Conversations... with Dad: Just A Huge Pile of Sadness!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Just A Huge Pile of Sadness!

Anymore I find myself overwhelmed with sadness. The kind that used to be crooned by singers of the '50s in those lay down and cry hope to die love songs. The kind of sadness that takes you to your bed pulling the covers up over your head. The kind sadness that leaves you silent-- unable to explain the reasons why you make me so sad.

I can't wrap my arms around the trigger point, but I can say that the Zimmerman verdict left me pretty empty. But the Dream Defenders gave me a whole lot of hope. Then came the Jay Z/Belafonte fiasco. WOW!!! Now I know that there is not one of us who wants to get called out in public but really...

“My presence is charity. Just who I am. Just like Obama’s is. Obama provides hope. Whether he does anything, the hope that he provides for a nation, and outside of America is enough. Just being who he is. ...I felt Belafonte he just went about it wrong. Like the way he did it in the media, and then he big’d up Bruce Springsteen or somebody. And it was like, “whoa,” you just sent the wrong message all the way around…Bruce Springsteen is a great guy. You’re this Civil Rights activist and you just big’d up the white guy against me in the white media. And I’m not saying that in a racial way. I’m just saying what it is. The fact of what it was. And that was just the wrong way to go about it.”

And...

"I'm just trying to find common ground/'Fore Mr. Belafonte come and cut a n--ga down/Mr. Day O, major fail/Respect these youngins boy, it's my time now/Hublot homie two door homie/You don't know all the sh-t I do for the homes."

Really? Right here is where I have to say that this is why we, and our educational system have failed and continue to fail our children.

This is a short clip of a documentary about Belafonte (UK produced by the way). Sad.

Then, the other day I watched what Russell Simmons described as the "funniest thing he had ever seen"? Really. He has since "apologized" and removed it from his YouTube channel after much controversy. The video was titled the "Harriet Tubman Sextapes". The video is described as a "comedy parody" of Harriet Tubman having sex with her "master". So here's my take on this, and why it makes me so very sad.

This was a period in our lives not suited for comedy or parody. Though there are some who have chosen to diminish the extreme relevance of it by reducing it to just that. In doing so, it has and continues to reduce all of our humanity. I certainly did not expect Russell Simmons to be a contributor to the continuance of this unfortunate part of our American legacy. Sad. Beyond sad when Mr. Simmons tweet is reduced to: "...I must be missing a sensitivity button."

I think it's a little bigger then that because I don't believe for one minute that producing or supporting a comedy parody around any of these horrific acts ever crossed his mind. Sad, because he didn't see the similarities.

That jokes, parodies and disclaimers about the occurrence and severity of our vileness as human beings are usually left to those we believe to be less informed and who don't sit in positions of influence. At least that is what we hope. Sad when we recognize that's not the case.

Then to round it off...

Call me a hater but I'll be the first to say that I have the greatest respect for James and the Heat. Especially after they came out as they did for Trayvon. HOWEVER, this is all kind of ways wrong. If you go to this instagram post you will hear James in the background. "Police escort on the wrong side of the street, need it..." And where's he going? The Jay Z concert in Miami Florida!!! The place many recording artist including Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen (the one noted in the Harry Belafonte feud) are boycotting behind Stand Your Ground Laws. You can't make this stuff up. As Mandela would say: "You Can't Just Talk About It, You Got to BE ABOUT IT!!!"

So folks, I'm about weighted down here under a huge pile of sadness guess I'll have to just "Cry me a River".

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About this Blog

My father died in 2003, 6 months after my mother. After his death, one of the things I missed most was our conversations. So I started this blog. We would sit at the kitchen table or on the front porch and have these long, philosophical conversations about the state of everything. Then we would solve all of the world's problems over a cigarette and a cup of coffee. One of the warmest memories I have was of him sitting on the front porch talking to me while I painted around him. It was the beginning of summer and he was commenting on how he wished he could pick up a brush and help. He often would read something from the paper and then voice his righteous indignation. It would end with a "It's a damn shame!" or "They must think we're stupid." I miss that. I miss the bond we shared around joint perspectives. And I miss the knowledge that could only come from one seasoned with so many life experiences, especially now that I have come to the point in my life that I know the real important questions to ask. I am 60 years old, and came of age during the '60s. I'm a proud boomer. I remember when poets poeted

Writers wrote... Actors acted out, Painters created art from everything and anything that remained still long enough to be painted

and there was truly civil disobedience at the very thought of someone taking away any of our freedoms.

And the world began to shift... A little. Well, I took a rest. And it must have been a long rest. I feel like Rip Van Winkle. Anyway, by the time I REALLY woke up things were shifting back. Way back. And right now, I gotta say I'm feeling like it's gonna take more thin I got to turn this around. And my dad's not here to share my anger, to talk about our outrage, and to answer my questions. So here is where I can have the conversations I would have with him if he were still here and we could share a cigarette and a cup of coffee on his front porch.