub. i remember blasting her album on friday afternoon right after my last class and sunday night to ease my mind of all those monday assignments due. we loved the album so much we’d shout her out on the campus television show, radio show and parties we did (special shout out to greg stephan, chris newton and the gang at the Pulliam Center). from rim shot to otha side of the game to drama she told us her story even when it wasn’t always pretty. it was just golden…d’angelo cleansed our palates with brown sugar the year before (we miss you man) and baduizm was a much appreciated course. i learned more from erykah badu than any uppity syllabus could attempt to teach me.

Ed’s Review

“what you gonna do when they come for you/ work aint honest but it pays the bills..” - “Other Side Of The Game” from Baduizm

Erykah Badu’s Baduizm not only saved my damn life, but it’s revolutionary grooves would also come to embody (musically & spiritually) everything we wanted from an artist…and the dreams we clung to for ourselves…Broke as hell my sophomore year of college, Sugar beat me to the punch coppin’ the Badu joint and blasting it across the hall of our dorm in West Bubble Freak, Indiana…Overcome with jealously, I begged him like a crack fiend to borrow the album one weekend while he was out of town…But his hatin’ ass girl at the time came and stole the album before I could really catch a groove I remember using change –I had saved to wash my clothes–to buy the album. Baduizm was a regular niggas dream gettin’ me through finals, death threats, heartbreaks, suicidal ideation, and my parents (now divorced) rocky relationship. In many ways, “Other Side Of The Game” became my personal soundtrack (and still is) as a young man developing in a world where free spirits have hell to pay. It was my shit so much so; Sugar could tell if I was depressed by how many times he heard “Other Side Of The Game” on repeat Sista Badu had given us a gift we could never repay…the courage to get our dreams out of layaway…Thank You!!!!

Damn Good Albums: Maxwell

admin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:31:35 +0000

Maxwell Urban Hang Suite (Columbia;1996)

Sugar’s Review: Big homie Ed Garnes (you my Negro from here to Montego) and myself were responsible for exposing 30,000 small town Indiana citizens to up and coming artists that spoke to our soul and uplifted the good ‘hood in us. One day while perusing a bunch of videos we stumbled upon a very afroed brother crawling around on a carpeted floor crooning to an empty bed. We were a bit thrown off by the eccentric style of the video, to say the least, but upon closer listening we were encompassed by the smooth funky musicianship. It was booty call music on the low. What video was this? You guessed it, “Til the Cops Come Knockin” by Maxwell from his debut major release “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite”. Though I heard he had an album (or maybe a few songs) before…again on the low. Urban Hang Suite with it’s very vintage cover and sultry sounds about one weekend with one lady rocked the very core of the Plymouth. The sac passe brother from Brooklyn used conventional wisdom in defying the convention of the soul song formula…some famous producer like Puffy (he wasn’t Diddy at the time), a rap remix, or vulgar words to smooth sounds. OK, enough of the review speak, Urban Hang Suite was the joint. I don’t know about you, but I found out the last song has a long pause with a climactic return as I did what you’re supposed to when that album is playing…make sure whoever calls has to leave a message.

Ed’s Review: : “If it’s cool..we can do a lil’ sumthin’ sumthin’” – “Sumthin’ Sumthin” Urban Hang Suite

Maxwell was already the star of our burgeoning tv program. I will never forget that day we got mail from Columbia Records containing an extensive promo package from a cat simply known as Maxwell. And while me and Sugar joked ( I mean we laughed for good ten minutes) about the “brother with the Fro” rolling on the floor with himself in the video “Till The Cops Come Knocking,” his jazzy release-inspired by a short but intense fling– introduced a new level of sensuality to post teenage desire. Plus, the sultry soundtrack made even Timberland wearing thugs summon their sensitive side …me and Sugar often called the album “A Sensitive Brother’s Manifesto”…But for real, Maxwell’s mature offering was like the romantic flare of flowers just because.

It was the smoothed out love letter every brother in the world wanted to write….but was too damn cool to tell his women!!! Maxwell’s 96′ release also marks a dramatic tone shift in music as mid tempo grooves, jam sessions, and incense became the craze as industry execs, looking for a clever marketing term to push record sales, developed the flawed title neo-soul ( soul is soul…and that never get’s old). Maxwell’s debut is genius because it single handedly captured the tenderness and repressed desires of a new generation …

Damn Good Albums: Jodeci

admin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:14:45 +0000

Jodeci The Show, The After Party, The Hotel (MCA; 1995)

Ed’s Review: This Jodeci joint was the first CD I ever purchased. I was still rocking cassette tapes at the time. But what an investment it proved to be as it endured repeated spins (I mean incessantly) throughout my freshmen year of college. In many ways, Jodeci was the antithesis of male R&B groups; an edgy marriage of hip hop swagger and “homie lover friend” sensitivity. They were the brothers that may get a sista to spend the night, but would be sure to call the next day. Grossly underappreciated lyricists, their gift of pen is showcased on the hip hop generation wedding staple ” Love U 4 Life” as K.C.’s throwback vocals plead ” do you belive in love, and the promise that it gives?” Another personal favorite was “Pump It Back”, a chill groove with heavy baseline perfect for early Saturday afternoon loving. Amazingly, in this era of gimmick driven tunes, The Show, The After Party, The Hotel has aged well and could still get you a phone number and a hug…maybe even more!!

Sugar’s Review: Jodeci is the one of the few groups that proudly displayed their smoothed out- hood- come- here girl- bravado. Don’t get it twisted, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers (stay strong Ron Isley) got their thang on but Jodeci is our generation’s love in your face group…with no apologies. The Show, The After Party, The Hotel was the soundtrack to every young crooner’s dream. From the tracks to what I call the ‘location skits’, Jodeci gets down. My favorite joint is ‘S More’ cuz it’s the perfect song for what you were thinkin on the way to the shower after a good, shall we say, evening. The album was loved by hoes and good girls alike. And I guess that’s good for everybody.