A short interview/discussion with legendary jazz singer/bandleader Nicki Mathis

"I'm interested in singing songs about my family, my people, the motherland, joy, happiness..."

Djata: Nicki, I must first say that it's an honor for me to be having this discourse with you. At any rate, from where did the lyrics come in your early years and how have they evolved?

Nicki: Thanks, Djata. For the first lyrics I wrote to my 1st jazz pianist's Sabrina, the words came from the real story; Sabrina was his & his wife's 1st born, and the story came from a collection of words I thought told how he must have felt about her beauty, his responsibility to protect her, his wishes for her happiness in life. His music was/is so beautiful, I wanted to sing along, so I wrote words.

For the 1st music & lyrics I wrote for Make Some Kind of Magic, it came from a comment I made to a poet who had signed me to sing accapella on her poetry show- something I don't know how to do performance-wise - I ended up telling her, don't worry, we'll make some kind of magic. When I heard the words out my mouth, I thought, “Hmmmm…that sounds like a song”. I proceeded to put notes to the cadence of the words, and told the story of my first trip to Africa. Usually, a phrase, or a scene will conjure up a story, then I have to find melody to match words.

Djata: You’ve told me that when you do a song, you have to like the story. What do you mean by that?

Nicki: I'm interested in singing songs about my family, my people, the motherland, joy, happiness. I'm not interested in singing sad, violent songs, songs about people mistreating people.
Djata: You were a single Mom who raised two sons to adulthood. You’ve been involved in music, literally, all of your life. But, Nicki, as a basis for all that you’ve done and still do, I’m curious, at this point in your life, what really makes you tick?

Nicki: Love of life makes me tick; learning makes be happy, I love people, artists, art, nature.

Djata: Is there or are there either benefits or detriments, or both, to being a female performer?

Nicki: I'm still looking for benefits outside of self actualization/fulfillment; gender determents are a way of life. Women are not viewed as equal human beings.

Djata: Do you believe that there is any one thing or are there several things that female artists, of all kinds, can do to help bring humanity to a tangibly higher level where people will be able to relate to each other on many levels, as opposed to so much of the division between cultural groups and sexes that is so prevalent today?

Nicki: Many things can be done to bring humanity to a higher level, go back to kindergarten like behavior, and treat people like we want to be treated with respect and consideration. . Understand that r-a-c-e is a make believe word which means nothing, and immediately stop applying it to reality.

stay tuned… Read full post

The Mechanisms of Culture

"This is easily identifiable by recognizing the actual mental and motor reflexes that are initiated when a European American (so-called white person) who is sitting in a car pushes down the lock button as an African American approaches the vicinity of the former’s vehicle."

 Dear friends,

Racism/White Supremacy is a cultural institution in the United States of America. Now, when I speak of an institution I am referring to a set of activities with specific rules. Some institutions require buildings like, for instance, banks and post offices. While others don’t. The Super Bowl and the Miss America pageant are examples. In Our society, culture is a word that is often used to refer to the higher achievements of a particular group - like painting and music. However, it (culture) involves everything that We do. Therefore, it even has a physiological significance. This is easily identifiable by recognizing the actual mental and motor reflexes that are initiated when a European American (so-called white person) who is sitting in a car pushes down the lock button as an African American approaches the vicinity of the former’s vehicle.

 This notion of the initiating of both mental and motor reflexes also explains the cultural differences in the way that people draw, dance, sing, and so forth. In fact, even Our five "senses" are culturally-defined. That is, Our perceptions, regarding what We feel, taste, hear, smell, and see, are determined by Our cultural experiences.

Additionally, Our culture determines the manner in which We transmit and share both behavior and ideas to present and future generations. However, the first thing that We must understand about culture is that it is largely tied to a people's resources. That is, social status and income as well as materials to produce what people need or desire determine how, why and through what medium folks can express themselves as a distinct group.

 G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

LOVE is the weapon of the strong!!!

Fear friends,

Only a weak person needs to find self-worth at the expense of someone else, by being mean and evil. Yet, it is much easier to be weak and hateful, so many people prefer to take that route, because it requires no effort.

.However, if you think about it, you feel bunched up inside with anger, when you do something mean. hat is, you don't feel good. On the other hand, you feel great, when you do something good. Don't you?

Please be strong and embrace the wisdom of LOVE.

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Economic Development for African American Youth in Philly & elsewhere

“African Americans, as a people, are legendary for collecting baubles, but we never save. We have never been taught to, as the children of the wealthier have.”

Dear friends,

Planning for the future, without setting goals for the economic development of our youth, is something that may help specific individuals, or even corporations, but it won't change the standard of living for residents of any particular community, much less represent an honest attempt to prepare for their future.

Yet, strangely enough, we never hear mention of our youth, even from so-called progressives, at least not outside of them as recipients of food stamps or health care. From all of the Streets, to the Goodes (won’t bother to mention Ed Rendell), to the Blackwells, to the Fattahs, to, yes, Michael Nutter combined, not a single one of these politicians in the African American community of Philadelphia has ever had so much as a single useful thought about how to empower their constituents economically or otherwise, much less the children of the latter.

Still, how can anyone pretend to be thinking about the future, without having programs that are directly geared towards young people? Our youth need to think about their economic future.

To be sure, African Americans, as a people, are legendary for collecting baubles, but we never save. We have never been taught to, as the children of the wealthier have. Consequently, a good goal for young people to save towards is their college education.

Business groups like the African American Chamber of Commerce can play a giant role in monitoring such a program. Surely, an organization like NEEED (Networking for Equal Education and Economic Development) can help a great deal in the effort.

Of course, in order to save money, you have to make it first. As far as a program for youth to earn then save a few bucks is concerned, one of the major problems for African Americans is: Our, historically, poor sense of how to spend our money. Only the wealthy in this country are taught about wealth. The rest of the citizens (many European Americans included) have little or no idea of even what wealth is, let alone how to either acquire or keep it. Unfortunately, with this, African Americans have been the worst. And even worse than that is the fact that just as we are beginning to gain some sense of the possibilities of saving, investing, acquiring property, and so forth, the train has just about left the station.

It used to be that if a person invested in an IRA from the time they were 19 until they were 25, they could see that grow into enough to retire on even if they never invested another cent. Now, with interest rates so low in banks and investments so "iffy", you have to keep investing, certainly, much longer, to make it worthwhile.

Additionally, the question then arises, how do African Americans tend to spend money anyway, when they are 19-25 years old, much less younger than that? It is then, perhaps, more meaningful to develop as a standard that all youth are expected to have a college fund started by the time they enter Middle School. Never mind this stuff about parents saving for your child’s education. That’s the way that I worked it with all three of my kids and they all have done quite well.

Now, it may start out small, but it is the continual growth that makes a difference. Imagine for example in 6 years, from 7th-12th grade, a student saves $5 per week-the first year, $10 /wk-the second year, $15/wk-the third year, and so forth. Even without interest, that student will have a substantial chunk of money with which to enter college. The real benefit is: They will develop a mentality that puts planning for the future and the assumption that we are all college bound, in the forefront.

At any rate, people who realize that they have a future may be less likely to squander it with petty and larcenous thinking like drug-dealing and prostitution. By the way, while we are on the subject, the worst thing about the drug-dealing mentality is that drug-dealing has no future and people who are involved in it have no vision of the future. After all, no one can say with any degree of either logic or sanity, "I am going to deal drugs for a few years to earn money for college and then, after college, get a good job and raise a family." Even the strippers - who often, claim to be putting themselves through college, by dancing up and down a pole - make more sense than that. (That is, at least, their profession is legal and has a fair amount of history to it.)

One idea that is kind of similar has already been tried in, I believe, West Philly is a kind of “Sweep my steps, please?” program. At ten dollars ($10) per week, for a specified pre-teen or teenager (must be enrolled in school) to come by so many times per week and sweep your steps. No teenager should be allowed to sweep more than ten sets of steps per week. (Let us try to be democratic.) Businesses - including realtors, as well as both homeowners and renters, could be sponsors. Also, concerned adults who simply want to contribute, by sending $10 per week to the specific bank designated to monitor the funds.

This can become a great community cultural institution, lasting for generations. Some kids may feel, initially, that drug-dealing brings in more cash. However, it (drug-dealing) really does not bring in even $10 per week that they can save, for most kids. In other words, after they end up paying the bigger dealers and spending (on baubles) the peanuts that are left extremely quickly (if not before they have even paid the former his money back), they have no money.

Imagine if a hard-working youngster got a (Sweep My Steps) sponsor from the community who would put that money in an interest-bearing account as part of a stipend for the chores represented by "Step-Sweeping." The student will get $10 for his or her College fund. Of course, the student is aware that it is his or her responsibility to maintain a connection with the sponsor who keeps that account growing. What is more, this is the type of activity, if gotten off the ground, that could get matching funds rather than grants. Both businesses and individuals, knowing that the money is going to an account that cannot be touched except by an accepting college or an entity of that sort, would feel much better about their donations and more willing to make what is clearly an investment in the larger community.

So a simple slogan like, "If you make money fast, then you’ll spend it fast...If you make money slow, then you’ll spend it slow.", may eventually convince youngsters to realize that there is no future in drug-dealing. After all, young folks should understand that, if they get caught selling drugs (and they will, because addicts snitch to the cops just for reasons like the dealer will not give the latter drugs on credit), while in jail, they (young drug dealers) will not make any money. Therefore, the potential $500 for their college funds that they could make, with only one sponsor, from one year of the “Sweep” program, is far more than what they could make during that same amount of time while in jail or a youth detention center (which is, basically, nothing).

Ultimately, in order to make any kind of work-related initiative happen, we must, as it has been said, convince young people that "Work is a reward!". In other words, it is the work itself that is the reward, not any money or prizes received for one's efforts.

Unfortunately, so much currency (no pun intended) is given to the idea of "reward" as receiving either Nobel, a Pulitzer, a Grammy, an Oscar, or Lottery prize that youth do not understand that the greatest rewards they will receive in life are far more mundane, coming from the joy that they create through their experiences with other people, non-human animals, and even - things, often with no one standing nearby giving applause.

Moreover, work is a "power" that one should hold as great value. Whether it is working at MacDonald's or as a messenger for an attorney, our youth should consider appreciating the fact that their ability to get up in the morning, go to school and a job moves them forward - in the direction of controlling their own lives (destinies). What could be more empowering, than the ability to work, through study (mind) and labor (body)? And, who does not love the feeling of being powerful?

Note: To be sure, the idea of appreciating our own ability to work has been one that has often escaped youth throughout human history. After all, it is hard as a young person to hear that the satisfaction of a job well done is its own reward, when s/he sees the inequities of the distribution of the harvesting of the "fruits" of labor all around us. That is, those who do the least work, make the most money. Therefore, it is one of those notions that would be fine if everyone believed it, but hard to swallow when you know others are getting away with doing so little. Hence, it is the unfairness that eats away at our resolve to do our best in a society that, on top of the aforementioned, finds humor in its own inadequacy (as revealed in so many Hollywood productions like the Bad News Bears). Still, we must push forward in getting our youth to appreciate work.

Finally, after saving, what happens to the money, if the student does not go to college? Let it be available to the student when s/he is ready. It may go towards tuition in a trade school. It may be usable as down-payment on property. It should not be available as cash or to buy a car or pay rent. The point is that it is about moving the person forward.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post