Our Youth are the Future of Our Culture

"The idea that a culture can develop without any connection to the past (except its increased availability of consumables) is a contradiction in terms." 

Dear friends, 

 The idea that a culture can develop without any connection to the past (except its increased availability of consumables) is a contradiction in terms. Hence, the notion of "youth culture", for example, is designed to exploit the vast and seemingly endless energy and enthusiasm of young people. Yet, it seems, at least, to me, that the energy and courage of Our youth should, actually, serve the purpose of moving society forward - but only under the guidance of that part of society (parents and other elders) that has both the experience and understanding to recognize the values that maintain both Our humanity and spirituality. 

Moreover, once the market is allowed to define culture, Our only values become those which drive it (the market). For that reason, the mentality needed to function within the market system itself, has a great deal to do with causing the people in this society, for the most part, to not have the ability to act in a loving way towards each other, since it defines people by price or money-name. Hence, terms like low-income and wealthy become the false abstractions, like so many other monikers, that tend to sort out and classify people, then assign said folks to their stations in society and life, with most people never having any real control of their destinies 

 Additionally, culture has no meaning once taken out of the context of a reproductive process. A people who cannot reproduce themselves as a people will cease to exist as a people and become part of something else. This is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. For example, the culture that held Africans in slavery, in this society, could no longer reproduce itself in that form and had to change, because of the well-deserved hostility and resistance it engendered. 

 Therefore, and ultimately, if Our youth are to be Our future, then it will only happen if We as adults, particularly parents, take the reins of this present culture and provide Our children with both an historical and social conscience, and set the example for them, by informing identity through recognition of the connection between generations and defining human life in a meaningful way (as opposed to basing who they are upon unsubstantiated claims regarding with whom they are having sex, or what "gang colors" they're wearing). That way, Our society will benefit from the "leadership" of Our youth. As well, the "market" will then be a function of the values of the society and not vice versa as it is now. 

 G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

A must-hear video by Senator Bernie Sanders on "Immigration Reform"

"While he covers the usual issues of illegal immigration at the southern border of the U>S, he also makes note of the attempt by both Democrats and Republicans to sneak in legislation that will allow multi-national corporations to bring Eastern European and Asian workers to do entry-level white collar work that millions of our currently unemployed college graduates can do..."

Dear friends,

On the link below is an important 20 minutes-long presentation by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, regarding the upcoming "Immigration Reform" legislative issue where the Independent politican delivers a concise analysis.

While he covers the usual issues of illegal immigration at the southern border of the U>S, he also makes note of the attempt by both Democrats and Republicans to sneak in legislation that will allow multi-national corporations to bring Eastern European and Asian workers to do entry-level white collar work that millions of our currently unemployed college graduates can do. Are the Democrats, Republicans, and their multi-national corporate sponsors/bosses trying to lower wages? This is "God's country", after all. Please have a listen.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/media/view/?id=abff86a1-5056-a032-524a-56c06d0c8574 Read full post

Blacks and Comedy - a review of an NYC Comedy Show

Kareem Green and Hadiyah Robinson

Luigi

“What attempts to pass itself off as self-deprecation is really self-degradation. The two practices are not the same.”

Dear friends, 

 This past Friday (May 31, 2013), I arrived in New York City to see a friend who was visiting from outside the country for a week. On the agenda for that evening first was to catch one of NYC’s veteran comics, Hadiyah Robinson.

While I’d seen videos of her, this would be the first live performance I’d seen. My friend and I were both more than pleased that we’d gone to the show, which was at a very nice, Yuppie-ish place called the One & One Pub, in Lower Manhattan. (btw, being held every first and ever last Friday of the month) 

 In any case, the very pretty and witty Hadiyah, who was also the host/emcee of the show, was joined by two equally funny and thoughtful comedians, Kareem Green and a brother who simply goes by the name Luigi. All three were hilarious! And all three were well-seasoned vets, with Luigi doing a skit where he impersonated Mike Tyson incredibly well and in a way that would have had the legendary prizefighter both smiling and laughing with approval.  By the way, any cultural group will enjoy the three aforementioned comics' presentations.

 Yet, there was also a little downside to the show, unfortunately, because three novices were generously given the microphone, even though not a single one of the trio deserved, much less earned, it - a heavyset fellow named Jamal, a young woman (Kali ?) who spent too much time claiming to be Dominican, and a buffoon named Jay “the singing comic” who, apparently, forgot that he was on stage and not on a street corner amusing his wino buddies. In their amateurish effort to use the comedic technique of self-deprecation, the thoughtless drivel of each of  these three was laced with the pejorative term "Niggaz" throughout their insulting sets. And this was in front of an audience that was equally mixed with both African- and European-Americans.

 The three who I just mentioned above remind me of some words from a piece that was written by an old and dear friend of mine, legendary Philadelphia journalist Elmer Smith, when he paid homage to the great Richard Pryor, after the latter’s passing, back in late 2006. It goes, in part, “…he may have been the funniest man who ever told the truth for comic effect…Problem is that his success has spawned a legion of foul-mouthed imitators whose mindless musings haven't evolved since they were class cut-ups in junior high school…You can turn on the television any day of the week and hear the uncouth utterances of some street-corner comic whose idea of comedy is to see how many "mf's" he or she can sprinkle on a half-baked monologue that tries to raise low-life to high art…It has become the staple of a crew of stand-ups who got some of the style and none of the substance that distinguished Pryor's comedy… Pryor offered insights. The other blue comics offer only stereotypes…But I can't understand how someone who hopes to make a living at something doesn't care enough about his (or her) craft to even examine it closely… His comedy came from his struggle to understand a society where he saw himself as an alien in his native land… the crude comics who have followed him can decipher all of the words but none of the meaning of what they heard.” (Elmer Smith | Pryor's message was more than the profanity, Philadelphia Daily News, Dec. 16, 2006) 

Of course, on a side note, when he was just starting to really get big, back in the early-Seventies, I went to catch Pryor at a small nightclub called Paul's Mall on Boylston St, in Boston (today, almost exactly where the Boston Marathon Bombing occurred). I still remember, as he got out of the limo and walked towards the front door, folks standing in a line that was a block or so long were asking him for his autograph. Then suddenly a guy yelled out "Hey Richard!...Will you autograph this blank check?". At that, Pryor and everyone else cracked up, as he entered the venue.

 Finally, to me, one of the most damning criticisms that I have of wannabe comics like Jamal, (Kari ?), and Jay mentioned above  is: Like so many of today’s Black “comics” of whom my brother Elm spoke above is: What attempts to pass itself off as self-deprecation, in order to get a cheap laugh, is really self-degradation. Obviously, the two concepts are not the same. 

Still, I look forward to seeing Hadiyah, Kareem, and Luigi again. Cheers!

 G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/opinion/15iht-edjackson.html?_r=1 Read full post