Voices and Soul
by
Justice Putnam
Black Kos Poetry Editor
While surfing for Aretha Franklin clips when she died last week, I came across her Natural Woman tribute to Carole King at the Kennedy Center from 2015.
Of course she gave a rousing rendition that elicited blown kisses from Carole King and saw the Obama’s grooving to the groove, but what I noticed was a comment that had been commented on,
“How many animals had to die for that coat. Loved her voice, but all I see when I see that coat is suffering. RIP Aretha.”
I’m not sure the author of that sentiment knew how close to the truth their observation was. Because that fur coat, indeed, represented suffering. The suffering of the yoke, the whip and the noose.
Musical icon, contralto Marian Anderson, was denied the stage at Constitution Hall in 1939, a hall run by the Daughters of the Revolution, because she was black. When Eleanor Roosevelt, a high-ranking Daughter of the Revolution heard of the travesty, she ordered Harold Ickes to intervene. When the DAR became intractable, her performance was moved to the National Mall, where the mink-robed Anderson entertained an audience on that cold December day, that was only outnumbered by Martin Luther King’s “Dream” speech, a quarter of a century later.
Now, let’s travel ahead half a century. Another King, singer-songwriter Carole King, who sometimes seems to have written half the songs we’ve ever heard, was being honored with a Kennedy Center Award in 2015 (interestingly, Ms. Anderson was the first recipient of this prestigious award). Aretha Franklin, for whom King wrote “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” was there to give a tribute. She entered the Kennedy Center, stage left, wearing a big fur coat. She crossed to a grand piano, sat down, and sang “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” in front of the first black president and the first black first lady in America’s history.
Toward the end of the song, she stood up from the piano and sang a crescendo to the audience, dropping her fur coat on the floor while belting the specific lines: “you make me feel like a natural woman”. Consciously or not, by dropping that fur coat on the stage, she completed a circle. Marian Anderson put on a fur coat and sang praise to a country that wouldn’t allow her to sing at a place called Constitution Hall, and 76 years later Aretha Franklin dropped off that coat while performing in front of a black president at the Kennedy Center, less than a mile away. Like Ms. Anderson, she showed the world that she didn’t have anything material that the most esteemed white people didn’t have. And, by dropping the coat, she signaled that those things were less important than the meaning of her words.
That fur coat was woven together with the sinews of hundreds of years of black suffering in America. It was tanned with the blood and sweat of mothers and daughters and fathers and sons and cousins and grandparents and dried under the withering gaze of a material America.
And that is the threat that threatens the masters of the yoke, the whip and the noose. They live in an epoch of hostility where they can allow no chattel to escape the yoke, the whip and the noose, for that would cause great economic anxiety and they know who is the Boss.
Or do they.
Some lamp sputters
its dusty light
across some desk.
Some hand, shaking,
works the strained
rope, twisting and knifing,
weaving, tugging tight
a bellowing circle. Randy
Travis, steamy drawl
and hiccup on the staticky
AM, backs the ritual
of drooping loop.
Sweat drips an awful
hallelujah. God glares
askance, but the artist
doesn’t waver—wrists
click cadence, knots
become a path to what
makes saviors. The sagging
hoop bemoans a need
to squeeze, its craving
for a breath within the ring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Thursday evening, the election board of Randolph County, Georgia, met to discuss a startling proposal to eliminate three-fourths of the county’s polling places months before the November election. A rural, impoverished, and predominantly black county, Randolph has just nine polling locations, all of which were open during the May primaries and July runoffs. The election board may soon shut down seven of them, including one in a precinct where about 97 percent of voters are black. Its plan would compel residents, many of whom have no car or access to public transit, to travel as much as 30 miles round trip to reach the nearest polling place.
Because of its history of racist voting laws, Randolph County was once required to seek federal permission before altering its election procedures. But after the Supreme Court gutted this oversight in 2013, the county was freed to crack down on the franchise. It is no coincidence that its election board chose this moment to shutter most of its polls: In November, the popular Democrat Stacey Abrams will compete for the governorship against Republican Brian Kemp, the current Georgia secretary of state. Kemp, who has devoted his time in office to a ruthless campaign of voter suppression, called upon Randolph County to abandon the plan when it spurred widespread outrage. That being said, the key figure in the Randolph County controversy is a Kemp ally who was handpicked by the secretary of state to close polls throughout Georgia.
To understand the brazen attack on black suffrage now occurring in Randolph County, it’s important to remember that Georgia is in the midst of a seismic demographic shift. As whites cease to be the majority in more and more counties, Republicans have clung to power by disenfranchising minority voters. Kemp’s opposition to the Randolph County plan marks the first time that he has adopted an affirmatively pro-suffrage stance. During his nearly eight years as secretary of state, Kemp engaged in mass voter purges, removing hundreds of thousands of voters from the rolls. State officials appear to have singled out black voters in targeted purges.
Kemp also canceled or suspended 35,000 voter registrations using Exact Match, a version of Kris Kobach’s notorious Crosscheck program that compares registrants’ information with motor vehicle and Social Security databases. If a single letter, space, or hyphen did not match the database information, the voter application was rejected. Black voters were eight times more likely than whites to have their registrations halted due to Exact Match.
Perhaps most egregiously, Kemp launched an investigation into Abrams’ efforts to register more minority voters despite no evidence of fraud. He used the probe to harass and intimidate voting rights advocates. Later, he refused to register 40,000 would-be voters who had signed up through the drive. Speaking to Republicans behind closed doors, Kemp explained the stakes: “Registering all these minority voters that are out there … if they can do that, they can win these elections.” During Kemp’s tenure, Georgia’s population has increased substantially—yet the number of registered voters has actually gone down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kofi Annan, the only black African to become UN secretary-general, has died. BBC: Kofi Annan, former UN chief, dies at 80
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 80-year-old "passed away peacefully on Saturday after a short illness", the foundation named after him said.
His home country, Ghana, has declared a week of national mourning. Annan served two terms as UN chief from 1997 to 2006, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work. He later served as the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a solution to the conflict.
In a statement announcing his death, the Kofi Annan Foundation described him as a "global statesman and deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world"."Wherever there was suffering or need, he reached out and touched many people with his deep compassion and empathy."
The career diplomat died in hospital in the Swiss city of Bern. He had been living near Geneva for several years.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for helping to revitalise the international body, during a period that coincided with the Iraq War and the HIV/Aids pandemic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The legacy of colonialism and empire looms large in Europe.
In recent months, museums in France, the United Kingdom, and Germany have begun to address the fact that large portions of their collections are, well, not theirs — and were stolen from other countries during the colonial era.
But there’s no consensus on how to deal with the issue. And as the Washington Post reports, some museums are proposing “loaning” the artifacts back to their countries of origin for limited periods of time — rather than actually returning them.
Countries like Benin and Ethiopia, among others, have long requested that artifacts that were plundered or looted by European armies be returned. Since the 1960s, Nigeria has been calling for the return of about 4,000 ivory and bronze artifacts that the British army looted from what is now southern Nigeria in 1897.
These requests have generally been ignored or denied.
“Museums fight against having to reveal the provenance of objects precisely because they know that many of the objects in their vast collections have illicit histories behind them,” author and journalist Rafia Zakaria wrote for Al Jazeera last year. “This secrecy, accepted as a norm in the world of art and antiquities, has, of course, enabled the world’s large museums to build up enormous collections.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TWO weeks ago sword-wielding soldiers flanked the red carpet as the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) filed into a fancy hotel in Lomé, the capital of Togo, for a two-day summit. Gendarmes closed off a chunk of the city. Traders in the market griped about a slowdown in business. The streets fell silent.
Last September those same streets were packed with thousands of protesters calling for the president, Faure Gnassingbé, to step down after 13 years in power. (His father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, led Togo for 38 years before that.) The country was in turmoil. Ultimately, the government offered concessions, including a promise to hold a referendum on presidential term limits. Mr Gnassingbé’s departure seemed possible.
Yet little has changed. Mr Gnassingbé (pictured) is still unpopular, but he clings to power thanks to a crackdown on activists, who have been killed, tortured and imprisoned. Many others have fled.
The opposition was relieved this month when the government, under the threat of more protests, abandoned plans to hold a legislative election. It almost certainly would have been rigged. With a push from ECOWAS, the poll has been rescheduled for December, after reforms are made to the electoral system. But the opposition fears there is too little time—and motivation—to make big changes. The electoral commission and constitutional court, which must verify the results, are full of government cronies. No one is in a rush to update the voter register.
Left unanswered is the question of what to do about Mr Gnassingbé. Last year he reneged on the promise of a referendum which, if successful, would have introduced a two-term limit for the presidency. Mr Gnassingbé said the rule would not apply retroactively anyway, leaving him eligible for two more terms (he is already in his third). The opposition is adamant that he should not be on the ballot for the next presidential election, in 2020.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We as black cops live in a void, in that we’re too black for the white community and we’re too blue — as in the uniform, badge, and gun that we wear — for the black community. Neither one likes us. They don’t want to accept us. And yet we are in that profession for a noble, honorable purpose. Most of us get in there for that reason. We’re trying to do good for the public’s safety.
But you’re not accepted by either group. In terms of the white side, they look upon you as an n-word, resent the fact that you have the authority you have over them and put it to effect from time to time.
I’ll give you an example. I investigated a case where a white woman was raped. I’m the responding officer. One of the things we have to do in a case like that is we have to take any article of clothing they may have on because it’s evidence. I asked for everything. About a day or so later, I get a call up to the internal affairs office, the only time in my 32-year career I ever had to undergo an internal affairs inquiry. Her son-in-law was offended by the fact that I, a black man, had done this to his mother-in-law doing my job.
The reason why he filed that complaint was her rapist was a black man. So he felt like she was being taken advantage of by me. We quickly dispelled that, and the thing blew away, but the issue of my race came in for doing my job to the best of my ability in a proper procedural manner. That’s just one example.
To the black community, they don’t want to accept you because they view you as a traitor. You’ve chosen to join the system, to work against a system that they feel oppresses them. They forget that you are, in fact, one of them. Because at the end of the day, at the end of my career, when the badge and gun come off, I was and still am just a black man in America. They tend to forget all of that. I can’t tell you how many times I was called “pig.” Yet we can’t respond to it. We have to more or less grin and bear it and do our jobs, when in fact we want to respond accordingly.
That no man’s land that we live in, it’s a lonely existence, but it’s one that we’ve chosen, and if you can’t handle the pressures of that as a black man, you should not become a police officer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY’S PORCH