Winter in (black) America

 

Few had insight into that peculiar experience that is the Black American experience like Gil Scott Heron had. He died recently and the social networks were abuzz with people who likely heard little of his music and if they did understood none of it.  Mr. Scott knew the Blues and understood Jazz, which means  he knew what it meant to be Black. His music and life was almost a perfect analogy of post 1970′s Black America.

While Mr. Scott’s and my political differences make it likely we were looking at this from a difference perspective, it is clear he also saw an intractable decline on the horizon in America and with in Black America . This “Winter” the brothers speaks of features  us gunning each other down without pause, assimilating into materialistic mainstream culture at a dizzying rates, forgetting all the traditions that sustained us during that long walk from chattel to “freedom”. We don’t get married anymore, we have almost all of our kids out-of-wedlock, since integration it seems the only thing we have gained was a marginal amount of wealth. Yet we happy that we are integrated, one supposes living next to white folk and being allowed into their institutions made all these declines worthwhile for most.  Hey, at least we can feel self-important for embracing diversity.

Undoubtedly those of us who actually care about Black communities, which are way different from ” the Black Community”,  see these issues for what they are, dismal signs of a dying culture and people. Can we be saved? I have no idea. But as Gil said in Winter in America  ” sister (and brother) save your soul”  if you can’t save anything else.

Fittingly the great Gil Scott Heron died, May 27, 2011 (62), in the dying former bastion of Black culture and self-determination Harlem, NY. I think the griot was telling us something.

As Charles Murray book  and the general landscape in America shows, this decline isn’t limited to Blacks. But that’s another post.

 

From the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims
And to the buffalo who once ruled the plains
Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds
Looking for the rain
Looking for the rain

Just like the cities staggered on the coastline
Living in a nation that just can’t stand much more
Like the forest buried beneath the highway
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow

And now it’s winter
Winter in America
Yes and all of the healers have been killed
Or sent away, yeah
But the people know, the people know
It’s winter
Winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting
‘Cause nobody knows what to save
Save your soul, Lord knows
From Winter in America

The Constitution
A noble piece of paper
With free society
Struggled but it died in vain
And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner
Hoping for some rain
Looks like it’s hoping
Hoping for some rain

And I see the robins
Perched in barren treetops
Watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor
But just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow

And now it’s winter
It’s winter in America
And all of the healers have been killed
Or betrayed
Yeah, but the people know, people know
It’s winter, Lord knows
It’s winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to save
Save your souls
From Winter in America

And now it’s winter
Winter in America
And all of the healers done been killed or sent away
Yeah, and the people know, people know
It’s winter
Winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to save
And ain’t nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows, nobody knows
And ain’t nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to save

I Completed the Decision 2012 IAT

I took the Implicit Associations test over at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ to determine my racial and political preferences.  Apparently and rather obviously I prefer the Negro race to our paler cousins. Also I have a slight preference for Obama over Mitt Romney, but don’t take that too mean anything, I find both of them completely useless generally.

Your data suggest a moderate implicit preference for Black People compared to White People. Your data suggest a slight implicit preference for Barack Obama compared to Mitt Romney.

If your score was described as ‘inconclusive,’ then your performance was not within the range to provide an interpretable result. Most inconclusive results are due to a high number of errors.

Building Sustainable Communities

It is sad we have excluded ourselves from the sustainable communities discussion. Through out much of our history we lived in self sustained communities practicing what they now call organic farming. Imagine how lower our crime rates would be, and how much more efficient our schools would be if you took greater control in what we do and produce in our communities. It is time to remove the government from the equation and get back to controlling our own destines.

http://www.todaysdrum.com/11466/what-is-a-sustainable-community-and-why-should-blacks-care/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+todaysdrum%2FvVVb+%28Today%27s+Drum+-+Positive+Black+News%29

Mo’ Buckra

I don’t know if I ever mentioned it , but I consider Google Books to be among gods greatest creations, right up there with soft shell crab and oysters. Just moments ago I was perusing the site and came across this old book about jamaican in which the blacks referred to whites as Buckra , just the Gullah people of South Carolina. Interesting stuff.

book im referring too

Inane Article of the Day (IAotD)- Crip and Bloods Occupy ATL?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forget the moral implications of the idea of having gang members supporting your movement. These young men, who if successful gang members  maim and murder individuals along with dominate local drug trades, are marching for better healthcare for the people they put in hospitals and rehab clinics?  From the looks of them of course they are not successful gang bangers, in a city like Atlanta that is renowned for wealthy drug dealers one would imagine they would have little time to occupy a park.

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/occupy-atlanta-unites-bloods-and-crips?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

AfroTrad’s Mac & Cheese

I have noticed the rise of many nouveau Soul Food recipes. While I support anything that keeps the traditional food ways of African-Americans alive I tire of these newfangled; 10 cheese, sour cream, and breadcrumb laden recipes I come across so much these days.

Here is a recipe in which I feel embodies the spirit of the traditional dish the way it was made by our grand parents. Inspired both by my parents and The Tuskegee Institutes recipes.

First, boil 2 cups of macaroni pasta in lightly salted water

While the pasta is boiling, make a cheese sauce. Melt butter (2 tbs) in a sauce pan over low heat, saute a little finely dice onion whisk in flour (2tbs), then stir in heavy cream(1 cup) and milk (1/4 cup)(or evaporated milk). Stir non stop until it is thick. Take off heat, add your choice between creole seasonings, paprika and salt and pepper (to taste), add 1 1/2 cups of grated or chopped up sharp white cheddar cheese( I like traditional English). Stir until cheese well mixed.

Next, Cube 1 pound of sharp yellow cheddar cheese ( I like American cheddar here) and mix it, the cheese sauce and the cooked and cooled down macaroni( 1-2 cups) to together in a bowl. Pour into a baking dish and sprinkle Pecorino Romano cheese and buttered bread crumbs on top(if you must modernize) and bake for a half hour to 45 minutes.

Martin Luther King

Today the federal government and America’s president, among others, dedicated a National Memorial to Martin Luther King in the National Mall in Washington DC. He is the only non president to have receive such an honor. While ,for the most part, politically, Dr. King and I are not compatible. I have great respect for a man who sacrificed himself trying to lead our glorious race to a better place in the US and indeed the world. So in honor of his special day I will post my favorite Martin Luther King clip.

The MLK that’s never quoted.

“‎”The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation, no Johnsonian civil rights bill can totally bring this kind of freedom”

—	Martin Luther King

The good Dr and I shared a favorite song and gospel artist in How I Got Over by  Mahalia Jackson.