HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...GUESS WHO?

YEP. I am truly fortunate/blessed enough to have chalked up another one on the 14th of this passing month. Yet even though "fortune" would have it that this is DOWN FRONT! Number 60, there is not too much of a connection between that particular number and the number of earthy years I have chalked up. Oh well.

And what does one do in connection with one's ___ birthday? Well, there is the traditional route to travel like dinner, chilling out, visiting a spot that has been on the wish list for the past 364 days, eating cake and the like. And I am not so contemporary as to reject all of that brief list, I've decided to add something else...just as I've added another year. First, I'll give you, the reader, more to read than on previous occasions. I assume, of course, that you have not let the DOWN FRONTS! pile up and that you ponder over them with dedicated loyalty. Also I want to take a look at some issues (not filling every page, however) that remain viable and, unresolved.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT (AND RIGHT ON!)

In retrospect - I like that word! - Black preachers have not historically been my favorite people. I said preachers, mind you, and not ministers. I made a distinction which made it possible for me to attend church and not consider myself to be a hypocrite. But I bought into all the insensitive and often misguided stereotype that Black people have created around the preacher as ill-informed, loud - which added insult to the injury of being ill-informed, conniving, self-serving and a whole host of other less than attractive "racial traits." Like many thing in this life, my own learning in this regard came slow...over too long a period of time. And, admittedly, the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. didn't help me much. As I have said often, for me, King's appeal wasn't even a close second to my fascination with Malcolm X.

Along with everything else, I was outright angered by what I saw as the ill-advised cop out of an other worldly focus. Pie in the sky (heaven) in the great by and by (later, in the impossibly to measure or grasp future). It represented sheer and calculated avoidance of the real issues facing Black people. Well, that bias is a thing of the past. I know where it came from and I relish the thought that I have discarded it. Oh, I can hear the foolishness in the voices of those men and women of the cloth who speak foolishness; but more important, I can listen to, appreciate and internalize the message of those who speak truth - without the slightest hint of compromising their proud faith.

One Fred K.C. [I wonder what the middle initials stand for] Price is a case in point. I could do little more then smile when I took the time to watch his delivery on what seemed like every other tv channel. He spouted, he ranted, he talked and talked. Tiring quickly, I engaged the remote and...zappo. By my skewed measuring instruments Price was rich, famous and irrelevant. And the...a different kind of zappo. One particular day, I heard him making some interesting comments about interracial marriages and - this is what got to me - unbending white opposition to such relationships. He read a few letters from whites who, although they fully liked Price's Christian message, took gross exception to what he said about the joining of lives across the great racial divide. My my. It was like letters from some not so remote Klan region. I was surprised; I was impressed. But that didn't make me a Price devotee.

And then, a few weeks ago, it happened: Rev. Price moved into Tall Territory which immediately pushed him to the upper reaches of what I admit is my fickle list. Price fully and intelligently addressed reparations. I say again, this preacher went to the heart of an American back burner subject: financial compensation for the descendants of African slaves. He zoomed into it with facts, figures, with confidence and without fear of reproach. His style was not a shade different from when he makes biblical reference. The good reverend is decidedly not either apologetic or humble! It was hard for me to believe it was the same person whom I had not that long ago refused to watch for more than a 30 second slot! And here I was watching on seat's edge!

Then I did what I almost never do: I wrote the information given at the end re how to get the tape. First I decided to mail a check; then I thought I might call in the order. Finally, I decided that - never having been on the Faith Temple campus - I'd just go by.

Well...I did just that on June 1st and, I am extremely impressed. Reverend Fred Price has struck a definitive chord with me for two distinct reasons: He has zeroed in on a crucial issue related to the liberation of Black people, viz., reparations AND (this is a real kicker for me) he has built a well-maintained institution! I am sick of hearing about programs to the disregard of institutions to insure their continuation. Whatever our historic arguments might be with Booker T. Washington, he did build an institution!

Years ago I was a guest presenter at a Social Welfare course at (then) Pepperdine. What I do recall is that the campus was no where near as well kept as it now is. [That alone is an interesting commentary on what happens to property when Black people "take it over."] The man at the gate, the security guard and the women who operated the bookstore were friendly and professional. For me, it was nothing short of taking a breath of fresh, reassuring, proud Black air! I bought the tape, some Christian Candy Company fudge and a book titled "Dirty Little Secrets About Black History." And for those purchases...the price was right. Thank you, Reverend/Brother Price.

THE MO' THANGS CHANGE...

"The movie sub genre once known as blaxploitation is alive and well, although today's specimens...unlike the older examples, are often made by African Americans, rather than by whites cashing in. The predatory nature of this kind of fare is constant, though. Is it really a sign of progress that black audiences are now being ripped off by their own?"

Two things are disturbing about his quote. First, that it may well have been made by someone who is not Black. But even more upsetting than that, the statement is embarrassingly true. It is a subtle lesson that seems to have escaped us. To be in a position to self-exploit yields the same results as someone else having done the same thing. We take a distorted joy in being able to "control" the output or the product, but fail to recognize that in this instance, the means to create a product mean little if the product is distinctly demeaning. An exploitative film by any other producer or director or studio is just as trashy. So this is what the once proud expression "Black Power!" has come to signify. Stuff like "Booty Call" and "Players Club" and who knows what else can be added to the shameful list.

We can remember the sell out tyrants of African nations who were overseers to the physical and mental destruction of their own people...with or without European complicity. We have the likes of Jurist Clarence Thomas and Ward "The Worm" Connerly. On screen or in other venues, there are fools and tyrants among us. It is less a matter of weeding them out than it is to recognize their nefarious role and not perpetuate their bad habits. It's one thing to inaccurately label Thomas an Uncle Tom and something else altogether to invite him to speak before the National Bar Association. (Oddly, both propositions are honorable phenomena. DOWN FRONT! won't pursue the point here except to say the poorly appreciated Uncle Tom of Black history was anything but a weepy, creepy tool of white trickery; whatever image he may have displayed, U.T. did deliver the goods to his people. Modern day Supreme Court Thomas is self-serving, intellectually treacherous and in a strange way, perhaps even dangerous - to the extent that, within the framework of constitutional law, he laboriously and systematically impedes the progress of people who physically look like him.

So the beat goes on automatically to the extent that with or without coaching. prompting or external manipulation we do it to ourselves.

SEEN ON SCREEN: BULWORTH'S GOT BULL

As a strong proponent of what we have come to call Diversity and Multiculturalism, I don't find it problematic to say that the differences between people are more exciting (to say nothing of educational) than the commonalities. Whew! In a recent issue of the LA Times, there's an article on the evident failure of efforts to make "Bulworth" appealing to Black audiences. Well, having seen it, I think I know why.

On the plus side, Beatty is at times, entertaining. He delights in his new found liberation and celebrates with ridiculous abandon. He is apparently having fun taunting his fellow white colleagues and endearing some Blacks. The amazement with his new personality is clearly separate and decidedly not equal. Blacks view him with suspicion; whites think he has lost it either totally or temporarily.

The down side is more serious. Senator Bulworth is not a revisitation of Norman Mailer's White Negro but in some sense the label at least appears to fit. For reasons never made clear, Bulworth crosses the line(???) falls helplessly for a young Black woman and pulls selectively from a compendium of outward behaviors and speech. This is done to give him ammunition with which to confront and embarrass his traditional (white) constituency. And that alone is interesting. In his early visit to a large Black church, he is chided for having made a promise on which he had failed to deliver. So, his attacks notwithstanding, Bulworth has played the game right along with his cohorts. In all fairness, he is now seemingly disgusted with his own political past and wants to separate himself from it. Thus, the ridiculous plan to have himself killed via contract.

Yes, he does take on the establishment which has given him his success. He lambastes other politicians (big time!)) and at an interesting gathering of Hollywood movie moguls, does what might viewed as an anti-Semitic rain dance. The problem with all this flim flam is that it goes unanswered. He obviously gets to a number of detractors; their reactions range from anger to disbelief to disgust. And yet - and this for me is the kicker - they don't offer any countering explanation, justifications or reasons. One might readily say that there are none. Clearly, poor people in general and Black people in particular remain on the short end of a stick that is becoming longer - marking the difference between power and privilege and poverty and powerlessness. We already know that. But since anything goes on the screen these days, it would have strengthened this film by having the heavies make a statement...of any kind. Then again, maybe walking away from a speech or a reception is its own kind of statement. Perhaps they went back to the respective (exploitative) offices to up the ante a bit!

Are there racial implications? From the perspective of DOWN FRONT! there most certainly are. First, perhaps the most ill-defining moment is Halle's last statement at the end. After Bulworth babbles his disappointment that Halle did not exit her house with him, he tell her that he felt insecure. It's stretch enough for a senator to feel insecure; but because a young Black woman didn't accompany him is more than a stretch. It's down right unbelievable. So be it. Worst than that however, is her totally inappropriate retort, said to (obviously) pull the good senator out of his insecurity. She tells him, "You my nigger." Berry should be picketed for that foolishness. Stuff doesn't get much crazier than that. Coming from an inter-racial family is one thing. Insulting one part of that union is another. DOWN FRONT! simply asks, why is it the Black side that has to be so consistently insulted?

Pavlov's famed dog was eventually conditioned to salivate when a bell was rung. It meant that food was coming forthwith. Those we still call actors, actresses and entertainers - and who happen to have darkened skin - have been programmed to say whatever the script says. That's pretty sad. No...one should not wonder why Blacks don't flock to look at white psyche-beating...AT BLACK EXPENSE. We do one heck of a fine job making ourselves look ridiculous. Integrated stupidity and crassness doesn't help one iota. Besides, the basic social issues Bulworth cares so much about in the film are RIGHT outside the many theaters where the movie was screened. It takes more than cinematic platitudes to get this monkey off the collective back!

A harsh social reality is that everyone in the massive country does not feel the same about any given situation. It may be seen as bold and heroic for a white actor/actress to rail against that which plagues non-whites. To one who directly or vicariously is on the receiving end of social injustice, however, white cheers yield a casual ho hum...if that of a response. And skirting around the perimeter of rap, though interesting and possibly entertaining, doesn't help. The good Reverend Jesse Jackson has been talking poetically for years and it hasn't helped; so the efforts of Warren the Warrior really don't count for all that much. #

And beating the limping horse just one more time, when given a line of script that might force the audience to realize that beauty and brains aren't necessarily compatible, Ms Berry should listen to Nancy Reagan and "Just say (hell) no!"

(THE OTHER) JERRY'S (OTHER) KIDS

Foolish me. Naive me. I really kidded myself into believing I had heard it all. But, just when you were least expecting it, (like Jackie Gleason used to say to his much loved tv wife) Pow. Right in the kisser. I indeed got powed with the news that 6th grade girls beat up their teacher after the latter refused to allow them to watch the Jerry Springer show. Huh? Did that really happen. Of course it did. Just a few miles from the Statue of, well, you know which statue. The solution. Let's face it. There is none. Rather there is a way of handling this particular situation. Tell ya what; let's rewind the tape of teacher training.

The teacher is given training in street fighting...which simply means fighting dirty. There is a notice clearly posted which says said teacher is a certified, Board of Education and City approved, tax-supported Street Fighter who is likewise well qualified to teach in the public school system. And that students are well advised to sit still, pay attention, hopefully learn; but if none of that is one said student's agenda, he or she should definitely not mess with the teacher...or run the real risk [ more of a guarantee than a risk] of getting his/her butt kicked, street style!

On the slightly more serious side, it's bad enough having school age children make life difficult to miserable for one another, it's something that they would physically attack a teacher. A night or two in jail for the parent(s) might bring that madness to a hasty halt. But the scenario is more likely to spell itself out with someone "explaining" that the home life is so unattractive that the child was simply(?) acting out. No, let's face it, the child wasn't acting out; the child was acting up. And corporal punishment won't get the job done nor will sergeant punishment. The answer? Major punishment!

Jerry Springer is a televised menace to society and his groupies are as idiotic as he is. The difference in this case is Jerry is gainfully employed; and his own crassness notwithstanding, he watches other act the fool. It oh so unfortunate that some of his "followers" are behaving so stupidly so early in life.

IT'S A BLACK AND FREEDOM THING

It would not be inaccurate to say that two "issues" have virtually obsessed me over the years...let's say 30 to 35 years: First, the plight of Black people in these United States. And, directly linked to Number 1, the methods, means, solutions to resolve that same plight. I have thought about, talked about and, as DOWN FRONT! readers can attest, written about those two issues. At this point I don't feel driven to continue to traverse that terrain indefinitely. I am thoroughly convinced that some "problems" have solutions and the human inclination is to make a life out of redefining the problem in its many apparent iterations and/or devising new and innovative solutions. That's an understandable habit, but I think it is doomed to be endless.

Bring this "home" we are still addressing the plight of Black people and we are still seeking viable solutions. Why is this so: 1) We have not identified what the real problem is, 2) We have identified it but not in clear terms, 3) We have not intelligently tied the problem to solutions, or 4) Some combination of all these.

Yet is our responsibility (as presumably mature adults) to take into consideration all important life issues and challenges and, in so doing, devise an explanation and plan of action which works best for us. The good side is that (ideally anyway) each one of us has something to do. Nobody is left "off the hook." What happens then, unfortunately, is that we end up "doing our own separate thing." What we do is individually inclined, and there is not overall unity or coherent plan. Thus, no unity. That's not so good. But perhaps that's the way it has to be. Or, not buying into that explanation, we learn that's just the way it is.

So, after spinning all this and so much more around in my own head, I find myself drawing from what I think of as "Black Historical Wisdom" and my own conviction that certain phenomena are valid...for all people, for all time. All of which comes to simply this: Black people (African Americans) in these latter 1990's United States are not free because we are not a self-determining people. Not to be self-determining is the same as not to be free! It is so simple, it eludes many of us most of the time.

i. Self-Determination - As a viable political (i.e., power-centered) concept, Self Determination has a long history. Rather than include an endless stream of my own thoughts on the matter, I'll simply defer to another source. The latter addresses one of the key features of a self-determining people. Namely, their ability or capacity to come together and decide for themselves a arrangement for the conduct of their own affairs.

Plebiscite, a vote by the electorate of a nation, region, or locality on a specific question. In modern times, plebiscites have been held to determine the wishes of the inhabitants of a country or area as to their choice of sovereignty and have constituted an important political means of self-determination for a number of peoples and nations. The use of plebiscites in this sense originated at the time of the French Revolution, supposedly as an alternative to forcible annexations and wars of conquest

[Reference: "Plebiscite," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.]

To my not so faulty knowledge, there has been no Black plebiscite of late or at an earlier time for that matter. If we are ever asked "What do you want?" someone else is asking the question. That being the case, someone is implicitly in a position to determine what we get, when/if we get it and under what circumstances. That, by no stretch, is self-determination. I won't go so far as to call it slavery; it's more like being a kept people (in the same ugly tradition of a female being a kept woman).

Caveat: Unless and until Black people become self-determining people, all talk of freedom is a veritable joke!

ii. Land - It has literally been years since I last addressed the issue of land with any degree of seriousness. Interestingly and sadly, the subject of land gets scant attention in conversations about what happens with Blacks in America. I must say there have been rumblings of late relative to southern Black farmers who have lost and continue to lose their land at an alarming rate. That battle is an extremely important one. But I am talking here about the concept of land control as an indispensable element in the freedom of a people. The two are socio-ecomonic-political cousins: Land ownership and self-determination. We do understand it on a small scale, but seemingly get lost or confused when projecting it onto the large screen. For example, we fully understand home ownership. The latter is as American as.... We know that although there is a multitude of obligations and responsibilities (mortgages, taxes, repairs, improvements, etc.) once those headache matters are taken care of, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do in our homes! On a limited but real scale, within those confines (and somewhat in our backyards) we are self-determining.

In a nutshell if we (anyone!) is not self-determining, then by default, someone else is calling the shots and making the rules. And if that's the case, then one is decidedly not free. It's that simple; it's that cold!

iii. Negro-hood - For me, this is perhaps the kicker of all kickers. Negro-hood is important enough for me to take my time explaining it. I only hope the patience of the reader(s) will not wear thin. I have made this point in countless conversations over the years; and I have no problem whatsoever repeating it here in DOWN FRONT! I could readily start with my own '60's experience and disaffection with the label. Instead I'll start elsewhere with a book titled The Invention of the Negro by Earl Conrad. It was the first and only book I read by him; in fact, I hadn't even heard his name before this book. At the time I misread the title, "seeing" instead, The Inventions of the Negro...a book obviously destined to be filled with the products of the Black inventive spirit. No way. Conrad, a white San Franciscan instead explored his idea the this human being called "Negro" was indeed a unique invention of the white American historical experience. Extending his notion, had there been no slavery (in the American/North American context) there would have been no Negro!

The stripping of the tenets of family, religion, language, tribal custom, just about anything and everything that makes a people distinct, proud and, ultimately, human. Gone. Stripped away in a manner that was as subtle as it was openly callous. And, horror of all horrors, it worked! A new kind of person was thus "created" or, as Conrad informs us, invented...one who both defined and "saw" himself or herself indirectly, through the eyes and (even worse) shortcomings of someone else...another people. The tragic plight of the subsequent American born and - you got it - bred Negro is this half-stepping, uncertain, ever-searching, unsure invention. Not unlike the string-tied puppet whose every move is controlled and manipulated by an "other." But the final chapter of this unique unfolding is the point at which Negro cherishes Negro-hood or Negro-dom (dumb!). It becomes self-perpetuating, self-sustaining with all its tragic and shortsighted consequences. AND it has played and continues to play itself out more dramatically and consistently amongst the males in our midst. (Space precludes exploring the reasons.) But hope reigns eternal: There's a New Black Panther Party!! #