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Dr. Spence,
Thanks for providing us with such well seasoned and prepared food for thought...I read most of the comments as well as the debate/feud between Mat Johnson v. Maroonsista...All I can say to that is that we all in the same gang!!!
I think that this argument sounds similar to ones that was made by Creoles v. Blacks a.k.a. Downtown v. Uptown traditions of music making at the dawn of the 2oth Century New Orleans...Creoles believed that in order to play proper music one must learn how to read music and play the European Classical standards perfectly (play like White Folks)...The Blacks, many of whom fresh from the plantations, believed that loud playing, playing ragtime, blues or songs of the African American vernacular were important in becoming a fine 'musicianer'...The Creole view Blacks and their music as "ratty" or "low class" while the Blacks viewed the Creoles as "dicty" or "uppity"...Now take a guess where jazz and even gospel have their firmest roots in???
Jazz one of our country's most original forms of creative expressions came from former enslaved, semi-literate folks who were considered three fifths of human beings and whose kin could not even enjoy the the benefits of being full American citizens until the late 1960s (???)...
The need for self expression in those harsh times ruled out the need for acceptance by the powers that be...All of the great art it seems have always been a rebellion of the so-called status quo and ironically with the passage of time some of the finest of these rebellious art forms become part of the same establishment it tried so hard to fight against (think how many people first viewed Malcolm X as a terrorist and enemy of the state, but now he is viewed as an "American hero" with a U.S. postage stamp)...
Thelonious Monk once said that to be a genius is to be one's self...Art of the greatest vision in my opinion is usually art created in the creator's most honest voice without fear of anyone else's expectations or standards...
Richard Pryor wasn't Richard Pryor until he started talking about his true life experiences, before that he was copying Bill Cosby...Miles Davis' father once told him that if he was going to be a professional musician that he must be his own man and not a mocking bird...Van Gogh was despised during his lifetime, sold only one painting while living and died misunderstood in relative poverty, but now in our times he is considered more genius/ visionary than insane...Lester Young was ridiculed early for his tenor sax playing because he didn't sound like Coleman Hawkins, but he was the hero of another rebellious jazz great, Charlie Bird Parker, who learned how to play the sax while memorizing Lester Young's solos on records...The list goes on and on...
What I am trying to say is true culture usually comes from those who have the least in our society, out of the need for therapeutic self expression...Those who have the most in our society usually are in positions to benefit commercially and financially from the "dis-advantaged", exploiting and manipulating the product made from those despised upon by society at large, thus controlling the perception of the culture...Think about Rock n' Roll, Jazz and Hip Hop...
I think everyone if they haven't already done so need to read (or re-read) your mentor Harold Cruse's groundbreaking book The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual...I read it this past summer and it changed my life...In all honesty I think Tyler Perry is closer to Mr. Cruse's ideal of what Black artists should be which is to be in positions of power to not only produce, but also to control the way your product is viewed and consumed 3= real culture dynamic...
Mr. Perry is also reaching a demographic that in Mr. Cruse's opinion the Harlem Renaissance Artists failed to reach or represent: every day regular working class Black folks...Black people made Tyler Perry a star not White Hollyweird (they just made him a little more well known by White folk)...Tyler Perry is picking up where Oscar Micheaux left off...He is not pandering but catering to a certain audience that is demanding his style of art...And I say this regardless of how I may feel about his body of work...
As far as people assuming Black folk of not being aware, we have always been ahead of the curb in terms of creativity and innovation...Like the saying goes necessity is the mother of invention...
Benny Goodman, the so-called King of Swing was playing things in the nineteen thirties and forties that the great Black jazz band leader Fletcher Henderson pioneered back in the early Twenties...As a matter of fact Fletcher Henderson was hired by Benny Goodman to be his arranger!!!
Hip Hop was a completely formed culture in the nineteen seventies (while mainstream was stuck on disco) before MTV and VH1 caught on by the mid-nineties...
I have alot more to say but this will do for now...Keep up the great work!!!
With Artastic regards,
R2C2H2 Tha Artivist a.k.a. Ron Herd II
http://www.blogtalkradio.com
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http://www.weallbe.blogspot.com
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1 comment:
I'm so sorry about the delay. I barely use Blogger.com thanks to MySpace, but I did want to thank you for contacting me about your blog in regards to the debate between Mat Johnson and me. I look forward to our radio interview this month and I will be ready to talk. By the way, the Creole and Black analogy was on point.
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