Today is June 21, 2010 and it is a good day. It's 12:16 am and I'm listening to WCLK 99.1 a jazz station on the campus of Clark College in Atlanta Georgia, feeling as I did when I used to listen to Jazz in the 1960"s and 70's with my dad and mom. At that time you could walk down Kedzie Ave. or California Street, which intersected with Lake street and hear jazz bellowing out of the storefronts and shops all along the streets. Skip along , snap your fingers and never realize that you were being treated as a second class citizen.
Listening to jazz and it's swing and pop, bebop never brought you a worry. You'd hear Dadd-i-o Daily swinging and such melodic vibes in the air all you could think of was how nice the weather and how beautiful it is to be alive.
I listen to today's music and try not to judge the reason the powers that be let this music play, but believe me there is a reason the tunes of today get air time. Let's look at a few things from yesterday and today.
Yesterday there was a healthy respect a Black man had for a Black woman which spread to all women. Songs spoke of love and maybe hinted at something sexual, but it was never explicit. There have always been crude jokes but these jokes were whispered and never said in front of children. There was a healthy dose of respect, even if I didn't like you. I gave you what you deserved in respectability.
A whisper may go into the ear of the woman or girl you were trying to spoon, but unless you felt she had disrespected you, you'd never speak publicly under her cloths, we still remembered the teachings of our families and no way would I hear you speak to my sister as though she was your personal trash bag and walk away smiling. There'd be a straightening somewhere with you and I. Nor would I let you hear what I had to say to any female I spoke to , even when I thought I was the cool of cool .
In that day and time was so naive I never knew child molesters existed. Imagine my feelings when I realised men and women took advantage of children sexually. I knew girls and women were raped but a baby or a kid under the age of teens, no way. One of my biggest fights was with the cousin of a guy in our group, who had a slight mental problem. The altercation happened because one of the young kids, in the neighborhood was saying he was afraid of this guy because he made him pull his pants down and the young boy didn't know how to tell his mother. Understand this child was probably eight or nine at the time. I'm no hero but I've always felt I was the HNIC and our hood didn't carry the crime most places in Chicago did. But it all became relivant as I began to see man's evil towards man and my attention became greater in my surroundings, and jazz became my escape.
Listening to jazz, called the devils music makes me think of "what was so good about yesterday" and realise how lucky I was to grow up when I did and where I did.
My folks were plain everyday country people who moved from the south to find the riches they felt were denied them in Alabama. They migrated north, a few at a time bringing with them the word of God and the respect taught over many generations.
Somewhere we backed off the discipline we've always known and were taught all our lives. We relinquished our rights to be parents and grandparents, because someone said we couldn't and shouldn't spank or discipline our children.
Personally I don't know what it takes to raise a Caucasian child, but I do know what it takes to get the attention of a Black manchild and a Black herself female child who has started to have attention paid to her. It takes a family that is not afraid to be the bad guy to bring these children to task. Not being afraid to say, "I said do it, so get it done now" and you are willing to take the next step if you are ignored. Flip your hair, toot your lips, mumble, but it better be on your way out my door and definitely where I can't see you. I'm not saying you can't do these things. Sure you can, in your home or at least not in mine. There is no our home until you start understanding what it takes for this to be "our" home.
No outsider can tell you how your parents treat you and not know you or your parents. We gave our children away, because they made us angry and we were tired of trying. Folks you never get tired of trying for your own. Fathers think it's cute to brag about a son selling dope and how he makes thousands a day. Mothers laugh and say"get the money girl" to a daughter who should be getting an education. Who the Hell are we? Do you think any other race cares if we are educated or if we succeed?
We've lost all respect for ourselves, our neighbors, our children and the people who fought and died to bring us from the dark ages. We need to take our homes and our children back and it doesn't matter how old your child is or who your child is. You can't let outsiders tell you that your village cannot raise your child or your grandchild. Honor your children by showing them that you are still the parent and though they are grown and have children you all need to help our young get what we have always been taught . " Respect" of ourselves and others.
We are a good people and we have always been and if success is based on being ignorant of love for oneself and family then there has to be a problem.
I reference jazz because jazz has always made me take a step back and listen to words that you could feel in your heart or a beat that made you realize how beautiful the day is. I love the smoothness the stroke after stroke of musical movement that jazz brings. I know older people said the same thing about the music we listened to, but there's a difference when you speak the language in music that spoken today. The beat is so that it can't help but keep these kids upset. Boom, boom, boom, harder boom, boom. I'm upset and I love many types of music. See the difference if you get smooth in your life. It gives you pause to think. To evaluate where you've been and where you're on your way. Be smooth. There's nothing better than the smooth.
Respect is smooth. Taking back your home is smooth. Taking back your neighborhood is smooth. Tell our politicians we want to get the guns and violence out our schools, homes and neighborhoods. And if they won't listen, let's vote for the person who will. Our culture is dying and we sit on our hands everyday as though it has nothing to do with us. But people, it starts and ends with us. You and I. Give this generation a chance. Come with me and take it all back. I love you guys because you are so beautiful. You're the jazz in my heart every day.