There is a vantage-point where the political theater we are all witnessing the Blackwoman finds deeply amusing. I personally had to leave the point of view I found disturbing. Way to. Disturbing. To each his reach.
No writer worth their ink would have dared put together a cast of characters that are the stars of this theater, some of which have only been used in tales of moral lessons about the triumph of good over evil.
Sometimes I think too many folks want to live in the America of 1940’s propaganda. I wouldn't mind it myself. If I was white. Maybe there was such a place for Americans of European ancestry. Not for my people.
Even the well-heeled among us lived in a different America.
I remember an article on Nat King Cole in Ebony magazine years gone by. They were living in high cotton for people of color, yet he had to stay in different venues when he traveled south and could not be served in certain restaurants or drink in certain fountains. Freedom was itself uncertain.
One of the things Ebony did was make sure that any black person with enough money to buy an issue or go to a beauty salon would have the opportunity to see what the good life looked like. I would be genuinely surprised to learn that there are black folk out there of a certain age that don’t remember leafing through an Ebony magazine. And Life. Magazine.
Both filled with beautiful,amazing and sometimes really disturbing images. Back when a picture was worth a thousand words.
The photo of police dogs and fire hoses being turned on young women and men who just wanted the right to vote. Something granted in the Constitution but denied with regularity in parts of this country. Brother Till. Soldier’s coffin’s on the six o’clock news. The Chicago Riots of 1968.
The image of the flag on Iwo Jima. Images that made you think.
Now the only images available to the public are those of stars and starlets and the like. Images meant to evoke pathos and donations are stills of abused and battered animals. Where are the photos of American boys and girls who go to bed hungry? Are we so pride-filled as a nation we prefer to act as if only the children of Africa or South America are poor,ill fed,clothed and housed? I have contributed to these children but not without also making sure I did something for those around me. Here in this country. In my state. My county. My zip code.
What would happen if suddenly instead of trying to add to the foolishness that You-Tube can become, we went around taking pictures of the poverty that surrounds many, or make a trip to somewhere that illustrates the effects of the repubicants and their economic policies? Now would be a good time. Folk are used to seeing all kinds of images during an election cycle.
Those can be ignored.
You might need to focus on the poor whites in this country. Too many white folk might think they are alone in their struggle. Too many would rather see themselves as losers and unsuccessful rather than confront the reality that voting for rich folk is not in their best interest.
It might help folk who are hooked on what passes as reality television to face the reality of what it means to be among the millions of poor this country would ignore. They have seen their anger in images of the tea party. Let them now see their number and allow them a glimpse into those who have used them for generations to keep them poor and ignorant.
And you know what? It wasn’t Black,Brown or Native People who did this to them. T’was folk who look just like them and told them that if we (whites) just stick together we can keep those other folk from having any. This has worked for a long, long time. Time for it to change.
One of the things I think is missing are the images. Images which would stir minds and possibly even win over a few hearts. These days we have lots of words. Very few images. And very little heart.
Heart, where I was raised was a determining character marker. Come to think of it, I have not been anywhere where this is untrue.
You gotta have heart.
Now run and tell that.
Editorial Note
Still working on putting together the community diary for SistahSpeak. Gotta have time.... Thanks to all who have volunteered.