“Are We Gonna Stand Around This Town…”
“…and let what others say come true…”-Curtis Mayfield, “We People Who Are Darker Than Blue”, Curtis, 1970
There’s a disconnect in black society…and it’s a big one. It’s very simple actually, but to leave it at that just wouldn’t be my style. And like Nas says, “You know my style.”
So what is the disconnect??
Well, quite plainly and simply…
Old black people don’t get young black people.
Plain and simple. Period.
And I’m not talking about Bill Cosby and his statements, cuz, well, I tend to agree with his POINT for the most part. I’m talking about older black people not understanding some of the fads and causes younger black folks take up nowadays. You know, shit like, hippity-hop music, and “wearing your pants hanging off your ass.” And why do you all wear that stuff on your shirts that makes no sense, and “boy, you don’t even know who Che is??”
Granted some of our fads and trends do go overboard. But sometimes, things we do, make a real statement…even if the person wearing/saying/doing/making the statement doesn’t realize it. And sometimes, we take older things from the past, re-define them, and turn them into pop culture mainstays. Sometimes good, sometimes bad.
The word…nigga, comes to mind.
And older people just don’t get it. Before I go into depth with this…let me explain what brought this on. I was on the subway (in DC its the Metro) platform waiting on the train so I could go to work AKA Starbucks. A train came (that shit ryhmes…), the doors open, and a young girl, looking maybe 19 or 20, steps off the train with a shirt that says “Uppity Negress”. I’ve seen them shirts around DC a lot (unintentional, but necessary promotion by Panama Jackson…here), so I paid it no mind. However, these two older black women who got on the trian with me were appalled that this young girl would wear something like that.
They were heated, and the thing is I kind of understand where they are coming from but also understand where the girl was coming from (if I may assume she really had any clue what the fuck she was wearing). See, myself and my peers are at that weird age…the cusp, if you will (ooooooooh giiirrrrrrrrrrrl, Panama getting all educated…wit’ words like…cusp), that point where we are young enough to understand where young folks get the rebellious spirit and fads from…I mean, hell we are still young too. But I’m also old enough to understand where some of the un-understanding from the older generation comes from.
We just view shit completely differently. The older generation, say my parent’s and grandparent’s generation, view some of our fads and shit as…you ain’t no activist nigga, why the fuck you just drawing attention to yourself. We had to go through a lot just so you could go to the same schools as white folks…but you want to go and offend whitey with some shit like “Uppity Negro” or “Nat Turner University” on your shirt. I myself am prone to wearing headwraps…rather, t-shirts on my head from time to time cuz I think that shit looks tight. I see a headwrap, my father sees a t-shirt. And to him that’s just stupid. I’m using my dad as a proxy for the older generation though he isn’t even really that old…buddy isn’t even 50 yet. But he’s from the backwoods of Alabama…HOME of the old soul.
Younger people view things from the perspective of being an individual. Don’t get me wrong…a lot of my friends view that t-shirt on my head as a t-shirt too…but they still think it looks alright. Young people nowadays, especially young black kids, want to stand out and say something. Everybody wants a voice. Whereas the older generation, to me, got lazy at a certain point with thinking things were okay…we got to go to the same schools, got some jobs, and can live in the suburbs now…they wanted to blend in and not rock the boat. They worked so hard just to get us to be able to blend in, that drawing unnecessary attention makes no sense.
Nowadays, every young person wants to rock the boat. Everybody wants to be seen and make a statement of some sort. Everybody has a cause nowadays. And some people are silent activists…whether it be wearing a Fred Hampton t-shirt, or rocking a Che Guevara shirt (though I think this is more fad than anything…I seriously doubt most people have read this cat’s 700 page biography). That girl wearing her “Uppity Negress” shirt was potentially her equivalent of saying,”I’m black and I’m proud.” I doubt my parents would have a problem with that.
Which all boils down to what it actually says. Uppity negroes got hung. Not at the club…from trees. Uppity negro is a term that derives from the days of slavery. An uppity negro was one of them negroes who didn’t just take what the slave master gave him but put his chin up to take his whips. Basically, an uppity negro…
…was a nigga with pride.
Pride got you killed in some places. And in some places, not so long ago. Nowadays, young black people are so proud that being black is the cool shit to do. Even the little white kids emulate black culture left and right, sometimes going way to damn far. Asian kids emulate black culture. Basically…young black culture is everywhere…because we took that black and i’m proud stance…and made it “the” culture. I’m not saying things are okay at all…racial tensions still boil over all the time. Race still is, and will always be what’s wrong with America. But being an uppity negro right now is okay. And I think older black folks are okay with that, until…
…they see it on shirts for the public to see. It’s okay to talk about the shit behind closed doors…but you don’t let the white man know who you are. Which is part of the disconnect. Older black people liked to move in silence. Thats why a lot of black folks had problems with the Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, and Malcolm X’s, and the Black Panthers, and the H. Rap Browns. They felt that these people were going to make things worse by being so vocal and visable. Fuck that, they feared things would get worse. And I think some people still feel that way today. Seeing that “Uppity Negress” shirt might have made that older black woman feel like she might have to pay for that girls pride somehow.
That young girl might have felt that we’ve already paid for not having any pride…its time to take a fuckin’ stand. I’m still young so I still try to walk the walk…and I get comments from older black people, even in my family. They just write it off as Panama being Panama now…they even expect it. And they know I mean it. And hopefully as these young people start to get older…that fear of having to pay for pride goes away and and its expected for us to hold our heads high for everyone to see…and the disconnect disappears…
But for now…to that sister on the train, from one Uppity Negro to another…
I’m black and I’m proud.
We’re connected.