Friday
Aug312007
Jesse Jackson Really Needs to Read a Book... explaining what satire is
Cross-posted to Jack & Jill Politics under "Jack Turner"
Just over a month ago, I posted the video of "Read a Book" by poet, activist and not-a-rapper Bomani "D'Mite" Armah. The video has been blowing up on YouTube (over 800,000 views) and BET (debuted on July 20 and is one of the few BET airings to make me proud). Tomorrow, Saturday September 1, Bomani will be on CNN at 10:30pm, and the video will hit BET's 106 & Park again on Tuesday September 4. You can vote for the video to be number 1.
"Read a Book" has been garnering much-deserved praise and mainstream attention for the biting satire that it is, shining light on the sadly misplaced priorities of black popular culture, especially in pop rap music. The song is average length at just under three minutes, but the lyrics basically come down to 10 lines (warning, some explicit language)
I get the message in the video, and I know my friends do as well, but poor Reverend Jackson and the folks over at Rainbow PUSH are unsurprisingly out of touch. Rather than praising the video for its effort to challenge the pop cultural images that are literally killing black America by supporting unhealthy eating, unsustainable consumption and a threatening image that tightens the trigger finger on an already gun-happy, black-bashing law enforcement community, Jackson & Co went out of their way to condemn the video.
You've got to read it to believe it.
It's possible, of course, that Rainbow PUSH's press release was itself a work of satire, making fun of an increasingly out of touch and irrelevant generation of has-been Civil Rights leaders.
Just over a month ago, I posted the video of "Read a Book" by poet, activist and not-a-rapper Bomani "D'Mite" Armah. The video has been blowing up on YouTube (over 800,000 views) and BET (debuted on July 20 and is one of the few BET airings to make me proud). Tomorrow, Saturday September 1, Bomani will be on CNN at 10:30pm, and the video will hit BET's 106 & Park again on Tuesday September 4. You can vote for the video to be number 1.
"Read a Book" has been garnering much-deserved praise and mainstream attention for the biting satire that it is, shining light on the sadly misplaced priorities of black popular culture, especially in pop rap music. The song is average length at just under three minutes, but the lyrics basically come down to 10 lines (warning, some explicit language)
Read a book! Read a book! Read a muh'fuckin book!Yes there is explicit language and lotsa booty shakin in the video, but satirists must use the tools and techniques employed by the subject of their satire. Sure we could listen to another angry lecture from Bill Cosby, or we could hear, in these 10 short lines to a catchy beat, Bomani challenge rap artists and the consuming public to use our resources in a more reasonable fashion. Seriously? "Buy some land?" When is the last time you heard a black leader talk about the importance of real wealth accumulation? How many preachers are advising their flock to do more than contribute to his Cadillac fund? (I know I'm generalizing but I'm just sayin).
Not a sports page (what) not a magazine (who)
But a book nigga, a fuckin book nigga (YEAHHH~!)
Raise yo' kids, raise yo' kids, raise yo' God damn kids
Your body needs water - so DRINK THAT SHIT
Buy some land, buy some land (what) FUCK SPINNIN RIMS
Brush yo' teeth, brush yo' teeth, brush yo' God damn teeth
Wear deodorant nigga, wear deodorant nigga
It's called Speed Stick (bitch) it's not expensive (bitch)
Read a book! Read a book! Read a muh'fuckin book!
I get the message in the video, and I know my friends do as well, but poor Reverend Jackson and the folks over at Rainbow PUSH are unsurprisingly out of touch. Rather than praising the video for its effort to challenge the pop cultural images that are literally killing black America by supporting unhealthy eating, unsustainable consumption and a threatening image that tightens the trigger finger on an already gun-happy, black-bashing law enforcement community, Jackson & Co went out of their way to condemn the video.
You've got to read it to believe it.
CHICAGO and ATLANTA (August 23, 2007) The following is a statement released on behalf of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, from Attorney Janice Mathis, Vice President and Executive Director of Peachtree Street Project, Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Mathis's commentary comes after the release of a rap video, "Read a Book" on YouTube and BET. If Benjamin E. Mayes challenged us to reach for the stars, the not-a-rapper video "Read a Book" on YouTube takes us into the abyss. Billed as a satirical look at popular culture, a viewer is left with the distinct impression that nothing matters, that life is futile, knowledge fruitless, manners meaningless.Wrong!
A common definition of satire is witty language used to convey insults or scorn. The video is plenteously scornful and insulting, but not of crassness. The video insults reading, personal hygiene, family values and frugality. "Read a Book" heaps scorn on positive values and (un)intentionally celebrates ignorance. The narrator is obviously illiterate, unkempt and disrespectful. So who takes his advice seriously?Apparently, Rainbow PUSH does. How do you go about giving a definition of satire and then interpret art literally, all in the same paragraph? That takes a special kind of incompetence for which the word "incompetence" does not suffice.
The best Hip-hop is clever, with allusions to politics, history, great music and literature. Part of the fun is finding the hidden meaning....which you clearly did not do!
I was prepared to forgive the crude language and lack of creativity if there was as message encouraging viewers to read and otherwise conduct themselves responsibly. I was disappointed. The simplistic repetitive rhyme and tune made it clear that the creator had not taken his own advice, i.e. to Read a Book.Uh, the title of the song is READ. A. BOOK. That was the point. Do we really need to spell it out? Maybe Bomani can drop a track called R - E - A - D A B - O - O - K and deliver it personally to Jackson.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization protecting, defending and expanding civil rights to improve economic and educational opportunity. The organization is headquartered at 930 E. 50th St. in Chicago. For more information about the RainbowPUSH Coalition, please visit the organization's website, www.rainbowpush.org or telephone (773) 373-3366. To get additional information, please call the number listed above.That's it. No more press releases from Rainbow PUSH. We have songs out there like "A Bay Bay" and you're gonna focus on the one hip hop song that actually says something??You have just disqualified yourself from speaking on behalf of anyone. I cannot believe that the people who were there during the Civil Rights Movement, when poets and actors and musicians played such a vital role in opening the public's eyes and challenging the system are so blind to the same role being played by today's artist/activists.
It's possible, of course, that Rainbow PUSH's press release was itself a work of satire, making fun of an increasingly out of touch and irrelevant generation of has-been Civil Rights leaders.
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Reader Comments (19)
While the language is objectionable (for me), I agree with the message of this song (I was lost on the hygiene stuff though). Other than the way it is presented I don't see the difference between this and what Bill Cosby said. Of course, everyone was up in arms about what Bill Cosby said claiming that he forgot where he came from. I don't think so. He remembers the values that his parents instilled in him and wonders why parents of today aren't instilling those same values. The values today are about bling and "keeping it real". It makes no sense that someone with $400 purses can't scrape together enough money to pay rent (or save and buy a house). It makes no sense to see luxury cars parked in front of the projects. It makes no sense that kids are being steered away from education because an educated black person is not "keeping it real." It makes no sense that parents are letting TV, rap videos and the streets raise their kids. It also makes no sense that ignorance and violence are being portrayed as the norm.
I don't get why the Jackson camp thinks that these backwards values are being promoted instead of condemned. Regardless of what the video shows the lyrics state otherwise. He should be standing up and saying the same thing. I think the civil rights leaders of the previous generation are still fighting the battles of the 60s. We have new battles that we need to focus on.
ok... i gotta call B.S. on kenya. i hear it all the time, and it's really sad.
yes bill cosby *DID* forget where he came from. see "fat albert" in particular -- not exactly a pinnacle of standard english and bourgeois values. he's a crochety old man upset by these kids today.
"It makes no sense that someone with $400 purses can’t scrape together enough money to pay rent (or save and buy a house)."
makes perfect sense. pick a reason (a) the purse is bootleg. (b) the purse isn't a $400 purse. (c) the purse was a gift from better-off family members. (d) it wasn't legally obtained.
and that's leaving out the fact that it costs *a lot* of money to buy a house in most urban areas. $400 won't make One. Bit. of difference if you're making $45K in NYC and want to buy a house. the ones in the hood start at $300K. easier and honestly, more economical, to stay in your $700 rent controlled apartment.
"It makes no sense to see luxury cars parked in front of the projects."
yes it does if the car is used, the owner is visiting, or the owner is a drug dealer. but be real: how many times do you see *actual* luxury cars parked in *actual* projects? it's pretty rare from what i've seen.
"It makes no sense that kids are being steered away from education because an educated black person is not “keeping it real.”""
that's some extra-fancy bullsh*t. as is the "acting white" myth. pure, utter, and total. kids are being steered away from education because their schools suck and aren't doing anything for them. what's more: *they know it.*
probe beneath the surface, and you'll see that it's less about blackness equaling unsuccessful than it is about cynicism that black folks can achieve it.
</rant>
but yeah, i'm cosigning what you said baratunde. i thought "read a book" was hilarious satire... until he got to the hygiene part. that was ig'nant and slightly undermined the rest of it, IMO.
I just saw this video a couple days ago -- and you know, I think for the most part it's saying what needs to be said to a couple important audiences. First and foremost, the kids watching 106 & Park. I hope they understand it and can both laugh at it and extract a kernel of truth. But the second audience is the rest of the media, who I imagine have ignored stuff like "A Bay Bay." It opens up a huge can of worms to start even talking about it: about violence and inequality and the cynicism about success that Tiffany mentioned. "A Bay Bay" is just a reflection of all that.
I saw this horrid CNN piece about "Read a Book" today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA-aSi8O3UU
They don't talk about the cultural context for "Read a Book" on BET--they compare it to Seasame Street and Electric Company. A panel of parents are shown "Read a Book" out of context, so _of course_ they are concerned. What they don't do is talk to any kids who watch 106 & Park. They just make assumptions like "Kids don't understand satire" and shit like that. What? Have you talked to any?
Then they drag out the creators to berate them for the times and places where their piece is shown. What really incenses me is that the target of or audience for this satire is never seriously discussed, though I have to give credit to D'Mite for trying to take it there. They obsess about the imagery and language, and the "core demo" of BET. How do you know whether something is going to be damaging or offensive or enlightening or encouraging if you don't understand the audience or context of the message? I mean, that's a hard question to answer even if you DO know the audience and context.
So it really bummed me out. I feel like I can't watch 30 seconds of TV anymore without getting triggered somehow. The new golden rule of television: if it bleeds, I leave.
i’m gonna act like i’m playing UNO and bust a “reverse” on tiffany’s commentary. i’m inclined to agree with Bill Cosby but i’m open to hearing sound, logical informed commentary demonstrating he has indeed forgotten where he came from. (the fat albert reference left me confused, if my memory of the saturday morning cartoon serves me correctly…)
additional options for the hypothetical coach bag owner could be e)found it on the subway, abandoned by a mindless rich person, or f)picked the winning free raffle ticket at the church picnic, or g)hit jackpot at 10 cent saturday bingo. etc., etc. the possibilities are endless. the probabilities are not.
having spent the first 20 years of my life surrounded by neighbors and friends and family who are the subject of kenya’s commentary, and spending my subsequent X ;-) years serving those in impoverished communities while also interacting with individuals with stories similar to my own, i can say first hand that tiffany’s explanations are compassionate and idealistic, but generally not the case.
When one observes grown people on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic latter rockin the latest - expensive - fashions, drivin pimped out cars (luxurious or otherwise) parked in front of they mama’s house or they baby mama’s section 8 housing, or exhibiting other troublingly discrepant displays of extravagance, the explanation is simple: mismanagement of funds and a displacement of values. it drives the cycle of poverty. and logic like “oh i ain’t got $300K for a house so what difference will it make if i splurge on myself with this $400 purse” is a critically flawed mindset that keeps impoverished individuals bound. sure it might be “easier” to passively accept substandard circumstances rather than pursue a better life for oneself and their family, but i challenge tiffany’s characterization of choosing a rent controlled project over owning property as “economical”. perhaps in only the most short sited of financial planning.
either way to blame poor individual financial choices, fiscal irresponsibility, and the glorification of rugged living on the diminishing affordability of urban housing, the low quality schools that “aren’t doing anything for [the kids]”, or some other version of THE MAN always trying to bring us down, is a cop out that robs individuals of their own personal agency (not to mention responsibility for *their own* actions). i don’t know about you but i’m not drinkin’ that kool-aid…
none of us have any control over the cards that we’re dealt. but is that in itself a justifiable excuse for playing a reckless hand?
much love,
sandra
yo people nice comments. woah!
i'll try to respond to a bunch.
first @carl, thanks so much for your anger and the youtube links. that fueled yet another series of posts and comments here and over at Jack & Jill. It was very painful watching the CNN "interview" but I'm glad I did it.
@kenya, tiffany and sandra, yall are deep in the debate, and I'm lovin it. My opinion is classic "on the one hand. on the other hand." Sandra makes a great point about agency and personal responsibility, but there IS systemic economic pressure which creates, drives and exploits the desire for such uneconomic "choices."
We've got multi-billion dollar ad campaigns selling luxury goods to the full economic spectrum. We have limited choices for quality products (food, clothing, financial, real estate) in the hood, making it difficult for people to even know that they're being played. I didn't say its impossible, but environment is a big deal.
And, we have a microscope constantly searching for examples of "irrational" and "irresponsible" economic behavior among the lower class that, were it focused on the middle class, would find as many offenses. ahem, adjustable rate second mortgages taken out on the assumption of a persistent housing bubble? bueller? third and fourth cars?
the fact is that the american economy survives because it assumes the american people will live beyond their means, floating more consumption on shakier and shakier credit.
man, I would write more, but it's almost 4:30am yo!
Baratunde, have you read any Wendell Berry essays? His book called Art of the Common Place was mind-blowing for me. For Berry, practically all our social and environmental woes go back to agriculture and our distance from the land. He attributes the whole creation of the hood--the disparity of wealth, the crime, the consumerism, everything--to the late 19th century disintegration of rural communities in the south. There were so many black farmers who owned small farms and were entirely sustainable and self-sufficient, and they gave it up to move to the city before realizing that their agricultural knowledge wasn't applicable there. The same story is playing out right now in so many other parts of the world. The other piece in play here, of course, that as small farmers leave, bigger companies and monoculture take over and rape the land.
I'm not sure if I agree with the extreme ends of Berry's arguments, but they are very compelling and worthwhile.
And here we are today, with "buy some land!" Damn right.
Carl, I am loosely familiar with Wendell Berry. He's come up in a lot of my research into the politics of food, sustainable development, evil Monsanto, etc.
Sounds like a big part of the problem on the face of it. I'm usually reluctant to assign ALL the blame for a problem to one single factor, but humanity's growing distance from the land has caused many, many unacknowledged problems.
thanks
Yeah, you're right, it's never one thing. It all goes back to agriculture, it all goes back to education, it all goes back to slavery, it all goes back to fill-in-the-blank. And even if you understand a good chunk of the root cause, it hardly begins to suggest a solution. Especially for a process that began many years ago.
BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT!! BRILLIANT!!! There would be no dialogue if there were nothing to open our eyes. Too many of us are sleeping and have slept on the most relevant issues affecting our youth. The majority of us are too rapped in day-to-day priorities to ever do anything SIGNIFICANT that may compel DISCUSSIONS that attack the most RELEVANT ISSUES that IMMEDIATELY affect us. Reading, washing, drinking water, spending money on important things as opposed to excess. MY GOD! How ON POINT is this content?! And then, to wrap it in the packaging with the explicit language and the video images that satire the same is nothing short of MASTERY! In an age when you must shout to be heard, and where our minds and eyes are flooded with images that corporate heads feel we should be fed, I say KUDOS to the people who put time and money into this project! They may not bang it in the clubs, or on the bougie radio stations that filter rotations and politically correct content. But, friends, this has incited EXACTLY the type of dialogue that we need to talk about with our kids, and amongst ourselves. Sure, the tight-wads are hot about this right now, but in my own words, "FUCK 'EM'. Because most of them are hypocrites who are not in tune with what the younger minds of the world. Many of them are not even in tune with their own lives and really need issues like this in order to expose their own life miseries.
Word
I have to say, as a substitute (currently) teacher in the K-12 area, it does my heart good to see anything mocking the current "lionization of violence" stuff going on in pop culture. Partly because I think you can't be an elementary, middle, or high school teacher and not HATE the gangsta thing. Because you get to see where it's taking adorable, potentially talented kids and screwing them up. Taking kids and telling them "It's cool to be violent and to focus on flashy stuff instead of anything that matters. PS WOMEN ARE THINGS."
I dunno. Glad to see some intelligent parody of the genre. Although I would agree that the hygiene stuff is problematic.
As a liberal white man, I am torn by this video/song. I think the 'Read a Book' part is dead on, along with the idea of working towards real wealth and dismissing false symbols of success. Anti-intellectualism is rampant in young people of all races today. Thug culture and empty materialism become goals for kids that live in sh!tty neighborhoods and go to nasty, underfunded schools.
But the song starts to lose it when it gets into bitching about hygiene issues. The problem is that it seems to put those on the same level as promoting education and building a solid financial base for the future.
The sad thing is that I guarantee that there are more rich white men getting richer from promoting violent, materialistic and anti-intellectual music and culture than black folks.
As an aside... I work in computer systems, and every black man or woman that I've worked with have always been fastidiously clean. The nasty IT folks that smell like BO and have funkmouth are invariably white male geeks.
Anyways, thanks for listening. Love the blog.
Nice post. Have bookmarked your blog and will be sure to come back soon!
Great post, id say you hit the nail right on the head. Jackson's so full of crap.
I haven't watch this video, I read other comments and it seems to me that there are lots of issue to tackle about this thing., I will watch the video and i will comeback for my review... By the way i like to share this video.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQpRt7vd3Q" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQpRt7vd3Q Maybe you are interested..
I haven't watch this video, I read other comments and it seems to me that there are lots of issue to tackle about this thing., I will watch the video and i will comeback for my review... By the way i like to share this video.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQpRt7vd3Q" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQpRt7vd3Q Maybe you are interested..
I haven't watch this video, I read other comments and it seems to me that there are lots of issue to tackle about this thing., I will watch the video and i will comeback for my review... By the way i like to share this video.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQpRt7vd3Q" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQpRt7vd3Q Maybe you are interested..
I haven't watch this video, I read other comments and it seems to me that there are lots of issue to tackle about this thing., I will watch the video and i will comeback for my review...
Nice post liked it... Neither have I watched the video.. I'll get back here after I watch it!
Excellent post !