Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Redux
Yesterday, we took a journey through the political and social upheaval of the Sixties, and to a lesser degree, the Seventies. We traced the emergence of the revolutionaries. The ones who chanted, “black is beautiful!” often followed by, “free Huey!” We were spurred along by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson’s new book, “Is Bill Cosby Right?” And, we said then, and say now, “Yes. Yes he is.”
The political and social changes of the early part of “The Struggle,” are changes that I, and every other black person in America, reap the benefits of, daily. However, the economic pillars of our community lost their standing within our community. There was a time, during the 70’s, when going to work for the man was ‘selling out.’ Even today, remnants of this idea remain.
Where once, that acceptance letter to Harvard and Yale meant putting your best foot forward to assimilate and represent our people well, it became a chance to ‘stick it to whitey’ by putting on your blackest leather coat, darkest shades, and sharpest ‘pick’ (the one with the fist sticking out) and challenging everything and anything about the establishment. Now, I am making HUGE generalizations here, because while many of our mothers and fathers were sticking it to ‘The Man’, some, like Reginald Lewis and Kenneth Chenault, were pimping the system.
Fast forward to today, and we have an art form, Hip Hop, that speaks volumes on wealth, and little about up-liftment. And we have “Black Leaders,” like Dr. Dyson, who decry this paradigm shift. But I say, “Bravo!”
The rapper, Cassidy, has a new song, “I’m a Hustler.” He samples a verse from the Adam Smith of my generation, Jay Z, who has preached economic empowerment from the start. See, when H. Rap Brown said that the Revolution will not be televised, he was only half right. The revolution is on Pay-Per-View.
America is the greatest country in the world, because to quote Don King, “Only in America,” can you be born broke and die rich. And while money doesn’t always equal happiness, it sure makes being miserable a lot more tolerable.
My generation was raised on Dynasty and Dallas. The one that follows me, MTV Cribs and rap videos. We know that there is money to be made, and fun to be had. And we realize that all of us can’t do it. Life ain’t a game, it’s a sport. And we all want to be players in the league. For some, that will entail lots of schooling and for others, unfortunately it will entail a lot of law breaking.
What Cosby was saying is that there needs to be more emphasis on the former, rather than the latter. AND he said it to US, not the “White establishment” as Dr. Dyson has claimed. Dr. Cosby’s original remarks came at a Howard University function. What better time or place than at the premiere HBCU (Historically Black College and University).
Richard Pryor once quipped, “I don’t want my kids to be cool. Cool (negroes) end up in jail.” Cosby’s statements follow the same line of thinking.
The political and social changes of the early part of “The Struggle,” are changes that I, and every other black person in America, reap the benefits of, daily. However, the economic pillars of our community lost their standing within our community. There was a time, during the 70’s, when going to work for the man was ‘selling out.’ Even today, remnants of this idea remain.
Where once, that acceptance letter to Harvard and Yale meant putting your best foot forward to assimilate and represent our people well, it became a chance to ‘stick it to whitey’ by putting on your blackest leather coat, darkest shades, and sharpest ‘pick’ (the one with the fist sticking out) and challenging everything and anything about the establishment. Now, I am making HUGE generalizations here, because while many of our mothers and fathers were sticking it to ‘The Man’, some, like Reginald Lewis and Kenneth Chenault, were pimping the system.
Fast forward to today, and we have an art form, Hip Hop, that speaks volumes on wealth, and little about up-liftment. And we have “Black Leaders,” like Dr. Dyson, who decry this paradigm shift. But I say, “Bravo!”
The rapper, Cassidy, has a new song, “I’m a Hustler.” He samples a verse from the Adam Smith of my generation, Jay Z, who has preached economic empowerment from the start. See, when H. Rap Brown said that the Revolution will not be televised, he was only half right. The revolution is on Pay-Per-View.
America is the greatest country in the world, because to quote Don King, “Only in America,” can you be born broke and die rich. And while money doesn’t always equal happiness, it sure makes being miserable a lot more tolerable.
My generation was raised on Dynasty and Dallas. The one that follows me, MTV Cribs and rap videos. We know that there is money to be made, and fun to be had. And we realize that all of us can’t do it. Life ain’t a game, it’s a sport. And we all want to be players in the league. For some, that will entail lots of schooling and for others, unfortunately it will entail a lot of law breaking.
What Cosby was saying is that there needs to be more emphasis on the former, rather than the latter. AND he said it to US, not the “White establishment” as Dr. Dyson has claimed. Dr. Cosby’s original remarks came at a Howard University function. What better time or place than at the premiere HBCU (Historically Black College and University).
Richard Pryor once quipped, “I don’t want my kids to be cool. Cool (negroes) end up in jail.” Cosby’s statements follow the same line of thinking.
posted by Sonnyredd at 10:55 AM
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