So earlier tonight I went to an amazing performance featuring spoken word/hip-hop/funk/experimental theatre group iLL-Literacy and hip hop artist Dahlak BrathWaite. I just want to mention that I am incredibly privileged to be attending a college open minded enough to realize that even today race is an important factor and it has embedded into our culture so deeply that it often becomes a big elephant in the room that many do not want to discuss out of fear and embarrassment. As a white girl from upstate NY it was at first difficult for me to embrace talking about race as a current issue and admit that by not challenging modern thought I was contributing to our modern forms of oppression. However, after taking a few classes with the inspirational Dr. Paula Ioanide, the thought provoking Dr. Sean Eversley-Bradwell and engaging in multiracial friendships at Ithaca College (for the first time in my life mind you, as my town is literally 98.6% white people/1.4% other?!) my mind opened up. Here I would be rapidly caught up in shocking conversations that contradicted what I have been spoon fed for years through the public high school education system and more importantly my social surroundings in the mostly republican dink-towns in the adirondack park.
Once in high school I remember receiving a prompt for an AP US History paper that asked us if the founding fathers had questionable morals because they had slaves. When I handed in my response explaining that it was inexcusable to treat humans as disposable property, that there is no way to trick your mind into thinking that it is a humane practice or even convince yourself that it is not entirely barbaric, though not for lack of trying. The founding fathers were just as responsible for perpetuating slavery as any other person in that time period, perhaps more so because they created the foundation for our country, regardless of the time period or social acceptability of slavery. The teacher brought up my paper in class saying that I was perhaps being a bit hard on the founding fathers, and many of my classmates did not choose the same viewpoint. This was probably my first time critically thinking about race, and it stands out very boldly in my memory.
Given my personal history and upbringing, the classes on race/ethnicity completely demolished the way I saw things. No, wait... not demolished exactly. They took my already blurred vision of the world with its racial hierarchy and gave me the right prescription to view things from a focused perspective. I had the tools; my experiences with race (or lack thereof especially in professional settings. It is chilling how few personal interactions with non-white people I had for the majority of my life.) and my college friends from a variety of backgrounds. They mixed them with a bunch of untold histories, uncelebrated cultures, and truths about the lies driven by the media or socially accepted ideas. I learned about the history of prisons, the drug wars, Reagonomics, slavery, hip hop, and how all of this past thick of hate and violence has manifested into one of the most quieted down taboo subjects. Fuck people who are sick of talking about race. We will talk about it and act however necessary until lives are not taken because of race, their accent, or refusal to quite questioning how the world works.
Artists like the members of iLL-Literacy and Dahlak BrathWaite keep my hope alive, that race will not negatively affect people and one day we can even celebrate race completely without hearing protest shit from anyone. They discussed so many issues that I have learned about in classes, or listened to my friends argue about... and just helped reignite my passion for equality. Dahlak's pieces about getting busted for drug possession really hit me. I think he said something along the lines of if your "default enemy is at no fault", then what is there to argue against. So, if the police officer was strictly following the law to the T, then it cannot be seen as racial profiling or technically biased of him. This colorblind bullshit is such a powerful way to continue oppression and because race isn't technically included anyone who executes with prejudice can be saved by the written operatives. It just happens to be a coincidence that there are more black people in jail compared to white people when discussed in terms of percentages relating to the population. Powerful stuff.
But really, they were amazing performers. Storytellers... a news crew with style, rhythm, and the truth. Their beats were sick, their rhymes complicated, but simultaneously effortless. Subject matter spot on. They incorporated heavy materials with humor beautifully, and managed to incorporate audience interactions well. Their blend of sci-fi/modern theatrics with the spoken word poetry.. in credible! The crowd loved them, and vice versa. I am so lucky to have experienced such a powerful moment. Unforgettable!
