Seriously , This Is Absolutely Most Likely My Last Political Rant.
We sure could use a Matthew J. Perry Jr. right about now.
An Experiment For “Black” Boys.
Intelligentsia, Intellectual, Radical, and “Huh” walked into a bar.
Seriously, this is absolutely most likely my last political rant.
MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS
The Harvey Gantt Center hosts a Classic Black Cinema Series each month. The next showing is-Come Back, Charleston Blue. I’m geeked. While developing a story about Judge Matthew J. Perry Jr. I learned that he helped young Harvey Gantt integrate Clemson University. Gantt went on to become an architect. Buildings went up, including one in his honor. A skip into the future, architecture is no longer being considered a professional degree. I don’t fully understand what that means, but it sounds like we could use a Judge Perry right about now.
EDUCATOR: A study says that 86% of young Americans want to be media influencers. They should be able to identify words like “intellectual property”, “rights reserved”, “non-compete”, and “in perpetuity”. Also show them that words can turn into-Tyler Perry Studios…Matthew J. Perry, Jr. Courthouse…The Harvey B. Gantt Center. While we wait for our institutions to go up, representation might encourage “Black” boys to read.
EXPERIMENT: Have your student read their favorite song/rap lyric; if they can’t, play the song and have them rap/sing it. Then connect the dots.
MUSIC ARTIST: Consider formatting your album/mixtape into rap essays. Imagine Little Brother’s “The Minstrel Show” as a book. Sheesh!
While in NYC I scavenged my way to Dashwood Books. I was searching for a photography book by Gordon Parks; I found a photography book about Gordon Parks. The Making of an Argument is about Parks’ photoessay “Harlem Gang Leader”. Parks’ goal was to show that juvenile delinquents could be redirected with the right social interventions. A journalist wrote - “There is a discrepancy between Parks' recollections and what was published in "Harlem Gang Leader”.
EBONY PEOPLE DOING COOL SHIT: The other day Jovanna and I went to “Black Charlotte: Live in Concert” at Carolina Theatre. It was an inspiring night for the arts. In the end, the question remained - “Where are the “Black” institutions?”.
For the voice that tried to say one thing, but they printed something different-
For the poet that softened their rhyme for mixed company-
For the reader turned playwrite looking for a stage to play or write on-
-You said what you said, they heard what you said, and they gave you an extra day off during the year, or something else, instead of the buildings, funding, and patents you asked for. One of our thought leaders suggests -“We’ve got to teach “White” people how to treat us”. Can’t he see we ain’t done teaching “Black” people?
If you’re going to invite “Huh” out for a drink, or the revolution, leave intelligentsia at home.
THE MAN THE MOMENT DEMANDS. An article said that the mayor of my city ran unopposed the last three elections. Mayor Gettys seems cool. He listens. He knows everybody’s first name. He may be the right guy for the job. Still, in the last three terms no “Black” institutions went up. This moment needs contrarians. It needs curiosity. It needs people asking questions like - “What are y’all doing with those abandoned buildings over there?”.
POLITICAL RANT: A fella said “It’s dangerous and irresponsible to not choose sides”. In 2025, our thought leaders are still stuck at “Us vs Them”? I’m almost convinced that politics is not the medium for impacting, but stalling revolution. I know what I said-seriously, this is absolutely most likely my last political rant:
I don’t want to keep speaking on the politics of things, but the people they pick to speak for us don’t be sayin what we be needin them to be sayin. I don’t believe every other American can articulate the values of any political party. Therefore, picking a side is divisive. It’s dangerous. It’s irresponsible.
Contrarily, I agree that we should all be politically neutral. I do not agree that we should be competing for our passions. History says that the machine does not always choose the best. And, politics is like a magic show. However, let’s reframe it: Imagine politics as a Venn (flower) diagram. The neutral space is the overlapping similarities between the political positions. Rather than picking a side, try expanding, replicating the happy mediums. Until the Great American Rebrand/Exodus, neutrality is where the ideal society exists.
Utopia? Untopia? New America? Zion? I don’t care what we call it. I only care to leave the next generation beyond the talking and naming phase. I want to see fun, graffitied buildings going up, some with Blackety “Black” and queer names on them.
MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS: Reading is beyond therapeutic. History says some people risked their lives for it.
NO GATEKEEPING: The saying is true-they really do be hiding stuff in books. A library card gets you free, digital access to the vault. ATP it feels like I’m stealing. Be warned, your home library will suffer.
Seeing “Black” boys names on buildings is - TherapeuticLiving.