Colonialism of Conscience - Chris "Preach" Smith

Joseph Kony, head of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Last week, social media exploded over two simple words: ‘STOP KONY’. If
you happened to be on Twitter around 9 PM Eastern Standard Time, you saw that
become the top trend, with everyone retweeting and sharing a 30 minute video
documenting the horrors of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, head of the Lord’s
Resistance Army. The most heinous of Kony’s crimes has been the use of children
to populate the LRA through kidnapping and murder. Boys are forcibly armed to
fight for the LRA and girls are taken as sexual objects and domestics. At last word
60,000 have fallen prey to the LRA’s evil. The reason why this now dominates
discussions around the world has been that film on YouTube, created by the charity
Invisible Children. The film has gotten 26 million hits as of this morning roughly. It
has gotten the attention of the Today Show, CNN, and other news outlets. So, is this
a bad thing?

In a word: maybe.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for people taking action to make the world better however
they can. But the moment I saw the Kony 2012 campaign trending on Twitter, I felt
uneasy. Mainly because I wondered why Invisible Children made this push now when
I had heard about Kony and the LRA in 2005. As I looked through all the info I could
find, I found a number of people rightfullly outraged, asking what President Obama
was doing. Never mind the fact that he had sent 100 Special Force members into the
region late last year over the protests of Republicans. And let’s remember, last Tuesday
was their party’s Super Tuesday of primaries. Keep that in mind for later. And when I
got the chance to see the film, I was struck at the emotional effect…and also at how
simplified they really made things to prove a point. The goal of Invisible Children is
to get worldwide attention on Joseph Kony to have him detained and tried for his crimes.
But the way they’ve gone about it casts a shadow on their intentions.

Founders of Invisible Children, taken from Vice Magazine

One of the biggest criticisms of Invisible Children has been their finances.
It has been reported that in addition to getting two million dollars from
Oprah Winfrey, Invisible Children has recieved money from AIM AIR and
the National Christian Foundation. The latter organization is a red flag due
to it being the key group responsible for financially backing Calfiornia’s
Proposition 8 along with sending money to the Family Research Council,
named as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Not good
company to be in. Their usage of revenue has come under serious fire,
with Visible Children, an opposition group stating that IC has only used
33 percent of their almost 9 million dollar intake towards aid services in
Central Africa. One million was spent on travel alone. The three main
men, (Jason Russell, Ben Keesey, Laren Poole) each earned close to
90K. And to date, they’ve made half a million dollars on ‘awareness kits’
sold at $30 each. So if you want to be bold, Invisible Children are in
danger of becoming slick ‘poverty pimps.’

The big problem here is this: Invisible Children has now fallen into a trap
of its own making. It’s a trap that basically portrays them as well-meaning
but dangerously naive about the politics of Kony and Uganda. It’s a trap
that paints them as White knights coming to yet again speak for Africans
who cannot speak for themselves, even though they’ve been doing so since
the atrocities began. It’s a trap that gets well-intentioned people interested
in the cause, but also sells them the idea that involvement can be minimal
and short-term. And that’s a bad thing to portray. Look at Haiti as an example.
Hell, look at New Orleans. It’s a colonialism of conscience in some respects; a
thought process where wanting to help is tainted by how one goes about helping
and they resources they use to do so. It demands that you think of yourself and
the Ugandan people in father/children roles. That belittles them greatly, and
makes Invisible Children part of a list of exploiters. That’s sad.

The lessons to be learned from this? It’s good to want young people to know
about the issues of the world, but it’s never good to manipulate them into
doing so. Charities may need to be vetted more vigorously. And if people
really want to help, they should help themselves to all the knowledge they
can about the issue and not have one group or story be the defining tale.

Memories Hypnotize - Chris "Preach" Smith

Fifteen Years.

When you mark time with tragedy as a milestone, you feel that pain
heavily at first. Then it fades until the numbers get larger. I thought
about that late last night when I saw all of the quotes and thoughts
about The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls begin to pop up here
and there prior to the anniversary of his murder.

All that time gone by. You start replaying key moments that have
gone by since B.I.G.’s death. More than anything, it becomes a giant
case of the ‘what ifs’, like that Marvel Comics series. I found myself
detailing all of these scenarios in my head, like I’ve done each year
since 1997. Like everyone else has. With Biggie gone, you realize
with each year that a cross-section of the hip hop pushed at you, if
you want to get all Ghostface and make food comparisons, is nothing
more than Crown Fried Chicken and a Tropical Fantasy. You can’t feed
of off that and expect your message to be natural. Biggie was an MC
that you KNEW read a lot, consumed a lot of knowledge. You could
tell by how he laid an entire track down. You could tell by his narrative.
‘Everyday Struggle’ plays just as well today as it did back in 1993.
Can we say the same about a Meek Mills song years down the line?
In addition, you could tell Biggie was an avid reader by his flow.
These days, you got MC’s not even speaking about their favorite books,
taking the Sarah Palin route. What part of the game is that?!!

I could sit here and spin fairytales of how if B.I.G. was still here, the
game wouldn’t be what we see it as today. But you’ve got eyes. You’ve
got heart. You KNOW I don’t have to go down that road. Instead, I
hope you’re doing what I’m doing; playing every single song Biggie
ever did, looking at YouTube clips, reading every article on him ever
written. And then passing that on to the younger set. They need to
know that sometimes, even though the impact of someone’s death
can match their life, it will never surpass it.

We’ll always love the King of Brooklyn. The Notorious B.I.G.

Lin-sanity Abound - Chris "Preach" Smith

You saw it just like I did.

Jeremy Lin, the new shooting star point guard of my New York Knicks,
added yet another superb game to his resume last night in a thrilling
defeat of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. On a Friday night
in February, just five days after the New York Giants energized the
city with a  Super Bowl win, Lin has managed to become the talk of
the town. Hell, the WORLD at that. In four games, Jeremy has made
a name for himself in being the first NBA player since the 1976 merger
to average more points in their first four games than ANYONE. That
list includes Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson.

His play has revitalized a team that was sinking fast even with two
stars in Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudamire. And it's also raised
some points of interest we can't ignore going forward. The biggest point
being, how an Asian-American player will fare in the NBA. Lin isn't the
first to do it; that honor belongs to Wataru Misaka, a Nisei (second
generation Japanese-American) from Utah who joined these very same
New York Knicks in 1947, effectively breaking the NBA's color barrier
just as Jackie Robinson did for baseball. Yeah, we've had Asian players
in the league, none bigger than recently retired Yao Ming. But Lin is
different being an ABC(American Born Chinese)...just by being here and
proving he can lead an NBA franchise flies in the face of stereotypes we
have about Asian-American athletes. Which is what has come to light
in the wake of his success. We've gotten so happy about Lin that we find
ourselves getting too racial with the nicknames. Just look at Twitter for
proof of that. Yes, Lin is a Chinese-American dude who can BALL. But it
doesn't call for you to summon up rudimentary nicknames that you think
would go well on a movie marquee and minimize him.


Another point I'd like to point out is this; CAN WE STOP comparing him to Tim
Tebow? Yes, they're both Christian. They both rely on their faith heavily. They both
were heavily underestimated(word has it the Knicks were to cut Lin after last Saturday's
game against the Nets) and have shown and proven they can be professional athletes.
But i'm not going to sit here and diminish Lin's stature to falsely equate him to Tebow.
Sports media outlets will do that because Tebow represents all that they want to be
subconsciously right with America. And that negates Jeremy Lin's game and career to
this point on a racial and professional level. Also, Lin has improved his game WITH
each game, even dropping 38 points last night and outscoring Kobe. Tebow has been
average at best. Let the man live. Ultimately, we don't really know what's ahead for
the Knicks and Lin. Melo and Amar'e, for different reasons haven't been playing during
this win streak. One can only hope that they'll mesh well and be the contender that
New York City hoped for at the start of the season. We do know one thing. As long as
Jeremy Lin rocks the blue and orange, Lin-sanity will rule. Let's just make sure we all
don't get TOO crazy.

The Soul Controller Lives On - Chris "Preach" Smith

When a giant falls, the sound still echoes days after.

Waking up to hear that Don Cornelius left us in a tragic way dampened the
sunshine on this unseasonably warm February day. And it brought back the
cold of winter in a heartbeat. But this doesn't, and shouldn't define who Don
Cornelius truly was to generations of Americans.

'Soul Train' on Saturdays at noon was as important as church on Sundays. For
some, more so. It was our time to revel in everything Black, beautiful and
BAD-ASS. A quick anecdote for you: I was in a nightclub in Cancun a few
years back, hanging out among budding applicants for 'Girls Gone Wild' and
other foreigners hopped up on tequila. Out of nowhere, the DJ plays the
original Soul Train theme!!! It was a sight to see a gang of folks make way to
create their own Soul Train line that night. That is what having an impact looks
like. Understand that the show ran from 1970 to 2006. That's a run that may never
be broken. It was the funkier, more flavorful alternative to Dick Clark and 'American
Bandstand'. The dancers alone made it a slice of history; without them, we would've
never known about Rerun and Shalamar and Rosie Perez to name a few. And the
singers and groups KNEW they had to bring their 'A' game to 'Soul Train' or be
forever declared squares. 'Soul Train' was our kingdom of pride. And Don Cornelius
reigned over it all like a true king would with a voice of velvet.

Thank you Don...thank you for blessing us all with love, peace...and soul.

'Soul Train' laid the rails of a cultural revolution
(c) USA Today 

Mayor Michael Nutter leads Philadelphia to break The World Record for longest Soul Train Line
(c) Philly.com

 

Don Cornelius Dances in Soul Train Line With Mary Wilson

Courage & Celluloid - Chris "Preach" Smith

How do we want our heroes to live onscreen?

That ran through my mind on my way home earlier this evening after
having the chance to see the highly anticipated 'Red Tails', a movie
about the all-Black 332nd Fighter Group, the Tuskegee Airmen and
their experience in World War II Italy. I can definitely say that this
movie has sparked a lot of discussion on the 'Net and offline in many
ways. The fine folks I caught the film with (shoutout to the Jewish
Multiracial Network) were no exception; we had a lively and engaging
talk about what the impact of a film like 'Red Tails' has in communities of
color. And now, as I'm typing this up, that above question has even more
weight.

I saw one or two people kind of down rate going to see the film this first
weekend. 'Why should I rush to see it just because it's a mostly all-Black
cast?" "It's a Hollywood film, you know how they see us already." I paid
all of that no mind for this reason: Black cinema that entertains AND
enriches needs to be supported. Yes, George Lucas is the main man
behind this film. It doesn't make 'Red Tails' any less of a film for that fact.
Bear in mind he's wanted to do this since 1988. He even hired Aaron
McGruder to write the screenplay, AFTER McGruder basically demolished
him for creating Jar Jar Binks in 'Star Wars' which made Aaron feel as if
the character was an embodiment of negative Black stereotypes. Lucas
funded this film mostly out of his own coffers. He felt this film needed to
be made. And he did it even after seeing how Spike Lee's own 'Miracle
At St.Anna' was denied funding and basically forgotten in theaters. Hell,
Spike is now at Sundance with his newest film and HE even said 'go see
'Red Tails'. Because it is OUR history.


Which brings me back to my original question. I think, that for communities of color, we
deserve to see our heroes from that era onscreen. While 'Red Tails' doesn't really get into
the full backstory of each pilot and their commanding officers outside of a few anecdotes
for shading, I've accepted it's not there for investigating the complexities of that time. It's
a movie designed to establish just how important these men were to ensuring victory in
World War II with enough blazing, Saturday morning movie matinee fashion. It's giving the
Tuskegee Airmen their due on the big screen. To me, that's definitely important. And while
we only get a little about these men, perhaps the proposed prequel and sequel will fill in
the blanks. Maybe someone else like a Lee Daniels or a Ernest Dickerson will be able to
make a film that will add more depth to these heroes. Until then, 'Red Tails' allows our
heroes their place in the celluloid world. Maybe their courage will breed it in others to get
more of our stories out the way we want to see them.